Help with Go Kart Mechanical brakes

[Nashville_PowerSports_Fan]

Hi all!

New to the forum and could use some help. I bought an old go kart frame and rebuilt it with the exception of the brakes. I can’t seem to figure out hot to get this drum off so that I can repair/replace the brake pads. Any advise? There is no key way and I removed every bolt I could see and nothing… Rusted in place maybe? They work but barely…

 

[redflash]

1st take off the wheel.... looks like you will need to "Slide" it off the end of the axle.....2nd remove the linkage attachments to the pedal.
3rd find the bolts that mount the housing to an axle flange.....slide off axle
Actually the photos don't show enough detail......so essentially my description should at least lead you in the right direction.

Da Flash

 

[Nashville_PowerSports_Fan]

1st take off the wheel.... looks like you will need to "Slide" it off the end of the axle.....2nd remove the linkage attachments to the pedal.
3rd find the bolts that mount the housing to an axle flange.....slide off axle
Actually the photos don't show enough detail......so essentially my description should at least lead you in the right direction.

Da Flash

I will get some more pix of the brakes tomorrow and post. Thanks for the time! It seems like a unique cart to me. A before and after pic is attached. I still have the shocks to change out and some other punch list stuff. Think this is a Yerf Dog?

 

[madprofessor]

Have you tried tapping a chisel into that split on the drum? That has to open up to get to the shoes. There should be a keyway in the axle there for the drum, can you see a keyway there? If there is a piece of keystock in there keeping the drum from spinning, there's likely just a setscrew or two keeping it from migrating right/left on the axle. If you see keyway, and don't see keystock, try splitting the drum at the (crooked looking?) split with a chisel. Thinking it should come away from there just like the shell half you slid back away from there. You should find setscrews or something inside holding the functioning drum half on the axle.
BTW: What is that I see on the top left side of the housing? Could be a trick of the light or whatever, but magnified I swear it looks like a knob with indentations around it for gripping tightly. If so, have you tried to turn it?

 

[Nashville_PowerSports_Fan]

First off, you guys are awesome for helping out. Many thanks!

Definitely no key way or set screws. That’s what is messing with me. This thing was in the woods for a while before I bought it so rust is a big possibility.

I can’t get the cover to budge at all tho which seems so weird. Nothing to tell me there isn’t something else holding it in place. I’ll get some better pix later and post. Pix with the wheel off and maybe that will show you guys something and you can point me in the right direction.

This frame and swing arm are beefy too. Very solid.

 

[madprofessor]

This frame and swing arm are beefy too. Very solid.

..............so I'd be very careful going at it the way I'm suggesting now..............Complete Destruction And Removal, Inc.
No such company, just pretend that's who you are. Angle grinder with a handful of metal cutoff wheels, sawzall with 32TPI blades, chisel and a BFH, camera with memory space so I get to see it happen. Cut that thing into pieces to expose the innards, maybe see how to get what's left there off of the axle. Or keep cutting and pounding, just don't hurt that axle.
I swore off of drum brakes a long time ago, they totally suck and will always have a little drag on them. Go with a large brake disc and some cheap hydraulic brakes, will keep you from seeing the underside of that big truck coming at you.
Link below of the cheap Chinee master cylinder I bought to replace another almost exactly like it, although it still worked. Only difference is that I couldn't hardly get any fluid into one with no reservoir. The second one has that, and it's just ziptied up above the mc...........
Rear Hydraulic Brake Master Cylinder Go Kart Sport Sprint Cart Kit Bike Chopper | eBay
Note: That was a little less than half of what the 8" brake disc cost me.

 

[Denny]

I have never seen a rear brake like that one.

 

[MWKarter]

In the BAF7D photo, it looks like a crack has been welded in a couple of places. Wire brush it and take a look. Could have been a part of the manufacturing process - China?

 

[madprofessor]

I can’t get the cover to budge at all

it looks like a crack has been welded in a couple of places

Could have been a part of the manufacturing process

Since I'm only considering complete destruction and removal as the cure now, this doesn't really matter other than to say I see it differently than y'all are..................As to the very rough-surfaced housing with the jagged "crack", I'm saying it's not a cover, nor is it a just a crack with a couple of repair welds, nor was it manufactured.
I'm saying it used to be a single piece that's nicely rounded on the right (view angle in the pics), just like the actual cover that was slid back out of the way to the right. I'm saying it was a single piece drum that split completely into a crookedly matched pair of pieces, complete with the crookedness you see in the so-called "crack". I called it a "split" just meaning the crooked gap between the two pieces.
Spreading it on apart with a cold chisel would just be a way to visually expose what's inside, to help figure out how to remove it. Even if the pieces were smoothly removed, in the end it's a brake drum, nothing you'd want to weld back together.
Get everything off of there and start over fresh.

 

[Denny]

If you can not find out anything about those brakes including where to get service parts you will have no choice but to cut off those parts. Until then keep searching for answers.

 

[Denny]

What kind of kart is it? Where the split(?) is looks like that should have brake lining bonded to it maybe.

 

[panchothedog]

I don't think I can help you with your breaks but FWIW I have a kart I bought used about a year ago and the front of yours is a little different from the steering wheel back yours is identical to mine. The brand is " Tomberlin "
Mine is a Fire Fox 620. It still had a few ledgeable decals on it and the remains of a hydrolic disk brake. I ended up buying a master cylinder line and caliper from Go Power Sports and using the existing disk. The rear axle on mine was also a weird size 27 mm and the ends are splined along with the rear wheels.

 

[panchothedog]

Before buying mine I had never heard of a Tomberlin but when I googled it I found a advertising video of it, don't think it's current though. I also own two
Yerf Dog karts and yours is not that brand.