Mechanical Brake Linkage -- Lube It?

[Guest Paterson Chris]

I'm going through the braking system on my namesake car -- '22 Paterson -- and as I scrape off decades of dirt and oil on the brake rods, turnbuckles, clevis's, ad nauseum, I'm left with the question of: should I oil/ lube all of these little connections, clevis's and threads and bearing points again? Anything I lube is just going to attract dirt again and act as a sort of grinding paste, right? And make things worse? And even cause all of this linkage to bind up and become stiff again?

What is accepted practice now with 80+ years of hindsight? Lube or don't lube? And if I'm supposed to lube (are you guys are going to tell me to do it on a regular basis now -- like every week?) , do I use a can of "3-in-1" or "Never Seize"?

Thanks --

Chris

[JFranklin]

If you bought that car new you most likely cleaned and lubed those parts regularly. If you hadn't see evedence of such, the parts would have been worn and gone by now.

[TexRiv_63]

All the clevis's and wear points should be oiled with engine oil or greased if they have a fitting on a regular basis, at least every 500 miles. Owning a car back then was a lot of work unless you had a chauffeur to do it!

[jan arnett (2)]

I put a touch of lubriplate on all wear points every winter. It gives you an excuse to examine each point to make sure you have no potential failures waiting for you. I use chassis grease in the grease cups and alemite fittings.

[jan arnett (2)]

How about pictures of your car

[Mark Shaw]

I have used motorcycle chain lube in a spray can to lube "hard to get to" parts with good success. Just wipe off excess lube if you are concerned about dirt accumulation, but don't operate without lube.

[Guest Paterson Chris]

What a learning experience this has been.

I can see now the importance of when rebuilding the brakes, not just addressing everything at each wheel, but following through on everything starting with the foot and hand brake controls on back. In particular I found that the cross shaft/ equalizer assembly (in pictures above the drive shaft) had its bearing points so jammed full of fine red rust/ dried out grease/ fine dirt, that it was very stiff to move. A quick disassembly, thorough cleaning with a wire brush at all points followed by lubing everything, and WOW what a difference this will make when I'm done! This was one of those really gratifying repairs that's been begging to be fixed but because it lies hidden in anonymity, is easily overlooked. I won't make that mistake again.

[Guest stude8]

Depending on amount of use, the wear on all the clevis pins may result in a significant cumulative "Slop" when pressing on the brake pedal before the shoes get the activation.

I would inspect for the possible subtitution of machine screws for the lost or broken clevis pins over the years, they are not case hardened like the proper clevis pins are and threaded diameters abraid the clevis bores.

Make a shopping list of correct sizes and buy a bag of new pins at McMaster-Carr for a mass replacement of the worn parts for the best results since you now know how deferred maintenance has taken its toll.

Stude8

[Guest]

Many years ago I was told never to lubricate a clevis pin type of linkage. The lube attracts dust and dust wears. I have never lubricated any of the linkage on my "Midland Superior" brakes except for the after market cables tha came with a grease fitting. Two years ago, after 470,000 miles I replaced all the clevis pins as they were starting to wear.

My experience after driving the same car for 50 years says not to lubricate.

[Guest Paterson Chris]

First, my car hasn't been driven since sometime not too long after 1953 (according to the date stamp on the mummified Wards battery found still under the seat). This jives with what the former owner told me as he drove it home from Milwaukee to the family ranch in Draper, South Dakota at the end of WWII. I mention this for those who think it has 80+ years of mechanical wear and not the 30 that it really has. Clevis pins are all original and all bearing points have so little wear that I wonder if it's worth the bother of cleaning up the marginal slop that exists at those few points that do.

I would like to not grease at all the clevis pin points because I understand the logic of not doing so (dirt = de facto grinding paste) but what about the brake shafts that (that the brake rods attach to)? Those assemblies are just as exposed and open to the elements as all of the clevis pins.

There are obviously two schools of thought here so i want to determine which is the one that works over the long term?

Chris

[Guest Paterson Chris]

Anyone else with real-world experience like Tinindian?

[Mark Shaw]

I am not old enough or drive my brass era car enough to have TinIndian's miles of experience .

However, to quote my 1913 Buick manual....

"a few drops of lubricating oil will add much to the ease of handling....In general it is to be remembered that wherever metal surfaces come in working contact with each other, more or less lubrication is necessary"

You can make your own choice, but I will continue to lube my brake rods and clevice pins with motor oil or chain lube where needed. I seldom drive my cars on dirt roads and have not seen any significant wear on these parts.

My 2 cents...

[1929Chrysler]

I obviously don't have the driving experience as Tinindian either but looking at this from a common sense perspective, I would look at it from this point of view. You obviously care very deeply about your car as do most of us on this forum. We are all interested in preserving these beauties for the long haul. I think where the theory of not lubing may have come into play are the people back in the day who did not care about proper and regular maintenance. These are the ones who neglected their rides as do many current auto owners of todays cars.

