Poor braking with Morrow prewar hub

[Balloonoob]

Today I got my morrow hub greased and oiled and reassembled. The braking may have improved slightly but the play between braking and drive engagement was decreased greatly from 180 degrees or more down to less than 45 degrees. But now when the bike is upside down and I turn the pedals I Hear a sound like tire rub which I checked and don't see the tire rubbing on anything. It's not noticeable when riding. Perhaps something is too tight. I'll have to mess with it later. I really wish I could have disassembled from the brake arm side vs the sprocket side as this would have made assembly make more sense as shown in the directions in post 14. I kinda had to do it the opposite way.

 

[catfish]

I know the schwinn guys like these, but I have never been a fan. Too many parts... The New Departure Model D is a lot easier to work on.

 

[Obi-Wan Schwinnobi]

If you don’t have that spring compressed as far as you can get it then you will have problems. That’s why you take it apart from the drive side... also, find one with the groves or make your own with the one you have. And don’t don’t don’t put grease on the brake pads.. not even a little. Not even a finger print...

 

[srfndoc]

The Morrow on my bike that I have been riding down Mt. Tam since the seventies is a blackout wartime one.
It has the shoes with the grooves.
Its been my experience that its time to replace the shoes once the grooves are worn off.
If you think yours are thick enough then perhaps its something else.

They even talk about locating the new type multi-grooved brake shoe here. They also mention you can cut 4 grooves on each side on older brake shoes that are smooth:

I'm going to pull apart my hub and do this to see how much it improves the braking.

 

[KevinsBikes]

I have assembled probably 20 of these by hand, all the loose pieces. It took some practice and I made lots of mistakes, but for stopping I have just had to keep swapping the center core until one stopped better. I know that’s not super helpful, but I think Scott had NOS ones for sale. I generally just buy another hub and swap internals as needed, and save the extra spare parts.

 

[Balloonoob]

If you don’t have that spring compressed as far as you can get it then you will have problems. That’s why you take it apart from the drive side... also, find one with the groves or make your own with the one you have. And don’t don’t don’t put grease on the brake pads.. not even a little. Not even a finger print...

@Obi-Wan Schwinnobi @srfndoc @tripple3 @cyclingday I got the hub disassembled from the drive side. I need help with cone adjustment as I cannot get the spring compressed enough. When I push on the two washer looking bits it compresses but when I try to spin the whole enchalada down it only goes down so far and stops. Did I run out of threads on the axle?

 

[Obi-Wan Schwinnobi]

@Obi-Wan Schwinnobi @srfndoc @tripple3 @cyclingday I got the hub disassembled from the drive side. I need help with cone adjustment as I cannot get the spring compressed enough. When I push on the two washer looking bits it compresses but when I try to spin the whole enchalada down it only goes down so far and stops. Did I run out of threads on the axle?

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I don’t know what you got going on there, I’ve never needed vice grips or a vice to adjust the spring... should seriously be able to do all that in your hand. Are the threads screwed up?

 

[Obi-Wan Schwinnobi]

@Obi-Wan Schwinnobi @srfndoc @tripple3 @cyclingday I got the hub disassembled from the drive side. I need help with cone adjustment as I cannot get the spring compressed enough. When I push on the two washer looking bits it compresses but when I try to spin the whole enchalada down it only goes down so far and stops. Did I run out of threads on the axle?

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Also easier to mess with when you remove the dust cap etc..

 

[Balloonoob]

I don't think the threads are screwed up. Every part on this hub looks to be in good shape. I'm sure my methods are a bit strange. I'm really only using the vice to hold it up by the axle nut.

 

[Balloonoob]

I'm using the vice grips to tighten down part 120 in order to compress the compression spring and it hits a point where it no longer spins and I don't want to force it.