(upbeat music) ♪ Bob and Brad ♪
♪ The two most famous ♪
♪ Physical therapists ♪
♪ On the internet. ♪
- Hi folks.
I'm Bob Shrupp, - Oh!
- physical therapist. - Brad Heineck,
physical therapist
- Together we are the most famous physical therapists
on the internet.
- In our opinion, of course, Bob.
- Today, Brad, we're gonna talk about
the easiest way to adjust brakes on a four wheel walker.
These have become quite popular.
- Oh. - So this is,
this is a big issue because I've seen quite often
where the brakes start, they get loosened.
So they're no longer doing, being effective
- And it's a big safety hazard.
- Yeah. - You know,
we, we, you know, we buy these for people
to keep 'em from falling down.
- Right.
- But if the brakes are not adjusted right,
that does, it does just the opposite.
- Yeah. We're talking about
some of the most vulnerable people, here
that are using these things.
So we really wanna - Exactly.
- Make sure the brakes are working right
and, and they do tend to loosen after a while.
Is that the right? - Right.
the, the cables will stretch
and it's just like any cable system, like on your bicycle
or in vehicles, the cables stretch after a while,
things loosen up and they need adjustments,
just part of normal maintenance.
But you know, particularly,
we'll be talking about going down ramps.
- Sure. - Is when you
really need the brakes or when you sit down and get up
- And get back up again.
Yeah. - Right.
You know, a good example.
And my mother, she has one of these and I talked to her,
remember to lock the brakes when you stand up
just last week and she gets up
without locking the brakes. - Without locking the brakes.
- You know, just like a kid.
- Yeah.
- You know that, that really goes around.
- Yeah, now it's reverse.
Yeah. You play the reverse roles.
- But you know, if the brakes aren't on
and you get up and push and, and down you go and-
- Down. - Yeah.
- If you fall and you can't get up.
By the way, if you are new to our channel,
I'll try to take this segue.
- Good segue, Bob
- Please take a second to subscribe to us.
We provide videos on how to stay, healthy, fit, pain free
and we upload every day.
Subscription button here or here.
- Mm hmm.
- And also if you have a minute, go over,
wander over to Facebook and like us there,
Brad and I have severe psychological issues
and we have a great desire to be liked.
(both chuckling)
All right.
Let's start off, Brad. So,
- I'm feeling better too, Bob now.
- Wh, wh, when are these walkers good for people by the way?
- When are they good? - Yeah?
- Like for someone uh, if a regular walker,
they're, they're walking fairly good,
but they still need something
but they don't need is a lot of support.
- Yeah.
- And they're not walking, you know,
if they're on a walker,
they're kind of walking slow like this with a real,
a regular walker, this would not be for them.
- Right. This one requires a little more balance
than a regular walker.
- Right. - Correct.
Even, or a walker, with just wheels on the front.
- Right.
This one requires more balance.
I like these better for going outdoors, Brad.
- Exactly.
It's got four big wheels as opposed to the little wheel.
- Yep.
- And if you have one of those walkers
with tennis balls on the back.
- Yep.
They scrape and they get all roughed up and,
and it just doesn't work out well.
So, this works out better for outdoors.
It also works really well for people with cardiac issues
that need to sit down 'cause they get tired.
- Exactly.
- So the built in seat really works for well with that.
- Right.
- My mom uses it to, in her apartment building,
she puts her laundry on here.
- Yeah.
- And takes her laundry down.
- My mother puts her coffee on it.
- Does she really?
- Yeah from the kitchen to her recliner,
the coffee stays right there. It works wonderful.
So, but again, the brakes,
- Really important. - Yeah.
So, they have two brakes each one
brakes the wheel in the back
on almost every one I've ever seen.
You squeeze it and it's a friction brake
and you can see easy and you brake and it, it locks up.
Now on a smooth floor,
you can hit the brake and they still,
if you don't push down hard, it'll still slide.
But that's, that's okay.
The more weight you put down,
like when you sit on it, it locks in better.
- [Bob] Yeah.
