Hey guys,

I just got my 9 inch lincoln brakes put together, and have some questions. I got them to bleed out okay, but I can not get them to extend out an tighten up the pads. These are the type with the built in emergency brake, and I have never messed with these before. Is it necessary to put the brake in a certain position to get the brakes to pump? One of the calipers will not even move the cylinder when I crank on the emergency brake. I am thinking it may have a problem, but it is fresh rebuilt from Oriellys.

Thanks for any help.

Chris

While I realize I should have put this in the other section, I wanted to bump it up.

Anybody out there messed with these things?

Chris

I think you have a problem somewhere,the pistons should move out when you have the system bled. You may still have air in the system that is compressing instead of pushing the pistons outward.

I have one of these things for my Mustang, and I'm just getting ready to install it. Shop manual and everything else I've run across says that calipers must be preset to give you any brakes. Do this by rotating the piston out--you'll have to make a tool or come up with the Ford one. Unscrew it until there's just running clearance--maybe a piece of paper on each side--between the pads and the rotor. Then you should have brakes. To keep the adjustment, you have to hook up the E-brake and use it religiously.

Hope it works for you.

LarryJ

Thanks Larry! What do you mean by rotating the piston out, though? One one side I can rotate the ebrake and the piston will move out about 1/16 inch. On the other side the ebrake seems to be looser, and when rotating it I dont get any movement. Do you have to turn the nut that the ebrake actuator is inside to move in the piston?

Chris

Hi, Chris,

It's the caliper piston itself that you need to turn. The shop manual (I took a quick peek at lunchtime) says the total clearance between the pads and the rotor should be 1/16 inch or less--about 1/32 inch between each pad and the rotor. On my calipers, I was able to stick the points of a pair of needlenose pliers into the notches in the caliper piston to turn it to make the adjustment, although it is slow going and a bit clumsy. You have to turn the piston out a bit, stick the pads back into the caliper, slip the caliper over the rotor, measure the clearance, etc. etc.

I'm told the system works just great once it's all set up, as long as you remember to use the E-brake. As the pads wear, the E-brake mechanism rotates a threaded shaft inside the caliper to push the piston out and maintain the correct clearance.

Hope to get mine on the road this fall.

LarryJ

Thanks Larry. That helps alot. I will take a closer look this weekend.

Chris

By the way, there is a tool made specifically for that. It's a cube about an inch or so on each side with two nubs on each face that fit into the slots on the piston. O'Reilly's will probably have one in the tool section for $10-$15. Fits a 3/8" drive ratchet. It'll speed things up a bunch.