Does anyone have a picture of the Equalizer Bar instelled on their T ? I have a 14 with a 22 engine and it seems like The equalizer is hitting the pan before the e-brake is bearley engaged, and does not look like much brake in low gear!
Chip

I have a really lousy camera (a cell-phone, actually), but I'll plan to take some shots tomorrow and get back to you with some photos of my equalizer bar.

Bob

Chip:

I just recently installed mine and it's a balancing act between the clevis and the equalizer. If you do it right, it totally clears the pan and I have a 1926-27. I tried to take some pics tonight, but the garage was too dark. I'll pull the car out tomorrow when I get home from work, in the daylight, and take some photos for you. I've had my brakes on for about a month, and now that they're broken in, I absolutely love them.

Thanks @ Jim & Bob.

I recently installed RM brakes on my '27, and I had exactly the same problem.

My system was delievered in prime, and I wanted to paint it black, so I dismantled it for painting. It looked simple enough to reassemble with my eyes closed.

I was wrong! Somehow, I mixed up the nuts, bolts, and washers putting the thing back together, and it was causing the equalizer to hit the pan. The installation instructions are barely adequate, and I could not tell exactly how it was supposed to bolt up.

Later today I'll climb under the car and try to make you a definitive picture. Believe me, it can be fixed.

The RM brakes are superb. They stop the car under all conditions. They do not fade, and the car will not fall backward on a hill as the drivetrain resolves clearances. I would not drive a Model T in Atlanta traffic without it. A Model T with an RM setup has better brakes than a perfectly adjusted Model A.

It depends on how you adjust the hand brake lever. It must be true vertical at 12 o'clock high with the brake rods unattached for it to work properly. Then attach the brake rods.

I hope the pictures help. Mine has a Warford transmission so it may look different but it works the same.

Here is how I adjust mine. I start by adjusting the bands at 20 thousandths from the drum I disconnect the link between the brake pedal and the equalizer, I take off the rods from the parking brake and adjust the rods to the Rocky Mountain Brake so that when I pull the parking brake lever all the way back the rocky mountain brakes stop the wheels. While doing this, pull back until the wheels begin to get tight when rotating forward by hand. Both wheels should feel the same tightness. If one is tighter than the other, back off the band adjustment on the tight side a half turn at a time and check again. Do this until both apply evenly. At that point the equalizer should not hit the pan when the parking lever is all the way back. If it does, shorten the rods an equal number of turns. The equalizer should be straight across parallel with the cross shaft. When you get that adjustment right, put on the rods for the parking brake and adjust them so they lock the wheels just one click before the Rocky Rountain brake locks the wheels. Then adjust the link between the brake pedal so that it applies the Rocky Mountain brakes about 1/2 inch pedal before the transmission brake locks the wheels. By doing it in that order, everything works as it should.
Norm

George:

Here are four photos of the workings of the Rocky Mountain Brakes. Two are with the handbrake pulled back and two are with the handbrake all the way forward. Norman Kling's instructions on a previous post of mine really helped me get things set correctly.

The key component that I found was getting the clevis adjusted. You can see how far it needs to move in relationship to the handbrake. The handbrake stops just rear of center, then you need to adjust your stock handbrake setting accordingly.

In case you're wondering, the "jury-rigged" set-up with the stud and brass wire is my homebuilt connection to the brakelight switch. When working on my car last year, my friend Bob pointed out a vintage brake light switch that was covered in dirt and grease. I cleaned it up, got it working again, then took an old radiator stud, tapped the end back further, drilled a hole in a washer, then used two nuts to minutely adjust the sensitivity for the brake pedal. The brass wire connects the washer to a hole already drilled into the RM brake pedal. To make it more "authentic," I put a cotter pin in the front of the stud, just in case a nut backed off. It just barely clears the brake cam, so no interference occurs.

Thank's Jim and Norm. Got tht problem solved thanks to you! Now the brake rods are gonna hit the fender skirts! Any suggestions??

Hmmmm.....I didn't have any clearance issues with the brake rods hitting the fender skirts. There's a lot of room on the underside of my car. Unless you mounted the equalizer for the RM brakes backwards, it should more than clear. If mounted correctly, the two arms that connect to the brake rods angle out, away from the equalizer. My car was built in 1927, so perhaps there's a difference, but I doubt it. To my knowledge, it was more-or-less the same chassis for all nineteen years.