Bedford TK

[colnerov]

Girling even make a tool for it (middle one), but I normally just use water pump pliers.

 

[Windy Miller]

I made a tool just like that when I was about 18 - still gets used sometimes, although mostly I also use water pump pliers!

 

[zzr1200]

View attachment 62799 and usually involving bad language and minor injury :-)

That sounds like the standard way in all garages I've ever worked in....

I use 2 screwdrivers one to lever the spring off the post and one the extend the spring, if you supply transport I'm willing to show you my method.........

 

[normspanners]

They wont usually come off the post because you have to get them all the way back they are the exact size on the groove my way is use the tool as described and un- adjust the brakes all the way then lift the shoe out of the caliper ends or the pivot end mount if that pivot mount doesnt allow enough swing of the shoes.
also have a set of this type for commercial stuff http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Sealey-VS...979?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item1e86ee5453

 

[DAPPH]

If you try the pulling the shoe out method please be careful as fingers used to get hurt in our workshop when the lads tried it on the trucks .

Once we'd fully slackened off the adjusters we usually had a 18 inch or so long "J " shape hook that was also wrapped round wooden " T" handle , it was a bit thicker rod than the springs wire, t'was hooked in by the shoe and the spring was pulled out the shoe , Sometimes the lads would tie a bit of cord round the shoe or wrap then in a few layers of wide duck tape to keep the shoes in place . On fitting new shoes they'd file the leading edge if there wasn't one.the wipre of the dust with a clean cloth and then cover the whole shoe linings with wide duck tape to stop getting shoe mucky during the reassembly exercise.

If you cant get a " J " hook a mole /gorilla or Facom type pair of 10 inch long locking on grips can be used on the straight spring wire just before the shoe anchor hole. Do make sure they are well set & the shoes are taped up for the pliers on the springs often slip off and can give you a decent knuckle rash even when wearing industrial protective gloves .

If you don't have any of the above a loop of very strong nylon cord or better still some 1/8 inch diameter steel Bowden wire ( not pushbike brake cales as I know they snapped ..something a little thicker ) made into a loop. A clamped up loop that is fitted over the spring at the shoe end before clamping it into the loop . The loop being just big enough for you to slip a 20 " length of wooden 12 dia broom handle or similar in and it rest on the back plate so you have enough movement to lever the spring out under great control using the edge of the back plate and the broom stick...it works well .
refitting is the reverse , you push the hook of the spring in the shoe holding it in the right plane , pushing it in with grips helps as well . Trying to hook the spring over the common anchor after hooking it in the shoes and sliding/pi=ushing the free end down a big phillips screw driver & trying to lever it over the stud does not work well at all . The Bowen cable clamp device was usually two large ( made on site in the workshop ) 2 " dia 1/2" thick aluminium or steel washers tightened up on the cables with a 1/2 " high tensile bolt and a nyloc nut, the cable ends running past each other in line either side of the bolt , not along side each other .

 

[mylesdw]

Thanks so much for all the help guys! These forums are such great resources for amateurs like me.

Following various advice I got the springs off pretty easily with a large pair of water-pump pliers and a lever. I may well make up something special as suggested above to put them back on again.

The parts seem largely OK except the cylinder which has scores and was leaking into its boot: new parts on order. The back plate, hub, drum and wheel will be blasted and painted.

 

[mylesdw]

With the chassis painted I was keen to get it all rolling again and move it all under cover for the winter.




The axles had a good wash and went back on. I thought about painting them too but there is really no point. A lot of travelling here in NZ's South Island is on un-sealed roads and everything just gets filthy. I have no intention of climbing under the truck to clean it. The chassis needed a coat of paint to protect it; the axles and springs are not about to rust away.






Rear spring eye bolts are straight into a threaded forging with some loctite and 190 lb/ft torque. Fitting the rear axle was not has difficult as I expected; I used to chocks of wood and simply 'walked' it into place until it all lined up.





The tractor and loader can just pick up one end of the chassis so you can trundle it about like a giant wheel barrow. All safely in the barn for the winter.

 

[mylesdw]

Steering box, steering arm and power steering ram back in place. The power steering ram is non-standard I think; maybe from a Bedford coach. The power steering parts I have seen advertised for TKs have the hydraulic bits built into a larger steering box and no separate ram. Also, the bracket between the ram and the chassis looks fabricated.





Compressor unloader valve

 

[mylesdw]

Looking at buying a flaring tool to make up the various brake and air lines

There's this type at around UKP120 plus extra for the dies

and this type for UKP20 including dies

Will the cheaper one do the job OK?

 

[mr migwire]

if its something you are going to use a fair bit i would opt for the dearer one, i have the cheap one and they are ok but not built to a high standard.

 

[Wendelspanswick]

The cheap one definitely won't do steel airlines!

 

[mylesdw]

Does the cheap one grip the pipe well or does it tend to push back through? Have you used it for larger flares, say 5/16" and above?

I was thinking of kunifer 10 pipe, not steel

 

[Rig Pig]

I used one of the cheap sets - it's rubbish, the pipe pushes back through the clamp, I borrow a Sykes flairing tool when I need one.

 

[mr migwire]

I used one of the cheap sets - it's rubbish, the pipe pushes back through the clamp, I borrow a Sykes flairing tool when I need one.

+1^^^ the pipe doesn't get clamped very well and does tend to slip, the cheap ones are fine for a quick fix if you are needing a break line for an mot but for your purposes iwould opt for the sykes pickavant style as they are far better all round and will last a lifetime.

edited to add on larger diameter pipe the small sets are pretty useless, the dies tend to snap the centre pin off in the pipe because of movement in the clamps due to them being a bad fit.

 

[mylesdw]

Looks like the pricey one then, oh poo! I'm just trying to find out how much the extra dies are, since it only comes with the 3/16" set.

In the meantime, here are some nice clean bits back from the blasters



And looking quite shiny -

 

[brightspark]

looking good apart from spoiling it by not cleaning and painting the axle and springs

 

[mylesdw]

You are quite right, it would be nice and I may revisit that...

For the moment I was keen to get it rolling so that I could get it into the shed for the winter. Not stripping the axles has probably gained me a month or two not to mention the expense and there are plenty of other jobs to keep me out of mischief.

 

[mylesdw]

I stripped down the foot-brake air valve.








Inside it looks like this






There are air two chambers one of which was quite clean and the other was full of white powder. The cylinder bore seemed good but then I noticed that it was cracked









so I ordered a new part. Came across one of those strange bits of pricing. A rebuild kit which by me reckoning contains a handful of o-rings and a filter is UKP128. The bit you see in the lower pictures is called a foot-brake 'portion' and is UKP 230 complete with all the internal bits and the entire valve which includes the angle bracket that you see in the first picture is UKP403


It seems that the portion is by far the best buy so I ordered one of those.

 

[awemawson]

Ouch those prices hurt

Bad luck about the crack, but really lucky you spotted it - bit of a crucial part !

 

[mylesdw]

Sooner or later that crack would complete and the valve would fall in half leaving no brakes at all; all the dual circuit air system would not help.

Truck prices are quite a different realm than car prices; specially older stuff that is getting scarce.