Early A rear brake tear down question

[64DartGTinAZ]

Trying to replace the wheel cylinder

I have the top springs loose and the e-brake cable off

I'm at the part where I should remove the spring retainer.

I'm used to a push in, twist, pop-out slotted/keyed retainer (I think the later model brakes use this). The service manual says to insert a small punch into the retainer spring and release the spring. I inserted a punch, but I'm not sure what to do now. Anybody got any tips?

Also, it says something about removing the hub...do I have to pull the hub to do the brakes?

 

[VDART]

shine a light behind the shoe you should see how the spring is attached--- disconnect behind the shoe. On the back side of the backing plate is a small square tab-- that is the anchor to this spring, most people replace those with the newer pin/retaining washer assembly.
no you do not have to remove the rear axle to get the wheel cylinder out. It will come apart ,Lawrence

 

[64DartGTinAZ]

Thanks, Lawrence.

It's hard to get a light in and my head lined up to see what's going on (needing reading glasses to see anything closer than 18" to my face doesn't help).

I'm not finding the square tab. The spring has a hook on the end of it that goes into a tab that sticks out of the backing plate. I don't see how to get in there to move the spring to get the hook out of the slotted tab.

Interestingly, I looked at the service manual again...the first pic shows the new style spring with caps on both ends. The pic with the punch in it looks like what's on my car.

I'll keep working on it, but if anybody knows the magic for disengaging the hook behind the shoe from the tab attached to the backing plate, I'd love to hear about it.

Thanks!

John

 

[grimreaper]

The end of the spring is shaped like a hook and it goes through a loop made into the square tab. They can be a real test of patience to remove. The pin punch they are suggesting has to be the correct diameter so that it can push only about the last coil of the spring. I used to have a favorite curved needle nose that could reach behind the shoe and grab the hook to get enough twist to release the spring from the tab. You might try that.... Another means I sometimes used was to push a thin screwdriver behind the shoe and position it so that I could pop the hook off the retainer. If all that fails and you have new hold downs you can pry the square away from the Bach of the backing plate and clip the loop part with a diagonal cutter.

 

[64DartGTinAZ]

They can be a real test of patience to remove. The pin punch they are suggesting has to be the correct diameter so that it can push only about the last coil of the spring. I used to have a favorite curved needle nose that could reach behind the shoe and grab the hook to get enough twist to release the spring from the tab. You might try that.... Another means I sometimes used was to push a thin screwdriver behind the shoe and position it so that I could pop the hook off the retainer.

Thanks...sounds like I had come to the correct conclusion, but it's reassuring to know I'm not missing something. Much appreciated!

John

 

[64DartGTinAZ]

Found that this cotter pin removal tool was just the trick for reinstalling those springs

 

[BillGrissom]

When that manual was written the tool most use today must not have existed. You can buy at any auto parts. It is a "cup on a handle" that fits over the outer washer, and has grooves to grab the washer. You hold the pin on the backside, push in the tool and turn 90 deg to rotate the washer so its slot aligns with the pin's squashed side. Also buy a "brake spring lever" which is used to both remove the springs and re-install. It keeps you from getting a spring thru the eye or marring the surface with pliers so it will later fail. Both tools are real cheap.

 

[64DartGTinAZ]

Hi Bill,

Yeah...that's what I was expecting to find when I took the drum off.
I think the 'Dodge' had that, but the 'Dart' is different.

Have a closer look at the page in the manual - no disc-with-a-plus-sign-shaped-hole on top of the spring. The last picture also shows the retaining spring on the front brake shoe, showing no cap on the spring.

The instructions say to push a small punch through the spring. That wasn't working too well for me. (Thus the original post.) I puzzled over it for a while, and decided what tool shape might work, and found the cotter pin puller and it matched what I was envisioning pretty well. Worked, too!

Thanks,

John