When I first bought my '24 Touring about a year ago, one of the first things I did was reline the bands with new Kevlar bands. To quote my brother, the old ones "had the consistency of raw chicken."
Anyway, all was fine for a while. But eventually, I had encountered an odd problem. My T did not like to go in reverse. High gear, low gear, and the brake worked just fine. I did notice that the low band needed adjustment more frequently than it should have. I'm certainly no stranger to band adjustment, but this did seem odd.
Yesterday, I finally realized what the culprit was. After searching for the problem, I finally pulled the bands out, and I realized that I had not relined them properly. The Kevlar lining was not tight against the metal band all around as it should be. The result was that they were dragging. Not much, but just enough to cause problems.
Fearing the worst, I carefully inspected all the drums, but fortunately I found no signs of overheating or any other damage whatsoever. The bands weren't glaze either, so they must not have gotten too hot.
I installed a set of Kevlar bands that I had intended to put in another T in mine instead. Again, I had relined these ones myself, but this time, I know I had done them properly.
What a difference! The T seemed to have more pep than it did before, and reverse worked just like it should! Long story short, I learned how important it is to reline bands correctly. I was very fortunate that my mistake didn't damage anything either.
Well I have to admit this " If all else fails read the book". But what book do you read?
These cars sometimes have a mind of their own. Now that you have the problem solved go out and enjoy the ride
Happy T'ing
Bill D
We have retired CHP officer that always said go out and enjoy the ride He rode a Harley up to Alaska and he just returned from a trip all the way to New Fondland, via the east coast thru D.C. dand north . I would think that would be nice but hard on your back and butt!
When you examined the drums were they shiny silvery color? That is good. If they were dark almost black, they were overheated. That's bad.
I had the same problem you did the first time I relined bands many years ago. They were Scandinavian bands. I stretched the lining from rivet to rivet and cut off the excess from the ends. The bands had to be adjusted several times on a 100 mile tour. Then I relined again the right way. We all learn. What seems right to us is not always the right way. It pays to read the book.
Norm
You woodn't have that problem with wood band liners.
Ralph - Thanks for the pun! That deserves a groan... or laugh when you have time.
Keith
It was only after I read MTFCA's book that I figured out how to properly reline the bands!
And Norman,
The drums were nice and shiny for sure. They looked exactly as they did the day I installed them.
The day I installed the first set of bands, that is.