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Grabbing front brakes on my '37'


Jim Nelson

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I have completed these items but it still grabs on my  right front brake.     New fluid to get it set up to use.     Reground drums,   New shoes that look to be in very good contact with drums.     I did not cam ground them as you could put a paper shim between them with no gaps,      new slave cylinders,   rebuilt master cylinder (was in great condition but I rebuilt it anyway.   New flex hose from front system to torque tube system.  New front hoses to each front wheel slave cyl.,     I adjusted it from normal adjustment to loosen it to see if that does help - no change !      ?  All hydraulic piping is clean and blown thru them to make sure they were free of any restrictions.    I've done brakes in the past - (30 plus years experience on our Buicks - 36 thru 55.   So,  I'm not a newby ).    I need help !  !     

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Look for something loose/worn in the suspension or steering allowing that wheel to pull back into toe out under braking load.

 

Scrutinize the GOOD side brake also, maybe it is the defective one (rather than the one that seems to grab).

 

Look for a ridge on the inside edge of the contact surface of the drum. Were they turned? Sometimes the new linings will have a nice square edge, but the old worn linings were less square at the edge. Filing a slight bevel along the edges of the new shoes can fix it.

Edited by Bloo (see edit history)
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I had brake pulling to the right on my 1938 Special which turned out to be leaking inner wheel bearing seals. Replaced the seals but also had to replace the brake shoes as the grease had contaminated them. Did a major brake adjustment when I installed the new shoes and the car brakes perfectly now. 

 

Steve D 

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On 5/25/2020 at 12:53 PM, Bloo said:

Look for something loose/worn in the suspension or steering allowing that wheel to pull back into toe out under braking load.

 

Scrutinize the GOOD side brake also, maybe it is the defective one (rather than the one that seems to grab).

 

Look for a ridge on the inside edge of the contact surface of the drum. Were they turned? Sometimes the new linings will have a nice square edge, but the old worn linings were less square at the edge. Filing a slight bevel along the edges of the new shoes can fix it.

Good point.

 

I would go over the left side, maybe its not working as it should and bringing the attention to the right.

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One more thing to check is shoe linings. I had a lot of grabbing issues one time after I replaced my brake shoes.  I discovered that the linings were all the same size.  Shoes are supposed to have one lining shorter than the other.  I ground one shoe shorter and the grabbing issue went away.  The newly manufactured shoes were made incorrectly.

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Well,  I have issues with parts that don't work (replacement) and original place of manufacturing.   Check the box they came in and see if they were made 8000 miles away.    Just checking,   Price is not the issue when it comes to safety parts - - -   To much crap being thrown at us today,   Just checking - - -

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  • 2 weeks later...

I took the left side drum off today and looked everything over and repacked the bearings.Everything looks good except the inner race of the rear wheel bearing has a small dent,it's smooth and I don't think it I where the ball bearings make contact.I'll probably be safe and replace it anyway.Later this week I'll look at the other side.Greg

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