IH 354 Brakes

[RoyJr]

Replaced brakes on my gas IH 354: new disks, actuators, springs, balls. Left side seems to work fine.
When I put the case and assembly back on the right side, right wheel is bound solid before reconnecting
linkage.
If I back off the holding bolts so there is about a .015" gap between the case and the tractor it lets go and
turns smoothly. I have taken it off and redone it from scratch, same result. There is no gasket in the diagrams.
The only solution I can think of is to take it back off and grind one or more of the 4 surfaces.

Any Ideas?

Thank you

 

[RoyJr]

Never mind. For whatever reason, when I stacked the 2 disks and the actuator in the casing, laid a straight edge across it (https://www.redpowermagazine.com/forums/topic/147262-400-sticking-brakes/) the internal parts were .032" above the casing.
I ended up roughing up one of the old disks and using it, resulting in approx the same clearance below the edge of the casing.
Put it together and it works. I still don't understand why the left side worked with both new disks.

 

[Fritz Maurer]

There have been numerous topics over the years about milling the housings to improve braking, it sounds like you might have one.

 

[JimB2]

Check the diameter of the new brake disk, then check the diameter inside the brake housing of the worn surfaces between the outer ridge that has been created by the old disk wearing into the castings. If the new disk has a larger diameter then it will be dragging on the outer or inner ridges instead of the worn surface. It is usually on the outer edge of the new disk that drags on the outer ridge of the casting. You can take the new disk to a grinder and grind a small amount off the outer edge to make it fit in the old ware surface of the brake castings. The proper way would to grind the ridge on the brake casting on both the brake housing, actuator and the differential case housing.

 

[BarnyardEngineering]

Never mind. For whatever reason, when I stacked the 2 disks and the actuator in the casing, laid a straight edge across it (https://www.redpowermagazine.com/forums/topic/147262-400-sticking-brakes/) the internal parts were .032" above the casing.
I ended up roughing up one of the old disks and using it, resulting in approx the same clearance below the edge of the casing.
Put it together and it works. I still don't understand why the left side worked with both new disks.

If you ever get the ambition to pull the left side back off, do the same stack-and-measure. My bet is that one measures up fine.

Sounds to me like maybe someone has over-machined the brake housing you're having problems with. To confirm that you'd need both brake housings out, empty, side by side, measure their depths, and compare. If they're the same then you're looking at thicknesses of brake discs and the actuator itself.