Information about Bendix brakes

I recommend that all brake lining be arched for the drum it will be used with. They don't necessarily wear in very quickly.

On the Bendix floating shoes the front pad will transfer the force to the rear pad when energized. The front shoe is smaller and called the primary shoe. Always use the larger, secondary pad on the rear of drum brakes. There are bonded and riveted shoes. The rivets should be of brass so they don't score the drum. It may be better to use non metallic pads as they are easier on the old metal of the rare Cord drum faces.


The winner ain't the one with the fastest car its the one who refuses to lose...........Dale Earnhardt

Hi Balinwire for your additional information about the Bendix and Lockheed brakes, be sure i aprisiate that very much.

When installing the new shoes they will have a slightly different contour than the drum. Since the Bendix arrangement ?floats? the arc will ?wear in? after a few miles and can be readjusted.
With the Lockheed fixed bearing post there was a technique called ?arcing the pads?. This could be done with a axle bolt up grinder or a lath measured to the inside diameter of the drum. When placed against each other there was a perfect mating surface. They would still need a slight adjustment after a driving session. Of course drum brakes fell out of favor as the drums would heat up and expand the thickness of the pads causing brake fade in stress situations. Use caution when grinding pads as they may be of asbestos composition.
www.uas-bg.com/twingo/MR305TWINGO3.pdf page 33
"Let not the sands of time get in your lunch"

Hi Tom, Thanks for your quick explanation, do you have a manual for the Bendix brakes, i would be very grateful for a copy and also for type or partnumber of the correct brakecylinder, if available, my direct e-mail is :
<a href="mailto:[email protected]][email protected][/url].
By the way have you ever heard of Mr. Stan Livoni, california ?

Best regards Philipp

To set Bendix brakes after a brake reline loosen the nut on the top anchor about 1 1/2 turns and then tighten the star wheel at the bottom. Make sure that the adjuster on the back edge of the backing plates is not touch the brake shoe. When the star wheel is almost as tight as it will go tighten the anchor nut. Then back off the star wheel until the drum is turning free. If you want you can move the other adjuster until you get a drag then back it off till it is gone. This is suppose to give a lighter brake pedal.

Hi Josh, manny thanks for your replay, by the way does your Bell ring with the name of Stan Livoni ? He used to deal with Cord parts and cars.
regards Philipp

Bendix and Lockheed brakes on Cords were identical in design to those used on other cars. Each vendor had variations. All you need to do is check a manual of the era (like Chilton's). Ignore the makes of cars and look for the variant used by Cord. For Lockheeds that's the one with a single lower pivot. For Bendix it's the one with the top anchor sliding in a vertical adjusting slot and a supplementary cam adjustment for the secondary shoe.

Auburn published a Service Bulletin on the Lockheed brakes. None on the Bendix.

Who can give me technical information about the Bendix brakes that where used on 810/812 cord , parts supplyer, and workshop manual, how to repair and adjust.
Also the same information for the Lockheed brakes.
Menny thanks in advanced.