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Ford Barn Wrote:

Yesterday I was driving down the local 35 MPH 2 lane road, and as I came around a blind bend just as some idiot was coming at me waaay too fast in a newer hot rodded Chevy pickup, probably about 50 or a bit faster. He had already decided to make a left turn right in front of me before making sure there was no oncoming traffic, and he proceeded to initiate the turn before he realized what he was doing. Right on his tail behind him were two other cars, both going too fast. All four of us hit the brakes.

I hadn't tried to lock the wheels up since the road test after I installed Teds floaters, and even then it was only at 10 MPH to check the evenness of the skid marks.. Since then the brakes have worn in, and they stop even better around town than right after installation, but I hadn't ever tried to lock them up at 35 MPH on a curve. This time the sedan locked up the rear tires immediately and left a dark tread mark on the fronts, with no where near as much pedal pressure as my old pickup needs just to stop normally. I was able to pull it out of the turn, and it skidded in a perfectly straight line, tires smokin' and screechin' just like the 34 sedan in Ted's video. The truck fishtailed and came to a stop sideways over the line in my lane as I slid out of the lane onto the shoulder. The cars behind him slid off onto the opposite shoulder. The entire time I had control of the car. I couldn't believe how easily responsive the brakes were. We all came to a stop without incident as I gave the truck driver "the look", shaking my head as I drove on.. I'm puttin' those floaters in my other cars.

Steve Child Wrote:

Hi Ted,

I now have the floaters installed on the front brakes of my '32 Ford. I'll finish the rear brakes tomorrow. On Saturday I got out on the road and finished adjusting the front brakes. Once in final adjustment, the stopping ability is like having power brakes on a seventy five year old pickup. WOW! I have owned Model A's with very good brakes - with new cast iron drums. But never have I experienced an old Ford with this braking ability. It should be even better with the rear brake floaters installed.

Thanks for the great product.

Steve Child
Millersville, Pa USA

Duane Storch Wrote:

Ted,

Out of six sets of floaters (Jon Christensen-4 George Archer -2) We've installed 3 and had excellant results with all three. A Model A , A 34 Cabriolet & A 35 Convertible Sedan

Thanks Again

Duane Storch

Bill Myres Wrote:

I did not check any of the brake rod adjustments or any other adjustments, but with the kit installed I can "slide the wheels" with slightly more than 'normal' pressure on the pedal. My opinion is that this kit makes my car feel like it has brakes similar to the hydralic brakes on early cars. I also assisted my friend install a kit on his 1929 Tudor. His Model A had recently-new woven brake shoes, new cast-iron drums and it only had the brake rods set-up as described in the Ford manual. However, his "A" had a tendency to slightly pull to the right, and he couldn't seem to get it to adjust out. His drums and shoes had slight 'dust', but were in excellent condition.
After installing the kit his "A" would stop without pulling to the right, and he said it seemed to have a shorter stopping distance with similar brake-pedal pressure as prior to the installation.
In closing, a couple members of our Dallas Model A Club said thst if my brakes were properly adjusted I wouldn't need the kit. However, I'm VERY pleased with the results!!
FrankMiller
Bill tell them that is the beauty of this kit. It is always compensating for any adjustments. Brake shoes can be perfectly centered with a lot of patience and work during initial assembly. But once things start to wear a little all of it goes away. Just using two slightly different length pins where the soes fit into the stock adjuster will compromise an original setup. With Ted's kit there is nothing to be concerned about here.

Terry NZ Wrote:

Thanks for your support tonight, the left hand side went together like clockwork and at about 9 pm as i was going for a test drive. David Lane arrived in his 1930 Studebaker ( an absolutely gorgeous car ) David was out on a test drive after refitting the cylinder head and replacing a burnt stainless valve caused partly by a faulty spark lead he thought. So he followed me up the mountain for a run. Man what a difference to the Model A those floaters made, half the pedal pressure required to pull up plus a higher pedal, something i could not achieve with the conventional system. All credit to you Ted what a brilliant modification you have designed.

Ron Williams USA Wrote:

I got the kit installed on my 34 coupe and just drove it this week for the first time in 23 years. The brakes work as good or better than the hydraulic conversion brakes on my 35, 3 window!!!! Thanks for all the help, and you can use my name as a recommendation for this GREAT conversion!!

Larry Daytona Wrote:

Install was easy, they come with full instructions, but here's all you do. Just pull the springs off your brakes and pull them out from the top so you can remove the old adjuster push rods. Turn the old adjusters in until they push through the retainer and remove them. Install the floaters in place of the old push rods.
Reinstall the shoes and springs. The adjusters are now adjusted like a modern style brake with a spoon or
screwdriver. I adjusted them until the shoe just drags in the drum but the wheel still turns easily. Fine tune if they don't stop as straight as you would like.
Ted's floaters have a locking notch in them that keeps them from backing off during normal use. So your adjustment stays unless you change it or the shoes wear down.
The floaters allow the shoes to not only expand but to also rotate forward which causes the front shoe to apply greater pressure which results in less foot application to get the same or greater braking result. You now have a front primary shoe like again modern brakes.

I am going to have Ted send me a few sets, so I will have them here in the US or you can contact him directly. It took about 10 days for them to arrive from Auckland. I wont know the final price until I get them. They're not expensive and are worth every penny.
A fellow walked out in front of me in a Wal-Mart parking lot, I was pulling in the space next to him. I hit the brakes and the left rear locked at about 3 mph. Got his attention and mine

Larry Daytona Wrote:

I installed Ted's Brake Floaters last week; I had this experience with them today.
They work great!
Yes the floaters work great. Today in traffic some driver from Canada (they ought to made to learn our rules of the road before being allowed on them) stopped to make a left turn from the fast lane instead of the turn lane in the center, stopped dead right in front of me and two lanes of traffic. I locked all four wheels and slid 50 feet. He stopped to wait for the turn lane to empty, not allowed, my horn works well also. The tyres had a lot of flat spots on them anyway. I have new radials coming next week and am sure it will stop even better with them. Before I couldn't lock any wheel. Now I know locking up is not a good thing, but I think I would have hit him without the floaters. Gave a guy your info at a car show last night and I will put testimonial on message board soon. Installing was easy, adjustment was a little tricky but we got it. I ground down a spoon wheel so it would fit in the hole and bent a little curl in the end. I should probably order a couple of sets to have on hand as I could just as easily sold them to the fellow on the spot last night.

Thanks a lot Ted!!!