Cushman Hawk Brakes

[Pondfisher]

Hello - I need to find the rear brake cylinders and shoes for my Cushman Hawk. Does anyone have an idea where I can find them. Reasonable price if possible.. Photo attached.

[Pondfisher]

This left wheel is the good one. On the right rear the shoes are toast and that cylinder is also leaking.

[CharleyL]

That looks like a front wheel hub. They come off easy. The rear ones require a BIG hammer and a special puller, which is just a heavy piece of hex stock with a blind hole in one end that it threaded to fit the end of the axle. These are available from www.directparts.com or www.denniscarpentercushman.com. You thread it on the axle and then beat the H*** out of the end of it with the BIG hammer. The puller just protects the threads and the ends of the axles. A few really hard blows will usually pop the hub off, but it may take soaking with WD40 too.

I believe that your brake parts are the same as my Cushman 1987 Truckster. I found that 70's Ford F100 brake cylinder rebuild kits are identical to the Cushman version that was used in my Truckster. I honed out some of my original wheel cylinders and used these Ford parts to repair them, but a couple of my wheel cylinders were in very rough shape. so I ended up replacing them later because they began leaking again. When I replaced them I found that I could buy new Cushman style wheel cylinders and brake shoes through my local forklift repair shop. Apparently, these parts are also used in several models of forklifts. The brake shoes were $10 each and the wheel cylinders were $23 each. I was also able to buy a new master cylinder, off the shelf, from them. When Cushman vehicles were being used in industrial locations, it was the forklift repair shops who usually maintained them, and they have or know where to get many of the parts that fit Cushman vehicles.

The Ford F100 complete cylinders are nearly identical to the Cushman, except for an external bump on the casting. I've heard of others using these cylinders by grinding this bump off, but I haven't tried this myself.

You can find many steering and drive train parts for your Cushman through your local auto parts dealers, but they don't have a cross reference to Cushman. They frequently have what you need sitting on their shelf, but can't find it. You may need to go to several auto parts stores before finding a guy who has worked in the business for many years, but he can frequently recognize what you bring, and find the part on the shelf for you without using any cross reference. Cushman didn't make drive train and steering parts, they bought them from other automotive parts manufacturers.

Here's something that you should know about why these brake systems develop so much internal rust. The master cylinders of Cushman brake systems and early model cars are all vented to the atmosphere through a small hole in the master cylinder fill cap. The DOT 3 brake fluid used in these systems is alcohol based. Over time, changes in atmospheric pressure and temperature will draw moisture in through this vent hole, which will readily unite with the alcohol in the DOT 3 brake fluid. Eventually, enough moisture is drawn in to begin rusting the brake system from the inside. Newer cars now have a rubber diaphram in the master cylinder cover to keep the brake fluid and the outside air separated, but the older design brake systems didn't have this. I tried to find a newer design master cylinder with a diaphram for my Cushman and failed to find anything that would fit without major modification. I ended up just replacing my master cylinder with the original type, but I have resolved to completely replace the brake fluid in my Cushman every three years, in an effort to keep the internal rusting to a minimum.

What motor is in your Hawk? If it's an OMC 18 or 22 hp I have quite a bit of experience and parts for them.

Charley

[Pondfisher]

Charley, thank you for the tips. My machine was born a briggs 14 hp Hawk model number 7977012, 13, 14, 15, or 25. I am not sure which one exactly and it has a new 16hp motor. Serial number is 646547 and the steering wheel says Ransomes. The picture is of the left rear wheel. The hawk did not come with front brakes. I called Parts Direct this morning and ordered replacement shoes and cylinders. A little pricey and hopefully the right ones. I live on hilly property so stopping for me is just as important as starting.

qty 2 700472 cylinder
qty 2 700512 brake shoe left
qty 2 700521 brake shoe right
I plan on picking up a puller to remove the wheel stud flange.

I do have a copy of the service manual part number 2701176 but it does not list the part numbers if anyone needs anything.

I appreciate the tip on the steering system and will look into getting the brake lines clean once I install the new parts.

If you have extra parts let me know what you have. THANKS!!

[CharleyL]

OMC (the outboard motor company) owned Cushman in the 1980's and developed the OMC 18 and 22 hp engines for the Cushman vehicles. They are the same engine with the difference being in the cylinder heads. The also designed a one cylinder version of this engine for use in Cushman Scooters. Unfortunately, OMC will not provide any information on these engines when requested. The best information that I located for these OMC engines is in the 826767 pdf manuals that are available for download from the www.sillylittlecars.com website. The Supplement provides the most information about the engine.

