AC Brakes

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Arbs
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AC Brakes

Post by Arbs » Wed Nov 22, 2023 8:16 pm

I was working with Larry Sidmore on getting some AC brakes from him. We had great conversations which were about 5 minutes of business and 30 minutes or more of car talk. He was a wealth of knowledge.

He passed before I could order his AC brakes. My condolences to his family. The few conversations I had with him were great. He was definitely passionate about T's.

When I was at Hershey I learned that Daniel Bennett is picking up where Larry left off. I ordered a set of Daniel's and have it here. They look great.

I'm not planning on winterizing my car until salt hits the road. It could be today, or in 2 weeks. When it goes on jack stands, I'll be working on the rear bearings, seals and looking to install these.

They don't come with linkages or cables, so I need to figure that out. But here is what I received today.

Image
Where is the OBD2 port on this thing?
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Craig Leach
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Re: AC Brakes

Post by Craig Leach » Wed Nov 22, 2023 9:09 pm

Hi Dan,
You have many options with that pedal. You can use the upper eyelet for a rod to a cable pulley or equalizer. Or the lever ( bottom ) can be
used with a RM or John Stultz equalizer using rods or cables. I used cables with Chevy park brake cables & cable equalizer on my A-C brakes
then switched to rods & seen no improvement. They worked good I thought rods would be better :(
Craig.
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Norman Kling
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Re: AC Brakes

Post by Norman Kling » Wed Nov 22, 2023 9:37 pm

That's interesting. I installed a set of AC brakes on a 26 Roadster, about 1990. This kind fits on the original large drums. Then about 10 or 12 years later, I installed a set of Rocky Mountain brakes on a 26 Touring. They are identical except the earlier ones say AC on them and the later ones Rocky Mountain brakes. So apparently the current Rocky Mountains are the same as the later AC brakes!. I also have a set of Rocky Mountains on a 22 with the small drums with a large drum made for the Rocky Mountain brakes. Also identical except for the larger size of the auxiliary drum. The ones with the larger drum stop much better than the ones with the 26-27 drums.
Norm
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Craig Leach
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Re: AC Brakes

Post by Craig Leach » Thu Nov 23, 2023 12:46 am

Hi Norm,
The anchor point of the band is the critical part of the brakes efficiency A-C, Apco, Strong Hold, Bennet brakes & some early R-M brakes
are at the rear & @ 50% of the band giving them a 50% self energizing application in each direction. the later R-M brakes are anchored @ the
front so they give 100% self energizing in forward only & deenergize in reverse. Making them almost useless when going backwards but very
efficient going forward. Googling A-C brakes should give you drawings of the original cable set up but using the R-M or Stultz equalizer will let
you apply the Aux. brakes with the brake pedal or the hand brake or both if needed.
Craig.
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Retro54
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Re: AC Brakes

Post by Retro54 » Thu Nov 23, 2023 6:29 am

When my father put ACs on his 1916, he mocked them up first on saw horses using a spare rear, driveshaft and hogshead. We both thought that greatly helped in figuring out the geometry before putting them on the car.

I was successful in getting a set this fall. I'll be doing the same this winter when we mount mine, however i plan on taking lots of pictures and video and sharing here.

Andy
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CudaMan
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Re: AC Brakes

Post by CudaMan » Thu Nov 23, 2023 8:19 am

My 1924 has a set of original AC brakes that were set up to use a cable. I installed one of the pedals you show and made a link for it to push on the equalizer setup that is available from the vendors. Then I bolted a bracket to the bottom of the equalizer to pull on a turnbuckle and pulley that pulls on cables that go back to the brakes.
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Mark Strange
Hillsboro, MO
1924 Cut-off Touring (now a pickup)
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Topic author
Arbs
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Re: AC Brakes

Post by Arbs » Thu Nov 23, 2023 11:41 am

Great photos Mark, thanks.
Where is the OBD2 port on this thing?
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tiredfarmer
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Re: AC Brakes

Post by tiredfarmer » Thu Nov 23, 2023 6:00 pm

Right now Daniel is making the AC brakes for the small drum. I don't know if he will produce brakes for the large drums or not. I will ask him the next time I see him.
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dr1960
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Re: AC Brakes

Post by dr1960 » Thu Nov 23, 2023 7:01 pm

Anyone have Daniel Bennett's contact information? My family wants to put AC or Rocky Mountain brakes on a 1913 touring.
Thanks,
David
David - Yukon, OK
1915 Model T Runabout
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Ed Fuller
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Re: AC Brakes

Post by Ed Fuller » Thu Nov 23, 2023 7:37 pm

Saw his display at Hershey this year.
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Original Smith
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Re: AC Brakes

Post by Original Smith » Thu Nov 23, 2023 8:45 pm

What is mentioned above is correct. The current Rocky Mountain brakes were patterned after a set of original AC brakes. All AC and Rocky Mountain brakes were originally operated with a cable. Don't ask me how I know, I was there!
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Retro54
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Re: AC Brakes

Post by Retro54 » Fri Nov 24, 2023 9:03 pm

Was out at Dad's today and was checking out his adjusted linkage as he recently installed a fun projects stop light switch. Thought I'd share. He's still in the adjustment phase, so work in progress. He worked up his linkage based on old AC brake advertisement photos. Prior to the stop light switch it all worked wonderfully and held the adjustment just fine.

Just sharing for the good of the order.
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