Seeking (WTB) brake adjusting tool for 40s Mopar

[Narve N]

Anyone that can sell me a tool like the MT-19-C to adjust Mopar brakes properly, or otherwise can direct me towards something that might function to adjust the brakes with high accuracy? Having tried 4 times to adjust my 40 NewYorker brake shoes, but still having either far too much pedal travel - or binding brakes I am very non-content with the current status.

 

 

 

[JFranklin]

I hope you find your tool. if not you could fabricate something similar. I had good luck adjusting my '48 Plymouth brakes using the instructions in an old Motors Manual book without this tool. If you can find a sacrificial drum. it can have a window cut to use a feeler gauge to get the adjustment. always make the adjustment with the shoe eccentrics fully backed off. Good luck!

[Rusty_OToole]

You could drill a small hole in your drum and use a wire gauge.

[Spinneyhill]

There have been a number of threads dealing with this in the last little while. Here is my contraption.

Put the drum on with bearings and nut if applicable. Adjust the top of the brake shoes to just touch the drum. Remove the drum. The tops of the shoes are your reference point. Set the arm to the top of the shoes then adjust the shoes top and bottom to this location minus the recommended clearance (hence the feeler gauge in the picture). You just want something that fits on the axle with no slop and is rigid enough to manipulate a feeler gauge under.

[c49er]

Did you have each set of shoes arced to each drum?  Extremely important. You can use the Miller tool or the Ammco tool and you still cannot get the .006" clearance because of incorrect shoe arc fit to drum.

. Sometimes the replacement shoe lining radius/ thickness is way off and contributes to not being able to use the Miller MT-19 or the ammco 1750 correctly because of either too much/or little toe and heel clearance because of the center of the lining being too high or too low.

The tool should just lightly touch the center of the lining and leave a few thousandths clearance at both the toe and the heel.

In  fact many times I have not needed to use the Ammco or Miller tool.to set up the shoe to drum position . All I do is set the eccentric pins to the factory base settings ( point to each other or to each wheel cylinder... later cars) and the shoes are right where they need to be.. and a firm high pedal. Just move the shoes out to the drums with the hex nut cams in on the backing plates... done.

I always arc the shoes to each drum. The factory did.

Edited May 9, 2017 by c49er (see edit history)