Brad and I were just talking about, uh, uh,
we have a patient now that actually locks their brakes
and then they use it that way
because it's more stable that way.
- It doesn't get away on 'em.
- Right, it doesn't get away on 'em.
- Right, right.
So like Bob alluded to here,
almost all of these have, when you push down,
it's a static brake.
In other words, you can hear it lock.
Get my mic up there, clicks in
and now it's there for good.
Until you-
- And now you can sit down. - Right.
- And, and feel safe - Right.
- That it's gonna stay in place.
- And the adjusting part is where eventually,
what happens is when they're loose,
you can squeeze as hard as you want
and no brake is occurring. - Right.
- It's like nothing.
And then at the same time you push down like that
and nothing engages.
- Its not, yeah.
It's not holding. - Right.
And almost always, it just takes a little adjustment.
You just need a few simple tools
and should we get right at that, Bob?
- Yeah.
And it's funny not know, being very mechanical
and Brad is very mechanical.
I thought, well the adjustment
has to be up here somewhere, right?
- Well it is. That's one of them.
There's actually three places.
You can adjust these on most, on most of 'em.
- Okay.
- Um, and I do my own bicycle mechanics,
I just started doing that in the last couple years
and uh, for motor cycling
but the concept is all the same.
- I see.
- You know, uh, a cable's, a cable
and the adjustments are oftentimes similar.
So we're gonna get it up here, Bob.
So we don't have to crawl around on,
on our knees.
Now uh,
tools really can get away with just using
a pair of pliers um,
and maybe a, an adjustable or a crescent wrench.
But uh, it's easier if you have an adjust,
you know, a combination wrench.
- Actual wrench. - Yep.
And so I got the right wrench here.
Um, can you zoom right into this one, Lonnie?
I'm gonna adjust this so it's too loose. So, let's-
Are you zoomed in Lonnie?
- [Lonnie] Yeah.
- Okay. So if you watch right here, the distance,
right here, I'm gonna thread this in.
I got the, the little bitty lock nut loosened up
and I'm gonna just thread it,
you can see the, the distance of the gap
is getting less and less and less.
And now,
I got very little brake now.
It's, it's just too loose.
So what I'm gonna do-
- So you wanna move it away from there?
- Right, you wanna move this out.
- Move it away from the handle?
- Which pulls the cable out farther
and essentially makes a short cable
or a long cable shorter, tightening it.
And now I'm gonna test it.
Woo. It's a little tight, now.
- Now, it's really tight.
- Right? I actually got a little too tight
but in some cases that won't happen.
You'll get as far out as you can
if it's really stretched out,
then you're gonna have to lock your lock nut,
take your handy dandy little wrench.
- So this is the part that you're moving out?
- Right.
- Okay.
- The threaded part.
Then, then that - Okay
- is simply a lock nut.
- Okay. - It doesn't do any moving.
It just locks it in tight.
So now that's where I want to be.
Let's say it's still not tight enough
because a cable's really stretched out
- Sure. - It's a couple year old.
Then let's come down to here Lonnie
and it, it it's the exact same mechanism.
It's just that we have one on each end.
- [Bob] So, same thing.
It's gonna move away to, to, to shorten it up.
- [Brad] Exactly.
Now this one actually is a little different.
So there are a little different now,
I'm gonna have to use the, the lock nut on this.
To, on this one is not a lock nut.
It actually just, if you can see this little gap here,
I don't know how close you can get
but now I'm increasing the gap between the locknut
and the adjusting nut, but in this case-
- [Bob] So it looks like you're tighten up the nut,
the lock nut.
- [Brad] Right, but I'm just moving this out
and making it tighter, yeah.
- [Bob] Oh, I see.
- [Brad] And, and I've had some people
and I've had people comment to me on our comment boxes.
They're saying that they adjusted these all the way
and it's still not tight enough
- [Bob] On both sides?
- [Brad] Yeah. On both ends.
And then you have to go to the ultimate.
(both chuckling)
- [Bob] What's that?
- [Bob] Well, it's not a big deal
but it is a little more messing around.
