Photography by The Author & COURTESY OF SPEEDWAY MOTORS
ince the days of the Model T, hot rodders have been finding ways to make Fords go faster. Ironically, as those efforts became more successful, it became obvious that old Fords needed to stop more effectively as well.
Although Henry Ford’s mechanical intellect was staggering on one hand, on the other hand his conservative nature often influenced his decisions. When the Model As for 1928 were introduced, they were equipped with four-wheel mechanically operated drum brakes. Certainly, it was an advancement compared to the Model T, which only had a pedal-operated single brake band inside the planetary transmission and lever-actuated “emergency brakes” on the rear wheels. However, Ford continued to use mechanically operated brakes long after other manufacturers had made the change to hydraulics; Duesenberg introduced hydraulic brakes in 1921, and by the mid 1930s virtually all manufacturers had made the switch. Part of Henry’s hesitation to make the change to hydraulic brakes probably had something to do with the fact that the early systems were prone to leakage, so he felt more comfortable with mechanical linkages. However, an even more compelling reason may have been that the company would have had to pay royalties to the owners of the various brake patents and Henry liked total control of the vehicles he produced.
When Henry finally relented and switched to hydraulic brakes in 1939, two different designs were used: Fords and Mercurys used Lockheed-style brakes, while the upscale Lincoln used Bendix-style brakes. The Lockheed design has a pair of brake shoes, each anchored at the bottom of the backing plate. As a result, the shoes operate independently of each other. The Bendix self-energizing brakes use shoes that are hooked together at the bottom by a spring and adjuster and are held to the backing plates by pins, springs, and retainers. Mounted this way, they are free to move slightly on the backing plate. When these brakes are applied, the front brake shoe contacts the revolving drum and tries to rotate with it. That movement is transferred through the adjuster to the rear shoe, pushing it into the drum with increased force, making it more effective than the Lockheed design.
Over the years, there have been an untold number of brake adaptations for early Fords. Certainly, the most popular was the installation of 1939-and-later “juice” brakes on those early models equipped with mechanical brakes. Even the Lockheed brakes provided a noticeable increase in stopping power compared to the mechanical designs, particularly important with a hopped-up engine. Of course, the hot setup was the installation of Lincoln Bendix brakes. But not all Lincoln brakes were the same.
Between 1939 and 1948, Lincoln front backing plates had three different depth recesses where the spindles fit. The 1941 only had front backing plates and all the rear backing plates were almost flat, making them the easiest to install without spacers or modifications. But the reality is that as good as these brakes are, finding any original Lincoln components is extremely difficult, making the reproductions available from Speedway Motors the sensible choice. New components that work well and bolt on with no modifications are hard to beat.
A popular addition that hot rodders often made to early Ford brakes was the installation of aluminum brake drums found on 1958 to 1970 Buicks. These cars used 12-inch, finned aluminum drums with iron liners (1958 through 1965 drums had 45 fins 1 inch apart; later drums had 90 fins 1/2 inch apart). The advantage of these brake drums is the finned aluminum outer surface dissipates heat much more effectively than a standard cast-iron drum, which helps prevent brake fade. While that may not be a huge problem in most cases, there’s no denying the visual impact. Like the Lincoln brakes, serviceable original aluminum Buick brake drums are hard to find. However, Speedway Motors once again comes to the rescue with new reproductions.
Another popular swap for early Fords is the use of 1953 to 1956 Ford F-100 brake assemblies. Assemblies from model year 1953 through 1956 will work. Other than pickup backing plates and hubs, the only additional parts needed are new inner bearings and seals. Early Fords and F-100s use the same outer bearings and cups (Timken PN 09067 bearing, Timken PN 09195 cup), but the inner bearings differ. F-100 spindles use a larger inner bearing, so a bearing with a smaller inside diameter is required. The replacement bearing needed is Timken (PN 14116). Its inside diameter matches that of the early Ford spindle with the correct outside diameter for the F-100 hubs. The stock F-100 inner cup (Timken PN 14276) uses a Victor seal (PN 49195 or CR PN 15761).
When it comes to stopping power, well-maintained and properly adjusted drum brakes are more than adequate for a lightweight early Ford hot rod. In operation, drum brakes can generate almost as much stopping power as disc brakes, but they can’t do it when repeated high-speed brake applications are involved. All brakes rely on friction between two surfaces to stop the car, and when those surfaces get hot, the coefficient of friction between them is reduced, and the brakes lose effectiveness; the term for this is brake fade. In this regard, disc brakes have an advantage over drums as many discs are exposed to air, which helps them cool. Compared with drum brakes, most of the friction surface is in contact with the brake drums, which leaves little surface area for cooling. As a result, drum brakes get hotter faster and stay hot longer.
Fade can be an issue in some circumstances, but it isn’t normally a concern for a street-driven, traditionally styled hot rod. When it comes to traditional hot rods, style is a critical factor, and for that, drums beat discs every time.
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