Brakes STILL stuck

Are all the wheels tight, or just one, or just the back....?

I had trouble with a '38 plymouth a while back with the brakes tightening up while driving the car around, and the solution was that the adjustment on the brake pedal push rod into the master cylinder was out of adjustment, not allowing the fluid to return to the reservoir. That caused all 4 wheels to tighten up. You could open an individual bleeder on a stuck wheel and see if it releases.

If it's just ONE front wheel, I'd consider the rubber hose to that wheel might be internally collapsed, not allowing the fluid to return to the reservoir after the brake pedal is released. If it's both rear wheels, then the rubber hose that delivers fluid to the rear differential might be the culprit.

If the hoses are known to be good, but one wheel won't release, then perhaps the return springs are weak?

I think what Tim is saying makes sense. If the drum is free before pressure is applied and then locks up It sounds like something isn't allowing the pressure to release. Opening the bleeder screw should relieve the pressue and free up the drum if that is what is happening.

Its only the drivers side rear. and the rubber hose looks good, but ill open the valve and see what the deal is. There is only one line going to the rear, this is correct right?

Chris, there is only one line going to the rear. But of course there is one rubber hose to each wheel cylinder.

welcome to the nightmare world of mopar brake adjustment. I took the wheels off several times and even made a rinky dink pad adjustment gizmo and still had problems because going by the book was impossible for me. I even diagrammed it and still, when I went under the car it was like trying to work using two mirrors backwards. I finally took the drums off and turned the adjusters and watched the shoes and drew arrows on the backsides to indicate tightening..put it all back together and tightened the shoes till the drum locked up them backed off a tad so they ran free. end of problem. I don't remember if the shoes are different fwd and rev, but if they are and you reversed them, one shoe might grab and lock it up. I like Tim's byline "it's supposed to be fun" Well sometimes it is.
dave

Paul is correct that there is a separate rubber hose going to each front wheel cylinder, but there's only one to the rear, and then there are steel lines running to each side of the car along the differential housing.

I would think that if the hose was the culprit on the rear, then both wheels would be locking up, not just one side.

Here's some scans from my '49 shop manual. Maybe they'll help. The images show the fancy gizmo that you read about on the Imperial pages. Wish I had one when I was doing the '38 Plymouth brakes. Saw one that was pretty complete on ebay go for around $1200 bucks. (sigh)

Yeah thats the fancy doohicky I was talkin about. But I already figured I was going to pull the drum again, so I guess I gotta measure and see what does what while its all torn apart (A-FLIPPIN-GAIN!)

Chris

When you put the drum back on, was it turning easily or binding up? If it was getting tight going on then adjustment is a problem. It is also very likely that the shoe is too thick. After re-lining, the shoes were meant to be arced to match the drum during the brake job. Did you open the bleeder yet to see if that freed it up? If that frees it up then maybe the hose is failing.

I did the brakes on my Power Wagon some years ago and they worked real good for a few miles then get hot and all lock up! Very frustrating. After a while they'd work again and then start locking up. As mentioned in a post above, the master cylinder push rod was too tight. After loosening it up the brakes worked great. If only that one wheel is locking up, that probably isn't your problem.

Of course, the wheel cylinder you rebuilt may be binding, but it would likely be leaking too. If the shoes are wet with oil or brake fluid, that will cause the brakes to lock up when you apply them. If the shoes were oily when you were in there, there really is no other choice than to replace them. If they are just a little oily, you can try soaking them in mineral spirits.

Have a nice day
Steve

I read that you can clean soaked brake linings by immersing them in rubbing alcohol and then heating them to evaporate the alcohol. We tried this on a project, but I got impatient and used my torch as a heat source, and over did it a bit.....

People that have a SWMBO in there lives have to be careful, but if you can get away with it, the oven would probably be a better heat source.

It's getting rare to find them, but an OLD service station may still have a brake shoe grinder. They kind of went the way of the dinosaur when everybody became afraid of asbestos. I bought one on ebay a while back, and it works great to correctly size the shoe to the drum. Sadly, the abrasive belts are obsolete, but creativity can solve that problem, too.......

And in case you didn't know.....SWMBO stands for "she who must be obeyed".........write it down, folks.

It was a bit tight, had to wiggle the drum on but I figured it was because of the key in the center.... But I havnt had a chance to touch it again. hopefully soon I will though. I would really like to drive this thing.

When you put the drum on, it should rotate freely, so the drum is binding on the shoes. The brake shoe mounting lug is also an adjuster. You can loosen the nuts on the back-side of the backing plate and rotate the post to move the shoes around. See if adjusting these loosens it up.

Good Luck
Steve

The brakes are no longer stuck!! It was those two bolts that hold on the shoes that have the offset pin. Jumped under there, turned them suckers a bit with the car up in the air on a jack and tightened it down making sure the wheel would still spin.

Boo-YAH! Just need to find some super cheap taillights now... lol