Rebuilt wheel cylinders

[XchaosX]

Anyone have trouble with them? I rebuilt my master cylinder, air pack and all wheel cylinders. A couple of my rear ones started leaking soon as I refilled with fluid. They had rust inside when I took them off but no real bad pitting. Honing cleaned them up pretty well. I haven't torn the hubs back down to see what went wrong, it's been too cold. I picked up new wheel cylinders on my last parts run to put on if I need.

 

[RAYZER]

I have rebuilt and used many wheel cylinders with good results, I also make sure that the rebuild parts are u.s. made.
If the pitting is toward the middle of the cylinder bore then it should be ok, but any pitting on where the rubbers make contact may be asking for trouble.

 

[Tow4]

The wheel cylinders on my M35A2 were too badly pitted to rebuild.

If it isn't nice and shiny after you hone it, I hone it some more. If it takes more than a half hour, it's junk. Seriously, honing shouldn't take more than a few passes to clean it up. If it's doesn't clean it pretty fast, you should think about replacing it.

 

[Hainebd]

Isn't there a limit to how much material can be removed? Do they have oversized rebuild kits? I stopped rebuilding years ago. The cost of new is not that bad. NAPA sold me one for $29.00. American made.

 

[ATPTac]

Its possible you got some bad seals, or the wheel cylinders are junk. This is one of the reasons I got 6 new cylinders to put on. How bad was the pitting/did it come completely out after honing?

 

[XchaosX]

Some were more gummed up and rusty than others, but no real bad pitting. I didn't go crazy with honing them and they looked half decent afterwards. I bought 6 new cylinders whether I need them or not. I figure with 2 trucks now I'd use them eventually. I don't know if something went wrong while assembling the brakes and hubs. My buddy put them together as I went on to the next hub dissembling and cleaning. I'll make sure to test the brakes first before I put all the hubs back together next time.

 

[ATPTac]

Some were more gummed up and rusty than others, but no real bad pitting. I didn't go crazy with honing them and they looked half decent afterwards. I bought 6 new cylinders whether I need them or not. I figure with 2 trucks now I'd use them eventually. I don't know if something went wrong while assembling the brakes and hubs. My buddy put them together as I went on to the next hub dissembling and cleaning. I'll make sure to test the brakes first before I put all the hubs back together next time.

Just make sure you have the drums on before trying to bleed the brakes or apply any pressure to the system. If not you'll end up blowing out the wheel cylinders. I've seen it happen more than once with drums and disc brakes.

 

[Clay James]

I just had one blow out on my 109. Luckily it was while it was parked at my house, although it was probably going when I was heading back down from the Rocky Mountains since that was my last trip! I rebuilt them last summer. They had a some pitting towards the middle that I didn't think was too much, but apparently it was. Just got some USA made 2009 production AM General wheel cylinders off eBay. Good piece of mind having good quality new parts. Wish I could have found those when I was servicing the brakes. I rebuilt the ones in my A2 a few years ago but they were in really good shape with no pitting and so far they are holding up fine. I keep an eye on them since I've had the drums off a "few" times since then.

The problem if it's honed too much is the gap between the piston and bore increases. It's still not much but that seal with all that pressure on it will want to squeeze through there. As mentioned above, if it's not done in a few passes it's junk. Take no chances on a vehicle this heavy with single circuit brakes!

 

[porkysplace]

Anyone have trouble with them? I rebuilt my master cylinder, air pack and all wheel cylinders. A couple of my rear ones started leaking soon as I refilled with fluid. They had rust inside when I took them off but no real bad pitting. Honing cleaned them up pretty well. I haven't torn the hubs back down to see what went wrong, it's been too cold. I picked up new wheel cylinders on my last parts run to put on if I need.

Did you use rebuild kits with the cup expanders ?

 

[g2065g]

Is there a way to know if you are getting an American made wheel cylinder? Or a source that only sells them? I plan on rebuilding one this weekend but if it turns out it is bad i'd like to replace it with one made in the USA.

 

[m-35tom]

no real bad pitting and looked half decent afterwards, just doesn't cut it. any pitting at all, they are junk.

 

[Floridianson]

Did you use rebuild kits with the cup expanders ?

Agree. Thought there was a thread a long time ago about some wheel cyl. not even having the cup expanders. New China Old Junk????

 

[Lieutenant Dan]

You can get new ones off amazon prime for $28 bucks I think?