New Issue of BRAKE & FRONT END

Sorry about the lack of posts over the past few days, BRAKE & FRONT END was in production. It is a great issue that should be hitting your mail boxes in the next couple of weeks. I am really proud of the magazine this month. We have two great feature stories from Gene Markel and Glen Beanard. This are brand spanking new articles that as unique as the writers. Also, we have Mitch Schneider and his words of wisdom. Below, are some previews of the articles. The articles in their entirity will be posted to the BRAKE & FRONT END website shortly.

Drum Brake Self Adjusters
By Gene Markel

Before 1955, drum brakes required periodic adjustment. As the linings wore, the piston in the wheel cylinder would have to travel further to engage the shoe with the drum friction surface. The return springs would retract the wheel cylinder piston to its rest position. This caused the brake pedal to move closer to the floorboard when the brakes were applied. This was commonly referred to as low pedal.
Adjusting the brakes would move the shoes closer the drum friction surface and reduce the travel of the wheel cylinder piston. It also required more fluid in the wheel cylinder to apply the brakes. Adjustments were made by manually turning the notched wheel on the adjuster with a brake spoon for the self-energizing type…

Good Vibrations
By Glen Beanard

Wouldn’t it be great if various vibrations in the car were something that we could measure, sort through, select one, and assign numbers to it that can be used to find its source? Wouldn’t be even better if we could determine by the numbers whether the vibration was a balance issue or excessive runout with the component? Well, we can and by the end of this article you will see how it is done.

Understanding Vibrations
Imagine what often happens to a steering wheel during braking when the rotors are causing a brake pulsation. Imagine the steering wheel oscillating back and forth. An example of one complete cycle is when the wheel starts out center, moves to its farthest distance in one direction, passes center to the other direction, and then returns to center.
Hertz (Hz) is a measurement of how much of this cycle, or how many of these cycles occur over one second. 0.5Hz is 1/2 of the cycle over one second, 1 Hz is one complete cycle over one second, and 2 Hz is 2 cycles over one second and so on. 1 Hz is also equal to one revolution per second…

Magic Beans
By Mitch Schneider

What could I possibly have in common with Jack, as in the Jack of “Jack and the Beanstalk” fame? Not much, you would think. But, we actually have something very basic in common. We both planted something in the ground with almost no idea of what the result might be.
Sure, Jack knew he had seeds and the seeds were supposed to be magical. But, do you really think he had any idea what he was in for? Do you really believe he was prepared for the beanstalk, the giant, the golden eggs or any of that stuff? I don’t. I think he planted the seeds because that’s what he thought he was supposed to do and was pleasantly surprised by how well things seemed to work out.
I did virtually the same thing. I planted some lifts in the ground without knowing exactly what would follow and the results were just about as spectacular. Jack’s adventure may have taken place in a fairy tale, while mine was firmly planted in reality at 607 East Los Angeles Ave., Simi Valley, CA….