Steering, brake fade

[Michael R.]

When Richie said his machine stopped on the 1st through 2nd gear change it made me think the brake shoes are not backed off sufficiently from the initial adjustment procedure. Although the good book instructs to back off the adjuster cone four clicks from the 80 lb torque used when setting up the linkage, you may find this is not sufficient to prevent excessive brake drag. You must adjust the number of turns in order to acquire the brake being full on when the steering wheel is rotated to 162-168. HOWEVER, see the bottom of page 71 in the AOP instructions.

Remember Richie is not using asbestos linings as called for in the original manuals. Some new ground being covered here. The drums should be able to turn by hand without binding, somewhere along the way there is a comment about slight drag.

The parking brake should be full on at four stops on the ratchet. That could give an indication of how much brake pedal movement can be expected.

Leaving the track off, you can check for drag once you have dialed out the four clicks. Using all caution to prevent your fingers being caught by the scraper or scraper bracket, turn the drum by hand. Have someone operate the steering and brake to see that the shoes are properly expanding while you turn each drum by hand, but also retracting when the steering or brake is released...

The issue of the shoes not retracting was partially addressed with the Windsor carrier steering, where the long rods are fitted in the forward compartment with strong coil style return springs.



Points that should not be dismissed:
The British manual and Canadian manual show different ways to adjust the steering linkage. I believe Lynn mentioned a benefit in reading both manuals.

plungers properly handed and lubricated. It is quite easy to miss this requirement, as they will assemble without any indication of error.
the ability of the actuator housings to float,
long rod clevis installed on inside hole Which is inconsistent with the AOP manual ...


A common fault on the Canadian Ross steering box is a worn rocker shaft pin creating end play. As the Ross gear does not allow for the pin to be replaced, not too many current owners are repairing damaged pins or fitting new rocker shafts. Wear on the pin can allow the wheel to rotate a considerable distance left and right before the worm/cam shaft is engaged.



Using the adjuster gauges was helpful for me. Very helpful.
.
.
.

[Michael R.]

UC-F1 pages E1-E5

[Michael R.]

UC-F1 pages G1-G5 of six

[Michael R.]

UC-F1 page G6 plus four from the AOP manual

[Michael R.]

Aop 69-71 (+45)

[Michael R.]

From OM-I ... courtesy Stephen C.

[kevin powles]

Ross, Great notes there, a lot of time and trouble posting the info.......boy yes don't catch your fingers when rotating the hub .......boy it hurts!...even with gloves....ouch!.

[Petr Brezina]

Richie, I know that this thread is very old, but how did you fix problem with the fading brakes and steering eventualy? Im stuggling with similar issue, still havent found the root cause, everything seems to be OK, but its not, steering is not effective enough.
Michael R - as mentioned bellow, inside hole should be used also on british carriers (I followed AOP manual and used outer hole)? Whats the benefit? I guess better leverage ratio = more pressure applied on the brake pads?

Originally Posted by Michael R.

long rod clevis installed on inside hole Which is inconsistent with the AOP manual ...

Thank you gents

[RichardT10829]

Hey bud, did you use the setting tools to adjust your rod lengths ?

Best advice I can give as an opener is to break the tracks so you can move the drums and feel for any binding etc.

[Petr Brezina]

Hi Richie, yes I did use these tools, ale obeyed the manual, all was properly set up - however I had exactly the same symptoms as you - after few turns and kilometres brakes faded out and I was almost unable to steer. Drums were hot as well.
Last weekend we took out drums and again, everything looked fine, no oil on linings, brake mechanism working ok. I re-set it, drums are perfectly free untill 90°, fully applied at 160°, adjusters set to 4 clicks. However after this allignment brakes are "weak", Im not able to make skid turn, drum is not completely blocked. My lining are not genuine, sometime in the past they were replaced. They are not wowen but from some new rigid brake material, current thickness is about 6-7mm, which is less than wowen originals (about 10mm). However they are contacting the drums on the all surface.
As you were stuggling with the same issue Im wondering how you finally fixed it - maybe it could help me to. Thanks

[RichardT10829]

Ok, go back through the setup, wind the brakes on so they are solid against the drums, (tracks off). Set your linkage lengths and make sure you have lots of pre load in the foot pedal rods (which should be the same length) don’t forget when you set up your parking brake should be off !!

Now, once you have set your linkage lengths, slowly dial off the shoes from the drums, ignore the 4 turn rule for now, just wind them back to the point you can spin the drums by hand, you may find the drums to catch the shoes ever so slightly.

Jump back in and push the foot brake a bunch of times, this will ensure you are not getting parking brake creep and the brake system is balanced, at this point look down to your brake pedal, is the balance bar level ? Are the inner bell cranks the same distance from the main clevis forks at the base of the steering ?

Yes ?

Ok

Now to adjust the bite point, your main clevis at the base of the steering I wind back on the adjusters, now, for me, I turn the steering to 90 deg at which point I am just getting contact onto the clevis…. Repeat for other side.

Pop your tracks back on, take the carrier for a spin. If you can change gear without the carrier wanting to stop your good…. If not dial back one click at a time until you get desired results.

I can video what I do / have learned if it help, try that in the interim though.

[RichardT10829]

Also, your shoes look maybe more than 50% worn, it’s hard to see on my phone, you may need replace them, or put your long rods onto the outer hole on the bell cranks.

[Petr Brezina]

Hi Richie, there are some good hints, I will check all again.
I would say that my shoes are now at 60-70% of the nominal thickness - Im using outer hole because I made setting according to british manual which differs in this point from the canadian.
Thanks for your advices will report the result