MTFCA Forum

[image][/image]my son and I just picked these up. They are both 26’s. The roadster came as a complete unit just not pictured that way. It also has a ruckstell axle. The chassis does not have a ruckstell but I happened across one for $100. It is an earlier model with small brakes and I would like to use the larger brakes. On the stock side can I just use the later housing to obtain the larger brakes? On the ruckstell housing side can I drill out the rivets and reinstall the large brakes end?

You can change the stock side.
Changing the rux small backing plate is harder to change than replacing the whole tube & backing plate from the later housing.
Better yet, find someone with the large drum rux housing that wants the small brake & do a swap.

The reason for the Ruckstell is for a lower gear ratio for hill climbing and descending. It is possible to get the Ruckstell stu ck between gears and be in freewheeling. So the larger drums are desirable, or if you gave a small drum, to install Rocky Mountain brakes or disc brakes with it.
Norm

I've replaced a small drum backing plate with a large drum but wouldn't do it again. You ruin the small backing plate by having to grind it off and have to press the new plate on, supporting the center part of the axle housing from the inside to avoid pressing against and cracking the bolt ring area. You MUST perfectly align the new backing plate so the radius rod lines up with the eye on the torque tube. You'll have to dill new rivet holes and buck them from the inside. Honestly it's not worth the effort unless you can't find a large drum housing. I did it on a Perfecto housing because Perfecto never made a large drum housing. I had no choice for a 27 roadster.