You're gonna have to loosen these up again.
And what happened is either the cable really stretched
or it just slipped right down here.
So then, on this particular one, I need a allen wrench
and I use these little, these surgical.
- [Bob] Oh, I see,
the cable goes all the way through um, I gotcha.
- Yep. Right through here.
Now I'm gonna mark it. - Lonnie, you got that?
- [Brad] Can you see that, Lonnie?
We'll angle this up.
- [Bob] So the cable comes down through
and then it's just, the actual cable itself
goes through the hole and tightens up there.
- [Brad] Yep.
And then there's a lock nut, right here
that, that holds the cable.
Now, if that's not tight
and it may not be tight enough for the factory,
it loosens up, whatever.
And that cable slips through.
- [Bob] Sure.
- [Brad] Well then you, you know,
you have to actually get in here-
- [Bob] You have way too much slack then.
- [Brad] Right.
And if you happen to have these little surgical
(brad chuckles)
pliers, are really handy, they, they lock in.
Chances are, you don't have 'em,
but you'll just have to use a pair of needle nose.
And a second person is handy so they can hold it
- [Bob] And then you tighten it up.
- [Brad] Yep. I'm just gonna lock that up there, so it holds
and then I'm not gonna do it on this one
because I'm gonna have to fix it
but you' loosen this up and then you pull down
and it's nice with two people
'cause they'll pull the, the cable down.
You'll see it move down and then you tighten it up
and then you start all over adjusting this one and this one.
I'll usually put this one all the way down,
so it's bottomed out and I'll go back up here
'cause you wanna do the adjusting up here if you can.
- [Bob] Sure.
- [Brad] You don't have to bend over.
- Right. - It's easier.
It's more, it's made for adjusting up here.
The primary adjustment hopefully is done up there
and down here, is after it's either slipped
or the cable's all stretched out.
Wow Bob. - Yeah.
- What are you saying?
- Am I right in saying that, you know,
'cause we did a, a review of the Hugo, right?
- Yeah.
- And isn't that one a little bit easier to adjust?
I, I mean it's, it's sitting over here,
but I, I, don't they have
kind of a hand adjustment on theirs?
- Yeah. Well actually, yeah.
Instead of having a little partial neural thing here
it's a larger di, diameter.
- Right.
- So you can do it with your fingers.
You don't need to have a needle nose
and then wax out your aluminum neural,
which always happens if you work on these
- Sure.
- And it's really not a good, right tool for anything.
- Should I pull it out real quick, here?
- Well sure, Bob, why not?
- [Bob] Brad. Why don't you do a song and dance
while I'm bringing it out?
♪ Do dah do dah ♪
- I'm just kidding, my God, they're all gonna leave us, Bob.
- [Bob] Oh, here we go. You gotta see the Hugo anyway.
It's kind of a cool-
- It is, I am impressed with this device.
(indistinct background chatter)
- So, you can see here.
Should we lift it up?
- Oh yeah.
- See, look at the big.
- Yeah. See, see this.
- [Bob] Yeah. How easy that is to adjust.
- Right.
So you, you push it in it engages and you can adjust.
And then there's a spring in there that pushes it out.
I mean, this is engineered for, for your um,
- This one looks like - For your ease.
- This one looks like that, it really,
they want you to adjust down here, probably.
- Right. Yep. This one does.
You can do the same thing up here
um, but then this has made more for the quick adjustment
and it is really nice.
You do not need a wrench.
It's spring loaded, well designed.
- What's nice about the Hugo Navigator,
it's also a wheelchair and you can flip this over.
- Right.
- And it's got little leg rests here that, that flip out.
- Yeah.
This is kind of a whole different category,
almost, of wheeled walkers.
- So you use it as a wheelchair
and also as a four wheel walker.
- Right.
- So we did a review on it.
Nice, nice, nice unit.
- Yeah. It's well built.
It is Cadillac.
- All right.
- Very good.
Thank you very much for coming.
- Thanks everybody for watching.
- And good time on that wheeled walker.
(Bob chuckling)