[crackthesky]

I haven't slammed on brakes since I bought my 61 Galaxie, but at state inspection, they hit them hard in the rain and said rear brakes locked up early and were dangerous. They are putting in a proportioning valve. Do they all do that? Should it need it? It has stock power brakes with single master cyl.
They also said 1 front brake locks up before the other. They think it is an issue with the shoe material? They want to switch left to right but I asked, if you REALLY believe that, then why not new shoes and he looked at me as if they were $100s of $s or something. Are they that hard to come by?
Thanks yet again,
Karl.

 

[arnoldtx]

Take it back when it isn't raining and have them test drive again.

 

[puttster]

I have the same deal, hit the pedal and the screeching of locked up brakes gets the attention of everyone for a hunnert yards. I'm going to look them over this summer, maybe they need new rear shoes but I thought I got a brake job 5,000 miles ago but then again maybe I just dreamed I did.

Ford did not think a proportioning valve was necessary with our set-up, I will take their opinion over the Jiffy-Lube inspector any day.

As for the fronts balance, those are pretty tricky too. I once had a '70 chevy and one of the front rubber hoses was crudded up, causing a baad pull. Last year I went to get an alignment for the Galaxie and they couldn't even do it till they "adjusted" the brakes. That cost me $80 but I will say the car is stopping pretty straight now, whatever they did. Still, one of my other summer jobs is go to a disc brake Scarebird setup in the fronts. Drum brakes, transmissions and points are things I just don't understand.

 

[FEandGoingBroke]

You do NOT NEED a proportioning valve if those morons cannot adjust your brakes to work evenly then they are NOT QUALIFIED to work on your car.

I repeat: If they cannot adjust your brakes properly, they have ZERO BUSINESS installing a brake proportioning valve!

NONE.


Your brake shoes can be had for $14.99 for the front set and $14.99 for the rear set! Keep your car away form those fools and you can even print this out and show it to those morons.


Adjusting braked on 4 wheel drum is simple, but a bit time consuming. Once adjusted it takes mere moments every two months to maintain that balance.


What's the full story with them wanting to instal a Prop Valve?

 

[ford4v429]

I haven't slammed on brakes since I bought my 61 Galaxie, but at state inspection, they hit them hard in the rain and said rear brakes locked up early and were dangerous. They are putting in a proportioning valve. Do they all do that? Should it need it? It has stock power brakes with single master cyl.
They also said 1 front brake locks up before the other. They think it is an issue with the shoe material? They want to switch left to right but I asked, if you REALLY believe that, then why not new shoes and he looked at me as if they were $100s of $s or something. Are they that hard to come by?
Thanks yet again,
Karl.

what state is this?

I agree with FE, and if the testers are suggesting safety improvements, they are in a conflict of interest situation. did you already put in a dual reservoir master? if not I'm not entirely sure a proportioning valve would even work right. I'm a big fan of throwing away single circuit masters/updating to at least '1967 technology' with redundant safety of dual circuit- some brakes is better than NO brakes. its cheap insurance, beyond that though its just adjustments...discs would be nice, but drums are ok, long as hard driving/abuse isnt enough to cause fade.

 

[PSIG]

You do NOT NEED a proportioning valve if those morons cannot adjust your brakes to work evenly then they are NOT QUALIFIED to work on your car.

I repeat: If they cannot adjust your brakes properly, they have ZERO BUSINESS installing a brake proportioning valve!

NONE.


Your brake shoes can be had for $14.99 for the front set and $14.99 for the rear set! Keep your car away form those fools and you can even print this out and show it to those morons.


Adjusting braked on 4 wheel drum is simple, but a bit time consuming. Once adjusted it takes mere moments every two months to maintain that balance.


What's the full story with them wanting to instal a Prop Valve?

+1! Here's a "duh" for you - if the fronts are not adjusted and performing properly, the rears will lock early. It's not that the rears need proportioning, but that the front's need proper service. By adding a prop valve, they are reducing the performance of the rear brakes to match the currently reduced performance of the fronts. DUH! So, they would be right that this is something to be corrected, bit it definitely is not by adding a proportioning valve or swapping shoes around. This is somewhere between them having no knowledge of the system, and pulling a ripoff if they do. If you can't get better service, knowledge or attitude there, definitely go elsewhere.

David

 

[FEandGoingBroke]

I demand an answer. My satisfaction should be guaranteed by my greed for knowledge! LOL

Please give us more of the story.