Ransomes owned Cushman for just a few years in the very early 90's, then sold Cushman to Jacobsen. The Jacobsen website has many pdf files of Cushman manuals available for download, and some not listed are available from them via a phone call. In the mid 90's Jacobsen sold Cushman to EZGO, but Jacobsen seems to be the best source for the manuals. EZGO has not been of any help to me at all. Manuals that provide part numbers for your model of Hawk and manuals that provide the electrical drawings will be the most help to you. Owners and Operators Manuals are typically useless as a source for repair information. http://www.jacobsen.com/americas-manuals/ For your motor manuals, parts, and information you will likely need to get that help direct from the motor manufacturer.

If you have the Cushman part numbers for what you need the local forklift people may be your best and cheapest source. Don't expect to find sheet metal and body parts, but drive train, brake, and steering parts should all still be available. Other sheet metal and body parts will likely only be available used through Craigslist and Ebay. Don't overlook the possibility that the auto parts stores might have some parts too, but there they won't have a cross reference to Cushman. Only a counter person who has been in the business for many years will be able to find something that matches the part that you bring in to him, and he will have to do this based on his many years of experience in the field. I went to three different auto parts suppliers before finding one of these very rare people. I could not have rebuilt my Truckster without him. The certain older and very experienced counter guy at the forklift shop was my second best friend during my parts searches. Fortunately they were almost across the street from each other, so this saved me a lot of traveling.

I mostly only have parts of the OMC engines, so I doubt I'll have anything that you need. There's no harm in asking though. If I have something, and don't need it myself, it is available.

Here is a link to my Truckster restoration story (if you are interested) http://www.buggiesgonewild.com/gas-g...ed-forest.html

Charley

[ThreeCW]

Originally Posted by Pondfisher

I called Parts Direct this morning and ordered replacement shoes and cylinders. A little pricey and hopefully the right ones. I live on hilly property so stopping for me is just as important as starting.

qty 2 700472 cylinder
qty 2 700512 brake shoe left
qty 2 700521 brake shoe right
. THANKS!!

Pondfisher,
I too am looking for rear cylinders and brake shoes for my Cushman Hawk.
Any tips on replacement parts ... I require the same parts numbers you listed on your post 4 years ago. You mention Parts Direct ... could your provide me a link for them as there seem to be a number of places called Parts Direct.
Thanks for any help you can provide.
3CW

[CharleyL]

www.directparts.com is what you are looking for.

www.denniscarpentercushman.com is another source.

Dennis specializes in Cushman Scooter parts, but one model of Cushman Scooter used a single cylinder version of the 2 cylinder OMC engines. OMC once owned Cushman back in the 1980's and developed these OMC engines for the Cushman vehicles. All three versions of this motor used the same common parts, so an OMC single cylinder scooter engine piston will fit in the 18 and 22 hp truckster engines, etc. I buy a lot of engine parts for my 22 hp 2 cylinder truckster engine from Dennis Carpenter, since they are only about 12 miles from me.

If you are restoring old Ford cars or tractors, Dennis Carpenter Cushman/Ford carries parts for restoring them too. I was quite surprised when I was there one day, to find a brand new unpainted engine and rear wheel cover, and seat assembly for a 50's "Boat Tail" Cushman Scooter sitting in their showroom. The parts guy said that they fabricate them to the original Cushman plans right there in their shops. Need window and door molding for a 1933 Ford Business Coupe? they have them freshly made and in stock there too. How about a 34 Ford tail light lens with the blue jewel in the center. I saw new ones of them in the showroom as well.

Charley

[ThreeCW]

Thanks Charley. I will look at those sites.

[CharleyL]

When rebuilding the brake cylinders of my 87 Truckster (before finding new cylinders) I found the cylinders for early 70's Ford F-100 pickup trucks were almost the same as the Cushman cylinders for my Truckster, except for an outward bump on the casting that needed to be ground off to use. The internal dimensions and parts were identical, so for the cylinders that could be honed out and cleaned up, I used the Ford F-100 rebuilding kits, and they are working fine 5 years after being re-built. Two of my cylinders had pitting inside and I did my best to re-build them. I replaced one with an F-100 cylinder, grinding the bump off. The other cylinder came through my local Forklift Repair shop. I found out later that they ordered from www.directparts.com and it cost me $23 five years ago. If I remember correctly, the Ford re-building kits cost me about $12 each, $4 to have a local shop hone them for me, and then two failed after my re-building. New is the better way to go. I'm not certain that these cylinders are a direct replacement for your Hawk either, so compare them before buying from other than www.directparts.com.

