brake pedal height and adjustment

[lsansone]

hi guys
where do you guys feel the pedal firm up on your 5 tons? my m817 stops fine - 50 mph I can lock up all the wheels. But it does not happen until 3/4 the way down on the pedal stroke. seems to far to me. I tried pumping the brakes up and the firmness is always at the same spot.

talked to one guy who said that there is an adjustment between the pedal linkage and the MC of less than 3/4". have to look at that tonight. But I thought I would ask the community. I have not gone around and checked the brake shoes, but my unimogs have similar adjusters on them, so I am familar with them.

Just to refresh my memory, is it " turn the bolts out to bring the shoe out?"

thanks
lou

 

[Westech]

yup. I would rear the TM to figure out all the adjustments that are made to the braking system. I WOULD for sure take a look at the shoes also. If you take the rims off there is a little "tab" bolted to the brake drum. Take that off and you can inspect the brake linings.

 

[doghead]

Brake pedal travel, master-cylinder and brake-shoe adjustment is covered in the TMs. Simple step by step instructions.

From your question above, you are not familiar with the brake-shoe adjustment, look at the pictures and read the instructions , before touching anything.

If your not familiar with the TMs, then we need to work on that.

 

[Westech]

yeah

 

[lsansone]

ok guys
I can see you are experienced. you are right - read the manual. I just did that and see the adjustment you mention. they seem to be just like my unimogs. And they were - turn the nuts out to make contact ( the top ones), and the bottom ones dont matter, but I still remember - turn the bolts out to make contact.

like I said, you are right to point me back to the manual - thanks

but still more questions

1. Question still about the pedal travel. in practice do you guys have the pedal right at the top ?

2. do you actually take all the wheels off and do the feeler gauge thing or get it close with the "slight drag' method.

thanks
lou

 

[Westech]

I do not use a feeler gauge, I just adjust them to feel with the tires on and the axle jacked up. When ever I have the rims off I do check the thickness of the shoes by removing the little tin cover.

 

[lsansone]

westech
sounds good. how about the location of the brake pedal when it is getting hard? is it at the top?

At any rate, I will be going around to check all 6 drums. I like the idea of the window to check things with. seems like a great idea.

thanks
lou

 

[WOLFMAN1]

I AGREE WITH MOST OF THESE GUYS. IT IS BEST TO READ THE TMS. IF YOU HAVE A HARD TIME GETTING YOIUR HANDS ON ANY. THERE IS A GUY ON THE INTERNET SELLING COMPLETE MANUALS ON EBAY ON CDS CHEAPER THAN YOU WOULD FIND ON A SINGLE BOOK. THE CD I BOUGHT COVERS ALL DEUCES AND SOME 5 TONS. I BOUGHT IT FOR 5- 15 DOLLARS. IT COVERS THE LUBE ORDERS AND TM AND EXTRA STUFF WHERE PEOPLE LEARNED NEW AND BETTER WAYS TO FIX THEIR TRUCKS. ALL I REMEMBER IS THAT HE WAS SELLING THEM ON EBAY MOTORS. IF ANYONE HAS A QUESTION ABOUT A DEUCE AND HALF SERIES TRUCK ASK ME AND I SHOULD BE ABLE TO LOOK IT UP ON MY CDS. THE RESOURCES ARE OUT THERE IT'S JUST FINDING IT.

_________________________________________________
1952 STUDEBAKER M35 GASSER CARGO

 

[doghead]

Most of my brake pedals seem to go down about 2 inches(I think that is what the TM says also).

I remove my wheels and use a feeler gauger through the window. I don't follow the TM exactly though. I do the bottom first then the top and I set them both at .015" and leave them like that. I get a good brake pedal like this and there is no human misinterpretation/guessing, as the TM calls for in the gap setting then tightening, then backing off, procedure as it reads in the TM.

 

[lsansone]

followed westech's recommendation and a world of difference in the pedal - as I said, they are just like my unimogs adjustment, except they dont have that nice window to check things. the bottom adjusters were pretty much on, but looks like all of the top ecentric (sp) adjusters were off quite a bit. That makes sense because the pedal is up at where doghead says it should be. I think if it were the lower adjusters, you would not see such a difference in pedal, but the stopping power would not be as good.

I agree with doghead, that the best way would be take all the tires off and do the feeler gauge thing.

one thing i have found helpful is an infared temp gun. I will take the m817 out tomorrow and do a quick check of the drums.

thanks again for the help

lou

 

[doghead]

Yeah, an IR gun is a very handy tool! I use mine for all sorts of things. When I drove back down Pikes Peak recently, I was surprised to see you had to stop at a check point part way down. They used an IR gun to check your front brake temps! I asked what temp was too hot. He said, 300F. A car ahead of me was at 500!(I could smell it too). I asked what they did before the IR guns were so cheap and popular, he said smell and touch(and get alot of blisters)!

 

[wdbtchr]

confused?

Ok I give up, I can't figure out which manual covers adjusting the brakes. Is it some kind of secret or initiation rite? I'm getting cross eyed trying to read the subject for each manual, whose idea was to use white on green? Or can someone tell me how to make the font larger?

 

[lsansone]

I was using tm 9-2320-260-20 section 8

 

[wdbtchr]

Thanks, that explains why I couldn't find it I misplaced my 20 manual.