1916 Rauch and Lang brake lining spec.

[W_Higgins]

Hi, I'm having the shoes for the above captioned car relined and I'd like to know if anyone has a lining thickness spec in print. Mine have been relined and possibly not with the right thickness material. I have all sorts of specs for gas cars of this era, but none of it covers electrics. Any information is appreciated.

[mark plante]

Let me know who you use to reline your shoes --I have a "17 Rauch and lang needing to be done. Thanks, Mark

[W_Higgins]

Well, our relining was superseded by another problem. Do you have the shoes where the lining is drawn into recesses to hold it tight (much like how some leather-lined cone clutches are done?). We couldn't find any lining flexible enough to do that without cracking. My old time brake man said that years ago woven lining used a soft resin that was designed to harden after the first several times the brakes get hot. Even though they still produce replacement woven-type linings today, they now use a hard resin from the start. He tried to find a way to soften them long enough for installation, but was unsuccessful. Since our original lining wasn't too bad, as it was more of a drum wear issue, we opted to shim the original linings (which is an accepted practice -- there really is such a thing as brake lining shim.

I don't know if this helps you or not, but figured I'd pass along the information.

And if '17's still have the roller-type brake cams, check the rollers for flat spots and rebuild them if necessary. The roller pins also get tremendous wear on them, and you loose a lot of shoe travel from all the combined wear in the assembly.

[mark plante]

Walter, I can not figure out how to take my rear wood spoke wheels off my R&L to get to the brake shoes. The wheel and inner bearing seem to be pressed onto the axle?? Help?? Thanks, Mark

[W_Higgins]

Sorry for missing this for so long. You've probably figured it out by now.

If your car is the same, you need to remove the axle flange nuts and remove the plate and axle as an assembly. From there, you remove the jam nut, jam nut lock washer, and bearing nut. And the part I think you're stuck on.... I have to lay on the ground and kick the inside of the tire with my foot while somebody else holds the slack from the other side. Even cleaned-up and burr-free, I still have to do it this way every time.

Hope this helps.

[mark plante]

Walter, I haven't tried lying down to kick it from the other side -- I will try a variation of this. I will let you know --what's your email address --mine is mpl1736664@aol.com

Thanks, Mark

[W_Higgins]

Hi Mark. My email address in the PM I sent to you at the time I sent the previous reply.

[W_Higgins]

I meant to add that a wheel puller can probably be used, just whenever I find myself down there working on the car I never know to bring my pullers. Not even sure if I have one that will screw onto a hub that big, and then you'd have to concoct something for the screw to press against since at that point you have nothing but a tube.

[mark plante]

Walter, I got the wheels off no problem. Thanks, Mark

[W_Higgins]

Glad you got it. Was your '17 configured the way I described the '16?

Below are some pictures of the brake cam assemblies we rebuilt that you might find helpful. Took a little doing to find what was holding everything together.

This car has now been taken out of service for a thorough cosmetic and minor mechanical restoration. We'd be delighted to continue to compare notes as there is such a limited supply of information out there. If you hit a roadblock in removing the clock let me know as we've been through that already.