41 Commander brakes

[drummerboy]

Hello all

When I brought my 41 Commander from WA to BC I had to have it safety inspected. Work was done to the brakes: shoes, wheel cylinders, master cylinder, hoses replaced. I’m still not really happy with the brakes and have chalked it up to the 70 year old technolgy. I know Turner brakes has disc kits for 47 and later Studebakers but that doesn’t really help. I spoke with some local car club people and they said that often they will keep the drum brakes but add a modern brake booster and dual chamber master cylinder from a vehicle such as a Nissan (apparently the booster is small). Has any forum membere done such an upgrade on their vehicle, and if so, can you describe what equipment/process was used? I am also posting this inquiry to the SDC forum. Thanks in advance.

[studerex]

41 Commander brakes are fine. Maybe you should have someone with Stude experience look at them again. Is this stock or modified drivetrain?

[Gary_Ash]

If you want to move up to the most-modern drum brakes for your car, you should be able to use the backing plates, wheel cylinders, shoes, springs, and other small parts from the 1963-64 half-ton trucks (8E series). These should bolt directly onto your spindles with no modifications and use the same 11" drums and hubs from your car. These are the same self-energizing brakes used in the late-model Larks to 1966. While the backing plates may take a little searching, all of the other parts are easily available, including NAPA, and are cheap. In a pinch, you can even use the backing plates from a 1960's V-8 Lark with 11" brakes and re-drill them for the bolt pattern of your spindles.

You'll need to use the later hoses and parking brake cable, too. I have these on my 1948 M5 truck and they work very well, easy to adjust. The changes are not visible unless you are lying under the car staring at the backing plates.

Check with Jim Turner, but I think that one of his truck kits for disk brakes ('41-'64 half-ton)will also fit your '41 Commander.

Edited July 14, 2011 by Gary_Ash (see edit history)

[drummerboy]

Thanks for the replies. The Commander is all stock except for the paint, I will get the local Studebaker expert to have a look at the brakes to make sure all is right. In this part of Canada (near Whistler) there are some very steep hills and I am somewhat nervous to take the car any distance because I would prefer a dual chamber master cylinder, If I find that everything is set up properly and the brakes are still not what I'd like, I'll contact Jim Turner. If a solution can't be found there, I may try the 8E series route, Gary, did this system employ a dual chamber master cylinder?

Cheers!

[dictator27]

If you had the brake shoes relined, modern brake lining material is harder than the original because of reduced asbestos. This raises the amount of pedal effort needed. Otherwise the brake system is quite capable of dealing with modern conditions.

See you at the zone meet.

Terry

[drummerboy]

That's a good point, Terry. The shoes were relined and although the car stops better than when I got it, it seems more effort is required if that makes any sense. See you at the zone meet and I guess I better leave enough space in front of me on the ASC tour. Cheers!