Preventative maint in wheel area

[Asymair95]

I am replacing all the tires on my 1078 ao and would like to perform any required maint inside the hub area while the wheel is off. So far I have:

Freed up stuck brake adjusters
Removed lots of rust
Inspected brake pads
Changed hub oil

The pmcs talks about greasing the wheel bearings, but I’m not comfortable digging that far in. It does not currently leak fluid or anything.

Is there anything else I should do in here while I have access? Thanks for the help guys.

 

[Ronmar]

If your adjusters were stiff, I would suggest you also pull the wedges and self adjuster pawls(under the hex head caps/plugs) out and clean and re-lube them. Stiff nasty grease will keep the auto-adjusters from operating properly when you depress the pedal. If you pull the pawls out, pay attention to where they came out of(Mark them with a sharpie). They have an angled sawtooth pattern that must interface with the sawtooth spiral on the outer cylinder correctly for the auto-adjuster to rotate/operate properly.

 

[Asymair95]

Ron,
Got any tips for removing and installing the brake springs? I saw a video Wes did where he used a screwdriver to do it, but he had the hubs removed with better access.

 

[Ronmar]

The springs are not that difficult. To remove I take a large cheap standard screwdriver(18”) and grind a small notch in the middle of the blade To fit and hold the hook wire. I work this in between the spring hook so I can Push on the handle and extend the spring enough so the hook tip clears the hole.

To put the spring back on, I use a piece of 1” X 1/8” steel strap about 10-12” long. I place the strap perpendicular to the brake shoe center plate near the hole and I hook the hook over the side near the end touching the center plate. Then I use a crescent wrench to twist the strap which extends the spring and gets the tip of the hook to the hole. Then I use that modified screwdriver to push the tip of the hook back into the hole.

 

[Asymair95]

Great, will give it a shot, thank you.

 

[19Detail]

I had luck passing a wire loop though the back of the brake pad onto the spring and using that to guide it into the hole. It wasn't easy, but it was do-able.