lousy front brake

[cscott]

does anyone know how well the front brake on a 1940 4 should work, because the one on mine does not do much, checked the drum and pads everything looks good, any upgrades to improve the stopping power?? thanks chris

[INLINE4NUT]

Mine works just fine........considering its a 1941 FOUR !!!! I always use both brakes and try to plan ahead.Long time ago I had the same thought!
I have even thought of putting a disc brake on my bobber FOUR ! I know I hear the noise now but what the hell f they wud of had them in 1941 Im sure someone would have hooked one up!

[Paps]

None of the early brake drum setups work as well as todays brake setups but you can obtain better performance out of your drum brakes by providing a better shoe to drum fit, [radius to radius] and deglazing both the lining and the drum surface. The more contact area you acheive between the shoe and drum, the more stopping power you will have. Paps

[inrustwetrust]

If you glue a piece of sandpaper to the drum with spray glue and keep working the linings into it with the brake backing plate, you will be real close to having them making 100% contact. I believe that is called arcing the shoes. If the drum is badly grooved or out of round, it is very difficult to ever get good contact. If you really want to do it to the nines, find a competent machinist and have him recut the drum. On the rear drums, be extra careful to check the drum thickness, as they can get especially thin, and the sprocket is attached to it.