Freeing Stuck Brakes
 

My front brakes are stuck from setting on my 180. Any hints on the best way to free them?

drag the car?

Start the car, put it in gear and move. If you hear a big "snap", you got the pads loose. Hopefully that is all there is to it. Problem is if caliper pistons are stuck/seized too. That's another story. You don't want to drive far with sticky pistons because they will heat up and you get boiling brake fluid a.k.a. no brakes :eek: Trust me, been there, and you don't want to be there and done it. Be very careful and check that calipers move and are not sticky before driving far.

Good luck,

Bert

Car has drum brakes.

Loosen the wheel bearing load nut and tap the drums all around w/bleeder open..

Starting at the 4 corners on the 180b project, probly a good idea. Reconnoitre renting a wheel puller for the drums. And what Art Dalton means by "tapping" the drums involves small sledge hammer smackin em. Propane torch also helps to loosen up frozen parts. Penetrating oil too. You'll find hydraulic pistons at each corner, no doubt the rarest and hardest to find replacement part on the whole car. Brake shoes can be relined, drums resurfaced. And brake line hoses easily and inexpensively replaced keepin the old fittings intact.

Kerosene bath in 5 gallon bucket with lid for soaking, cleaning and de-rusting parts. Can add auto trans fluid and left over brake fluid from the shelf to the stew as well. Kerosene wont evaporate too fast and leaves healthy oily residue. Heck, probly the entire undercarriage, suspension parts etc couild benefit from penetrating oil sprayed at joints and kerosene mix applied with a paint brush. You seen those quart bottles of 'Liquid Wrench' at the parts shop? Nows a good time to soak every connection and nut'n bolt that looks dry and rusty, sprayin the stuff with pump bottle.

You may still want to try and move the car a bit while on its wheels. That may unstuck the brake shoe liners from the drums (you need to replace brake shoes anyway). If car does not drive, place large crow bar on wheel (using two wheel bolts) and try to rotate the wheel if there is space. Once wheels rotate, get drum off. I would resort to burner as a last resort.

Bert

they are off! a little hammer and using the screw holes in the drum to push the drum off worked. Remarkably, the shoes are almost new, it was the wheel cylinders that were stuck. Drums look good too. Thanks everyone.....:)

Drums are a pain in other ways but the cylinders are pretty easy to rebuild if you can find a kit.

Tom W

Sometimes only the rubber parts are bad and they can be generic, if you know a savvy parts guy.

the ponton site has some info on that, also NAPA may carry the parts :)

Yeah, I heard that 190SL and finny aluminum rear drums' cyls interchange with a 50's chevy of some kind!

Many VW internal brake parts can be used ...some dist points/cond also interchange..

Hello,

Yes these brake cylinders are inch sizes all the soft parts can be had cheaply at your local parts store. I just bought rear brake cylinder kits for a 190SL at the local Napa last week end and I have bought the fronts in the past. The correct size for a 190 SL rear is
15/16" diameter. Ford Granada uses the same diameter. Salvage the cup seals and rubber covers out of the kit and throw the rest away. The kits wer about $6.00 ea. Use the spring and other hard parts which do not go bad from your originals. I believe a 190SL uses 1 1/8" diameter in front, your 180 may use the same. I believe the Ford Maverick fronts are 1 1/8" in this case. If you have other sizes, they are standard inch sizes, just find a Napa parts man who still knows how to use a catalog, the brake cylinder diameters for all domestic makes and models are listed in their catalogs.

If you are a purist go to MB and pay the big bucks for the ATE kits. Now you may have to worry about using domestic fluid with the ATE rubber? I know the Maverick and Grenada rubber parts use modern synthetic rubber seals which will work with any brake fluids.

The brake shoe pivots (hinging point) can corrode and get stuck also. Check this also. Replace the rubber brake hoses for sure.

Yes you found the built in pullers (threaded holes) for the brake drums.

Some early MBs did have self adjusting brake shoes. However I believe your 180 has adjuster bolts on the other side of the brake plate. Turn the left one counterclockwise to tighten, and the right one clockwise to tighten.

I rebuilt the wheel cylinders in a 59 Ferrari using the kits left over from my 51 caddy hearse.... 1 1/16" dia. I laughed out loud on that one!

Tom W

While you're in there, you might consider replacing the rubber brake hoses. While they may look OK on the outside, old hoses can plug-up internally, preventing the brakes from releasing, causing oveheating and serious damage.

Happy Motoring, Mark