Thread: 12 inch 37 to 41 brakes?

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Hey all, I just came across a complete front axle for my 32 project. It looks like a 39 or so(hydraulic) , has the round spindles like 37-41, but unlike others I have seen it has adjustable anchors at the bottom of the shoes and they are 12 inch dia drums. Could these possibly be Lincoln Brakes?

Thanks

Originally Posted by Ralph Moore

........but unlike others I have seen it has adjustable anchors at the bottom of the shoes and they are 12 inch dia drums. Could these possibly be Lincoln Brakes?

Thanks

Your description is a bit confusing, but that may be due to differences in the understanding of "others I have seen" in reference to early Fords. If by your description you mean that the bottom of the brake shoes pivot on "bolts" that go through the backing plate and have a cam mechanism to adjust the surface of the shoe closer or further from the drum surface, then those are original Ford Lockheed style brakes that came on '39-48 Fords. The brakes that Lincolns were equipped with in that same era were the more common (to the rest of the automotive field) Bendix style with the cylinder at the top, retainer pins through the backing plate near mid shoe, and the bottoms free to move with the adjuster wheel and threaded ends that spread or contracted the shoes for adjustment. This second style could also come from Ford F2/250 trucks from '52-56, though the backing plate is slightly different than the earlier Lincoln.

Here's a line drawing of the '39-42, '46-48 are similar.

Thanks, most of the ones I've seen have non adjustable pins at the bottom, these were adjustable so I assumed they were something other than standard Ford. I have a set out of a 52 Ford F100 and know what you are talking about there. So it's most likely someone put later 42-48 brakes on these 37 to 41 spindles, but what throws me is the size of the drum. I thought the standard drums were not 12".

What was throwing us was that bottom adjustment you are talking about. We were envisioning a star wheel that you insert a brake spoon to turn to adjust. I think Bob nailed it that you are really talking about a couple of studs sticking out of the bottom with flattened ends so you can loosen a the nut with a wrench then turn the stud with a smaller wrench. If so, those are '39-41 style. The ones you are referring to with only two adjustment bolts up top are called '42-48 style ( I am doing the years from memory, could be off a little) But essentially, Ford improved the later ones to only need a minor adjustment, whereas the early ones had minor and major adjustment bolts.

My '27 has what you have, and my '23 has the later ones, both are fine, only different.

Don

Just to clarify a couple things in case anyone else stumbles across this in the future.

Not sure what Ford brakes you've seen that weren't adjustable at the pivot. All the ones I've ever dealt with from '39 up had the adjustment cams, otherwise you couldn't get full contact with the drum face. As for the F100 brakes you mentioned, they are 11" rather than the 12 that was typical for '39=48. The Lincolns and the F2/F250 are 12". And for one more point of clarity, the stock '39-48 passenger car shoes are 1 3/4" wide, the F100, Lincoln, and F2/F250 are 2" wide.

EDIT; Pops comments about '46-48 is a better clarification than mine probably appears.