Parking brake

JFromm

Was getting a clicking noise from the left rear wheel. I pulled off drum and noticed the lever between shoes was curved. Is that how it was made or did it curve or bend from stress? This is on my Jet. What could have caused the clicking noise? I had just adjusted the parking brake. Thanks

Jon B

John:

Are you speaking of the adjusting rod at the bottom, holding the two shoes apart? That should not be bent (or it will no longer screw, for adjustment).

Why not jack up the left rear, remove the wheel and the axle bolt, then spin the drum, trying to replicate the clicking noise?  Then you could try to pinpoint the location of the clicks 'cause you can get your head right in there.  Then you can yank the drum off easily, to see what's happening in the general vicinity of the clicks.

My guess is that some brake part has bent outward, and that it is hitting the rivets on the inside of the drum.  (Or don't the Jet drums have rivets, like my '37?)

Here's an off the wall problem you might be encountering: Do you hear the clicks only when rounding curves?

Several years ago I I encountered "clicks" from one rear drum, only when I was turning corners while driving.  It turned out that the thrust button at the center of the axle shaft, had worn.  Thus, the entire axle shaft was sliding inwards and outwards by maybe 1/16" (and that included the brake drum and wheel, of course).  Rounding a corner made it slide even worse.  Every time the drum slid inwards, the rivets on the drum contacted the wheel cylinder on the backing plate!  Click-click-click.  The rivets were actually "machining" a gouge in the wheel cylinder.  Replacing the axle shaft with another shaft (whose inner thrust button was not worn) solved the problem.

Geoff

JFromm said:

Was getting a clicking noise from the left rear wheel. I pulled off drum and noticed the lever between shoes was curved. Is that how it was made or did it curve or bend from stress? This is on my Jet. What could have caused the clicking noise? I had just adjusted the parking brake. Thanks

John, the lever is curved.  This is the link that connects to the rear shoe, and there is a straight bar between the two shoes.  The lever is prpbably bent slightly outwards, and hitting the drum edge.  Just bend it inwards.

Geoff

JFromm

Geoff,

Made a mistake in terminology. It was the bar that was curved. I flattened it out and reassembled and then put drum back on. Then I disconnected the parking brake cables and the noise disappeared. Apparently I somehow adjusted the cables too tightly last week. I readjusted cables and now noise is gone.

Thanks.  

Geoff

Glad you got it sorted John.  This brake is not very good, in that if you adjust the shoes by turning the eccentric pegs you also have to adjust the cables, whereas with the Bendix brakes used on the step downs you only have to adjust the star wheel and this does not affect the hand brake.  I wonder how that flat bar got bent??? Best wishes to you and Laurie

Geoff