RE: Wheels and Brakes..

[Jim Grammer <jimg@domain.elided>]

>ried taking a look at the front brakes on the '59 A-102 last night.
>ollowed the instructions in the manual... <snip>
>o, the question.  It does not seem to me that this really tight fit should
>be happening... I guessed that the brake return springs might be shot and
>that is why the pads are farther out than they should be?  OR, is this 
normal
>when removing a wheel?  And if it is... how do you get the wheel back 
on?..
>seems light you would have to compress the pads somehow to make the 
initial
>room for sliding on the wheel?  Or is that what the that little 'star'
>adjustment screw is for that you have to access through a little hole in 
the
>back plate?  Which raises another question - there is a cover on that 
little
>slot of a hole... that I did not feel like breaking while forcing it off.. 
is
>there a trick to removing that little cover?

Jeffery -

Totally normal. In fact, my shop manual has pictures of the procedure for 
loosening the adjustment. Ya better know how to do this right, 'cause yer 
gonna have to adjust them correctly once they're back on, otherwise you 
risk making your master cylinder plunger travel too far in it's bore. That 
could give you either no brakes, or if there's corrosion in the bore it 
could trash the seal instantly. You also need to get the shoe/drum 
clearance set so that the truck doesn't pull to one side(VERY dangerous!) 
and one end doesn't lock up before the other(that's a compromise loaded vs. 
unloaded for a truck).You'll want to pick up a brake adjusting 'spoon' tool 
at the parts house. They're cheap, and a screwdriver is not an acceptable 
substitute IMHO. The rubber cover for the adjuster slot prys out with a 
sharp implement, don't worry if you trash it, universal replacements are 
readily available. The paranoid old man in me wants to say "please 
understand exactly what you're doing and why before doing any work on your 
brakes". Your life and others literally depends upon the work being done 
correctly, and there's only 1 right way...

JIm