1935 Cadillac - GM Heritage Center

48
BRAKES
General Description
The Cadillac and LaSalle brake systems are
entirely different. Mechanical brakes are used
in all of the Cadillac models while hydraulic
brakes are employed on the LaSalle. The hand
brakes on the LaSalle, however, are controlled
through mechanical linkage.
CADILLAC
BRAKES
Cadillac brakes have two internal self-energizing
shoes in each of the four wheel brake units.
The floating or upper brake shoes are energized
with the forward motion of the car and do most
of the braking. For this reason, they are made of
aluminum alloy and are provided with a thicker
lining (M-in.) than the lower shoes. The anchored
or lower shoes are energized with the backward
movement of the car. As these shoes do less
braking they are made of steel and are provided
with thinner linings of in. thickness.
The aluminum alloy shoes naturally expand
more than the cast iron brake drums under the
heat generated by the use of the brakes. This
compensates for the tendency of the drums to
expand away from the shoes. The result is that
Cadillac brakes are just as effective toward the
bottom of a long hill as they are when first applied
at the top.
The cam end of each brake shoe has a pivoted
link which rests against the brake operating cam.
Thus, instead of a sliding contact between the cam
Fig. 1. The hand brake lever on all Cadillac cars is
located at the left directly under the instrument panel.
and the brake shoes, there is a rolling contact
between the cam and the pivoted links. This
construction prevents wear on the cam and the
ends of the brake shoes and reduces friction at this
point.
The cam, operating the shoes, is mounted on a
pivoted bracket so as to be self-centralizing. This
construction allows the cam to follow the energized
brake shoe without first applying the nonenergized
shoe, thereby insuring equal wear on
the brake linings as well as soft acting brakes.
The cam has a splined shaft on which is mounted
an especially designed operating lever. The hub
of this lever is broached to fit over the splined
shaft and is connected to the casing of the cam
lever by an adjustable link. When the nut on
the outer end of the link is turned, the hub turns
with relation to the lever itself, thereby changing
the position of the brake operating cam. This
construction permits the simplest known method
of brake adjustment.
A coil spring surrounds each brake drum to
give additional cooling surface and to absorb
noise produced by vibrations in the drum.
Both the front and rear brakes are operated by
diagonal pull-rods and cables extending through
the frame side bars to the brake assembly on the
wheels. The cables are carried in reinforced,
flexible casings or conduits. Fittings are provided
for lubricating both the front and rear
brake cables. Lubrication of the cam bearings is
done by removing the cams and packing the bearings
with chassis grease.
The foot pedal operates the brakes on four
wheels, while the hand brake lever operates the
rear brakes only. Thus, only one set of shoes is
needed for both braking systems.
The hand brake lever is located underneath and
at the left side of the instrument panel and is connected
to the rear service brake linkage by a
cable. See Fig. 1.
The brake and clutch pedal assembly is mounted
on the side-member of the frame. On the Series 10
and 20 cars, the pedal assembly is carried in a
bracket attached to the inside of the frame sidemember
whife on the longer wheelbase models, it
straddles the side-member with the brake pedal on
the inside of the frame.
A vacuum brake assister is used on all Cadillac
cars. It is connected at the rear to the frame X-
member and at the front end to a relay lever on
the Series 10 and 20 and to a lever on the pedal
shaft in the longer wheelbase models. It is
operated by vacuum from the intake manifolds.