[MV] GPW/MB Brakes-the final word?

Dean L. Kellogg, Jr (kelloggd@uthscsa.edu)
Thu, 20 May 1999 11:02:26 +0100

Thanks to all those who have kept this interesting thread going. I have
learned quite a bit from all of this. I was moved to call my uncle who was
a big wig with GM in their brake division....as an engineer. Anyway, the
GPW's and MB's have a non-energized brake system. That is to say that all
the energy used to apply the brake pads to the drum comes from the master
cylinder. No energy from the rotation of the drum is conveyed from the
primary shoe (also known as the forward shoe) to the secondary shoe (also
known as the reverse shoe) because the design uses separate, stationary
anchor pins for each shoe. Hence this design is called a "non-energized"
brake system and is very cheap to make (but also does not work as well as
an energized system where rotational energy from the drum is conveyed from
the primary to the secondary shoe). Since military jeeps were anticipated
to have a life in the field of 90 days....why be expensive?

SO...the bottom line.....the pad with the large area is the primary
shoe...alias forward shoe....alias front shoe....BIG toward FRONT...now I
get it! BACK TO THE RESTORATION!

As an aside, I was also told that the handbrake system on GPW's and MB's (a
drum on the drive shaft) was originally a Chrysler design that they
abandoned. The problem was that deivers would often leave the handbrake on
when driving. The generated heat from frictional forces would result in a
nice fire...with all the oils in the nearby transmission, etc. for fuel.

****************************************************************
* Dean L. Kellogg, Jr., MD, PhD *
* Department of Medicine *
* The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio *
* 7703 Floyd Curl Drive *
* San Antonio, Texas 78284-7875 *
* (210) 617-5311 FAX (210) 617-5312 e-mail:kelloggd@uthscsa.edu *
****************************************************************

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