Forklift shops stock the same master cylinder that is used in my 87 truckster for some model forklift. I had wanted to replace mine with a sealed newer master cylinder design, if I could, to keep the moisture in the air from getting into the cylinder reservoir and uniting with the alcohol in the DOT 3 brake fluid (the reason why these brake systems rust from the inside out) . When I failed to find a new style master cylinder with the rubber bellows seal between the reservoir and the lid to keep the air coming through the air vent from reaching the brake fluid, and install it without major sheet metal modifications in my Truckster, I resigned to just buying the original replacement and realizing that every couple of years I would need to pump out the old fluid that is likely full of water, and replace it all with new fluid. I have done this twice so far, and I'm due to replace it again in the Spring of 2021. Not the ideal solution, but if I don't want to replace everything again, it's worth doing. DOT 3 brake fluid is cheap by comparison.

Pretty much everything that you will need to service the power train, brakes, and steering for Cushman Trucksters are still available for American and forein autos, and much of it is in stock in the auto parts stores. Unfortunately, they have no cross reference for Cushmans. It takes a guy, usually with white hair, who has been working selling auto parts for years to recognize what you need and then go find something on the shelf that's the same. My auto parts guy is about 60 and in 10 minutes he matched up my tail light lenses, and the flexible brake line that runs from the chassis to the front axle. The brake line is for a 1968 Dodge Van, but it fits my Truckster perfectly. Same length, diameter, threads, etc. Cushman didn't manufacture parts that they could buy cheaper. The chassis and sheet metal now days is only obtainable from a donor vehicle, or by making it yourself, since Cushman themselves made these parts specifically for their own products.

The big exception to this is the OMC engines, designed and built by OMC to fill the motor need for the Cushman vehicles that they now were manufacturing since buying the Cushman Company. They made a very unique motor in three versions, but by using as many identical parts as possible to build all three. So we have an 18 hp two cylinder, a 22 hp two cylinder, and a 9 hp single cylinder version of the same engine. The 18 and 9 hp versions used almost all of the same parts. The only significant difference in the 22 hp version from them is higher compression cylinder heads to get the extra hp. They are easily recognized by the spark plug location, below cylinder center for the 18 & 9 hp, and above cylinder center for the 22 hp.

Dennis Carpenter says that they only sell Cushman Scooter parts, but I can buy gaskets, valves, cylinder heads, and just about everything else that I need from them for keeping my 22 hp OMC engine running, and they are located about 12 miles from me, so I just go there and get what I need. So far, it has been gasket sets, stainless exhaust valves, etc.

These OMC engines overheat easily when the bellows temperature control fails to open the damper doors as the motor warms up. These bellows assemblies don't seem to be available anymore, so I removed them and fastened the dampers open by drilling and threading holes in the aluminum front casting that contains the damper doors. I located these holes very close to the edge of each damper, so that I could use the head of the bolt screwed into these holes to catch and hold the sheet metal damper in the desired position, flat against the opening in the casting. In North Carolina, I don't really need the cab heat, so it isn't so important to keep the engine warm enough to provide this heat. It now cools itself just as good as my other air cooled engines that I own in warm and cold Weather, and no more engine overheat problems.

I hope some of these ideas and tips help you. If you have any questions I will try to help, at least until they mess with my password again.

Charley

[ThreeCW]

Many thanks Charley.

I had read your previous posts about Cushman brakes and agree with your conclusions to use new parts when possible and change your brake fluid often.

The parts manual for my cart indicates my rear wheel cylinders are Cushman PN 700472 … when I trace them online they indicate they are 5/8” bore.
When I caliper the bore of my wheel cylinders, they are 7/8” (0.875”). So I need to find the correct 7/8" bore replacements that will mount up correctly.

I have heard stories of Cushman carts that have parts different from the parts manual … perhaps this is my case.

The only identifying mark I can find on my wheel cylinders is a cast number on the bottom side of the cylinder indicating 27-1.

With winter coming, I plan to dig into this a little deeper and if I can't find a replacement based on dimensions, I will remove a wheel cylinder and try to find a grey haired parts man (or woman) to help me find a suitable replacement.

Regards, 3CW