If you plan on neglecting your precious vintage vehicle then maybe lubing may create the wearing paste you refer to. If you plan on paying attention to maintenance which I think you will, then lubing in the way others have previously suggested is the way to go.

Just my opinion.

Dan

[Larry Schramm]

I agree with Mark and lube all of the contact points. You do not want to have a dry joint as it will wear worse than a lubed joint with some dirt. The paste issue that would wear the joint would seem to be more an issue with water than oil or grease. My 2cents worth

[Guest Paterson Chris]

Alright, I'll keep everything lubed and make it a point to check and maintain it much more frequently than previous owners ever did. I'm also going to keep all fittings stock -- within reason -- as it's assumed to be one of only a handful of this make's examples still extant and all original at that. Thanks for the input guys. I appreciate the dialogue that this has made.

Chris

[Guest my chevy]

I have seen graphite in spray cans. It sprays on and the carrier evaporates and leaves a dry graphite coating that won't attract dirt. I will be using that on my 35 Chevy.

Mike

[Guest]

I was just reading my shop manual. Contrary to my belief and what I have done the manual says to lube all the clevis pins occasionaly. Obviously I have been in error for fifty years. Ah well cie la vie.

[Ben Bruce aka First Born]

Ah well Reid, at least you are able to admit to learning something new!

Ben

[HarryJ]

Tinindian,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,470,000 miles!......I noticed. Chris, yes lube and adjust your mechanical brake system.

[Guest martylum]

Hi-when your car was new almost all of its operation would have been on dirt roads-today it will be almost all on paved roads except for a few dirt roads encountered on Old car tours. This means very little dust will be encountered. The other point is you'll be unlikely to drive many miles so wear is hardly a factor.

I would definitely lube and then clean away the excess for easiest braking as you have only rear wheel braking action.

I rebuilt the brakes on a 24 Dodge which had been sitting indoors many years. All the brake linkages were completely locked up tight with rust. I sure wish those items had been lubed as we had the devils own time getting things apart.

Martin lum

[keiser31]

As an ex-full time brake mechanic, I would agree with martylum. Lube all brake links. There is not as much road dirt as there used to be. Your vigilant maintenance will keep the dirt from building up.

Edited August 26, 2009 by keiser31 (see edit history)

[Guest martylum]

Hi-when your car was new almost all of its operation would have been on dirt roads-today it will be almost all on paved roads except for a few dirt roads encountered on Old car tours. This means very little dust will be encountered. The other point is you'll be unlikely to drive many miles so wear is hardly a factor.

I would definitely lube and then clean away the excess for easiest braking as you have only rear wheel braking action.

I rebuilt the brakes on a 24 Dodge which had been sitting indoors many years. All the brake linkages were completely locked up tight with rust. I sure wish those items had been lubed as we had the devils own time getting things apart.

Martin lum

[Guest Fr Mike]

Anybody have thoughts about using dry lube such as many bicycle tourers use on the chain and deraileur to avoid accumulating grit etc.?

Edited August 27, 2009 by Fr Mike (see edit history)

[jan arnett (2)]

I use dry lubricates on my bikes but would not use it on my cars. They serve very different functions. The bike chain is constant rotating and tends to sling the dust away. You also have closer tolerance then a brake clevis. I also doubt if my bike chain will wear out. In a car you have a different situation where mud, sand and dust will be picked up but unless you do a lot of cleaning under the car every time you will not be cleaning it. As I said earlier I check my connections once a year after I put it in the garage. I want something that will block the water and suspend the dirt in a joint. The joint has a large tolerance not a tight tolerance. Where it goes thru the backing place it has a closer tolerance. If you are concerned about geting dirt in a joint you can put a boot on it. I used to put gaiters on my model t racing cars and then I put grease and graphite between the leafs. I am currently making up a boot for my 1923 Dodge drive shaft but this is to keep grit out of the drive shaft.

You have a very rare car an I applaude your effort and concern to keep it original but their are a million Model T's on the road and I think most drivers just use a little bearing grease.

Have fun with it and I would like to see more pictures

[Guest Paterson Chris]

I'm going to add that I think an additional benefit to having disassembled, cleaned and lubed everything will be a cooler running car too. I had found that all of that linkage, bell cranks, and bearing points were so stiff with dried out grease and dirt that the brakes weren't quite releasing like they should. The last time I had the car out was last summer and at that time I'd only replaced the brake linings without going any further. I then drove it a few blocks around town and noticed how it seemed to be running hot but would cool again when allowed to stop. I hadn't taken it out since so maybe by my addressing incremental repairs like this it will only continue to run better. At the least it shows how seemingly unrelated things can effect and even benefit somewhere else. I'm happy to see the night and day difference in the freedom of movement with the braking system now. So that alone was worth it.

Chris