Brake job

[JeremyB]

Hello,
I am looking at the possibility of replacing a few of my brake cylinders.

Do any of you have any advice or info that I should keep in mind or look out for?

Thank you.

 

[gimpyrobb]

If one or two look bad, they all might be. I'd have at least some wheel cyl. rebuild kits on hand and maybe a cyl or two for the ones too rusty to hone.

 

[cattlerepairman]

Hello,
I am looking at the possibility of replacing a few of my brake cylinders.

Do any of you have any advice or info that I should keep in mind or look out for?

Thank you.

My largest piece of advice is to thoroughly inspect all flex lines and steel lines beforehand. NOW is the time to replace brake stuff in one shot. Work as cleanly as you can before you get to actually disconnecting/reconnecting hydraulics (use brake cleaner liberally to clean away gunk and crumbly stuff). Be familiar with the TM procedures for wheel bearings and brake adjustment.

I second the advice from above - if ONE cylinder needs replacing, then, chances are, they all should be inspected and probably replaced/rebuilt.

You have a single circuit brake system....works extremely well as long as it is in A+ shape.

 

[rlwm211]

If you are disassembling the hubs to change the wheel cylinders you should plan on greasing the wheel bearings. This is PM and will be a somewhat messy addition to the brake work, but will be a good investment of your time.

I would have a couple of seals, both inner and outer on hand along with some cork for the keyway seal in case any of these important seals are bad, worn or otherwise.

Tools to have...

3" 8 sided bearing nut socket OTC 1907 if I am not mistaken.

Gear wrench for the lug nuts and inners. This tool may not be essential for work at home, but if you have a flat on the road could make the job of changing the flat out a lot easier.

I would suggest you review the appropriate manual for the disassembly and re-assembly of the hub if you have not already.

As others have pointed out if one of your wheel cylinders is bad, chances are they all are. You can ask me how I would know this and I would offer I just did exactly what you are proposing on doing and ended up changing all of my wheel cylinders.

I would suggest that you replace the wheel cylinders with new this time as if the old ones are bad, they are severly corroded and will not clean up sufficiently with a hone for rebuilding. If any of the new wheel cylinders fail in the future you will rebuild them quickly before they rust as bad as the old ones would have sitting as long as some of these triucks have.

Hope this helps

RL

 

[Scrounger]

The first recommendation is to wash the undercarriage and especially around the backing plates, this is where a pressure washer or a steam cleaner comes in handy. It gets down right annoying to have dirt falling on your clean parts, on your face and in the eyes when working.
After the truck is clean and dry liberally spray the fasteners on the backing plates with your favorite lube, I find PB Blaster works well. It doesn’t hurt to spray them say Wednesday, Thursday and Friday for a Saturday job.
As already posted drum up the TMs for bearing and brake service.
When in doubt on a part replace it. As already said the deuce brake system is a single line system and there is no secondary system to take over if there is a part failure.
Having a power brake bleeder comes in handy and make sure to use jack stands.

 

[Heavysteven]

I third the idea to clean and power wash the huds. I went through 8 cans of break cleaner a 10 rolls of paper towels doing the front axle.

Just my thoughts, I know it can get expensive but I would buy all cylinders pads, and hoses. Replace everthing then bleed the system.

Good luck , please post some pics. I wish someone around me was doing a brake job would love to help.

 

[Tow4]

I'm in the process of doing the brakes on my deuce. All the wheel cylinders were bad (not rebuildable). I also had a bad wheel bearing. OD Iron has all the parts and is in Florida so shipping takes one day. The parts are cheap and you will have piece of mind knowing everything is new.

I'm replacing all 6 wheel cylinders, all rubber brake hoses, and repacking all the wheel bearings. The master cylinder and airpack look new so I'm rolling the dice on them.

I'm also changing over to Dot3 brake fluid because the Dot5 doesn't seem to do anything to prevent corrosion. I read about people with new to them trucks all the time that have the wheel cylinders corroded up. My friend that is letting me use his shop, has a classic Corvette that doesn't get driven much and has Dot5, the claipers were all frozen on it too. Doesn't seem worth the $35 a gallon for the Dot5 to me.

 

[rlwm211]

DOT5 or DOT3? That is the question.....

I would agree about the DOT5 fluid and the idea of changing over to DOT3.

I would guess (and this is pure speculation on my part) that the corrosion comes when the system becomes empty and then air/moisture can enter into it. It probably does not help that a lot of trucks, especially deuces, that were bad ordered were simply parked for years before being sold to us and this appears to be the case with my truck.

The longer a truck sits without proper fluids out in the weather the worse the internal damage is to the wheel cylinders and master cylinder as well as the airpack.
Suffice it to say, if it becomes necessary to completely flush out my brake system, I will be very tempted to convert over to DOT3. For now, as long as things work as they should, I am keeping the DOT5 in the system. In the interest of avoiding a fire hazard, I am changing over to the air switch for my brake lights as DOT5 has a nasty habit of burining if your brake light switch has a short. I saw this happen a week ago at the MTA show after it had closed on a M109 that had been parked with the lights left on. Fortunately there were many people there who recognized what was happening and saved the truck from any damage other than some lost fluid and a new switch.

Just my nickels worth (Used to be 2 cents, but with inflation....)
RL

 

[scootertrs]

To silicone or not...

I'm in the process of doing the brakes on my deuce. All the wheel cylinders were bad (not rebuildable). I also had a bad wheel bearing. OD Iron has all the parts and is in Florida so shipping takes one day. The parts are cheap and you will have piece of mind knowing everything is new.

I'm replacing all 6 wheel cylinders, all rubber brake hoses, and repacking all the wheel bearings. The master cylinder and airpack look new so I'm rolling the dice on them.

I'm also changing over to Dot3 brake fluid because the Dot5 doesn't seem to do anything to prevent corrosion. I read about people with new to them trucks all the time that have the wheel cylinders corroded up. My friend that is letting me use his shop, has a classic Corvette that doesn't get driven much and has Dot5, the claipers were all frozen on it too. Doesn't seem worth the $35 a gallon for the Dot5 to me.

My son's 71 GTX was parked on a lift on top of my 69 Super Bee 6 pack w lift off hood. Guess what... caliper leak, on top of my grill vent and hood and destroyed a beautiful paint job. That alone is enough to make me replace all of the brake system fluids with Dot 5. Dot 5 is a pain in the AXXX to bleed, because if you try to ruch it, it makes these little bubbles that you have to wait for them to make big one before you can vent them. but once it is done, I have never had any problem with it corroding. What has happened is that some rebuilders use rubber that swell up with silicone when it comes in contact with it. You have to be sure that the kit you are using is compatible