Brake booster brace

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Tony Barracuda

Tony Barracuda

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I’m installing power brakes in my 68 barracuda are these braces needed?

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yes. if it's factory, it absolutely needs them.

if it's an aftermarket kit, then it may or may not depending on what type of bracing the supplied bracket has (some are pretty robust).
 
I never installed them on my '70 Dart. I had a tough time figuring out where they went when I did the conversion. It's been fine for many years and thousands of miles.

The factory manual master didn't have the bracing. I can't see how a power booster would need it. There is far less pedal pressure pushing on the firewall.
 
it's not so much for pedal pressure as it is to support the weight of the assembly. you've got all the junk dangling way out there on those four studs that are poking thru the firewall and that pattern had a kinda small footprint.
 
Chrysler bean counters did an excellent job over the years determining what could be cut from a carline over the years to help the bottom line. The bean counters likely would have asked ‘can we stop including these support braces next year?´ to the engineering team. Team would have said ‘nope, it would result in too great a moment arm…….´. My 1975 has the brace and support bracket for the power booster which means for 9 years those bean counters tried to axe the braces with no buy in from the engineers on the A Body.
 
I would install the brace. It reduces flexing when the brakes are applied. Without the braces, the pedal will not have as solid a feel as it would with the braces. A nice, solid brake pedal is always re-assuring......especially when that semi looms up ahead......
 
If its a trailer queen or only sees smooth roads its not needed. If your driving it like you stole it on bumpy roads or jumping it over ravines I would use the braces

 
This is what I’m installing. So now to find the brace and support. This is around 18 lbs hanging out there so it make since. If the master was aluminum it would probably be fine.
Anyone have them ???

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It is NOT the extra weight of a cast iron m/cl that the brace is reqd. The difference in weight between a CI & an alum m/c would be lucky to be 4 lbs......
That is nothing compared to the force of you number 12s on the brake pedal.....
That is what the brace is for.....
 
Bewy said:
It is NOT the extra weight of a cast iron m/cl that the brace is reqd. The difference in weight between a CI & an alum m/c would be lucky to be 4 lbs......
That is nothing compared to the force of you number 12s on the brake pedal.....
That is what the brace is for.....
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if that were the case (force from braking) then why wouldn't a manual master cylinder have bracing? ostensibly, that would be transferring even more pedal force than the power booster directly to the firewall.
 
I think the weight difference is greater. CI is 10 lbs. Aluminum can’t be more than 3, but I don’t have one to weigh.
Please check with any contacts you guys have, someone got to have some of these.
 
JY Hero,
The m/c is a sol lump of metal, & a manual m/c bolts direct onto the pedal assy. It is as rigid as it can be.
The m/c for power brakes bolts onto a balloon/round structure made of sheet metal. That has some flex in it, not rigid.
 
Bewy said:
JY Hero,
The m/c is a sol lump of metal, & a manual m/c bolts direct onto the pedal assy. It is as rigid as it can be.
The m/c for power brakes bolts onto a balloon/round structure made of sheet metal. That has some flex in it, not rigid.
Click to expand...
B-money, i respect your technical prowess on carburetors and all things tuning/induction, but i think you're off the mark here.

i don't think there's any more flex in the assembly than there is at the firewall with the manual master.

my hunch still remains that the braces are there because of the weight and the length of the assembly. when they changed to firewall mounted booster it was much thinner and didn't stick out as far, thus no bracing.
 
JYH,
You could be right but here in OZ around 1974, Chrys started using a short, stubby alum m/c with the booster....but kept the brace. It was also a single diaphragm booster, so not much sticking out....
 
in case anybody was wondering, the 73~76 brackets & booster weigh in at 11.5lb and a cast iron drum master is 5.5lb.

the alum two bolt modern master is 3.9lb
 
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