MY Airpack Rebuild with Photos!

[reloader64]

I just bought a 1 gallon garden-type sprayer from Home Depot ($7), cut the hose in front of the spray wand, and bought the brass fittings required to plumb it into the vent fitting on the master cylinder cap. Fill the MC with fluid, put some in the sprayer, and give the sprayer a few pumps. It doesn't take much pressure to push brake fluid through the lines.

Scott

 

[armyvet67]

I just wanted to take time to THANK you for your information. You have been a big help to me. I don,t think my Grandson would go to sleep in my Deuce, he is way to excided and my Deuce is kind of loud but he likes that also.

Thanks again.

 

[reloader64]

Glad to help.
My grandson is pretty wound up also, but 30 minutes in the deuce would put him out like a light.
Hope you get yours running.

Scott

 

[DeucesWild11]

Just catching up on my old thread, well old to me now. Glad to have posted and give back a little from my experience. Without this great website and community that I have grown to know over the past few years I probably would have never owned a deuce. Now I can't ever see myself without one. Long live SS!!

 

[HanksDeuce]

Thanks a bunch for putting this thread together with detailed pictures.

Just a heads up that Autozone has a Loan-A-Tool program. They have an engine cylinder hone that adjusts from 2-7 inches. They charge you $25, and when you bring the hone back they give you $25. That means free! This should work for the air pack.

http://www.autozone.com/autozone/ac...-deglazer/_/N-25qi?itemIdentifier=555581_0_0_

 

[Heavysteven]

Just finished mine, had what looked like mud in the cylinder. Took 4 hours but I could do it in 30 minutes now.

Stopping power the same though. No thumping in the pedal or brake fluid out the vent. Glad I did the repair.

 

[reloader64]

I found out mine needed to be rebuilt when I stopped at an intersection, and so much smoke came from under the hood that I thought the truck was on fire. Turns out, my air pack vent was puking brake fluid directly at the turbo. It was a huge relief to push the brakes and have nothing but air come out.

Scott

 

[tommys2patrick]

just found your thread. excellent. I have been having strange problems on my breaks. if I open the air tank valves(both) and let air vent directly to atmosphere I have some hydraulic brakes. enough to stop the truck at low speed. if i close the tank valves the pedal is hard as a brick and the brakes are 100% locked solid. it was suggested to aid some air tool oil to the Vac cylinder air side. I am trying that but i think I will need to rebuild mine as well. your process and pictures willbe a great asset along the way. Thank you very much for taking the time and level of detail!!

 

[DeucesWild11]

It seems that weird brake problems are usually the Airpack. There are so many parts to it that I don't know what they all do, you just need to clean it all up as best you can and replace whatever is in the rebuild kit. Best of luck to ya!

 

[JCKnife]

Well, now I'm thinking that I must have done something wrong. When I did the rebuild, everything SEEMED straightforward and I didn't have any leftover parts, but now my brake pedal continues to get soft. Bleeding the system firms it up and then it gets soft again. And the air compressor runs a LOT more than it did before, and when the system is shut down I can hear air coming out the breather line on the firewall, which I never noticed prior.

I'll try bleeding one more time before replacing the thing. Oy.

 

[Sapper55]

JCKnife,
I know what you're goin' thru. My '70 has been sitting in my barn for 8+ years and has zero brakes. I rebuilt the air-pack in June, bled all the wheels (with a pressure tank) and new dot5. Then road tested for pedal pressure. The farther I went, the pedal went closer to the floor. I turned around in time to barely make it home and found no brake fluid in the master cylinder. Now I have to replace the MC. I just hate it that I donated all that new dot5 (almost $60.00 worth)to the roadway. I also have air coming out the slobber tube when I kill the engine. It's definitely the airpack also in my case. Sheeesh!! Good luck. Sapper55

 

[DeucesWild11]

Well, when I did the airpack I also had a soft pedal. I rebuilt the M/C and that took care of it. Not sure if that will work for you as well but I have seen/heard that if the Airpack is in bad shape then usually the M/C is too. Then just recently took off the hubs to inspect the brake cylinders and they were in terrible shape as well, not leaking a drop but very close to failure in my opinion.

Good luck you guys!

 

[Sapper55]

DeucesWild11,
When I rebuilt my airpack, I did not hone the cylinder. I guess I should have in retrospect. The MC was dry as dust also. I think I will replace with a new unit when I get the money. I got my work cut out for me. You have posted an outstanding detailed contribution to this thread, and we appreciate it so much.
Sapper55 MSG Ret USA
Army Strong!!
1970 M35A2C WO/W

 

[wildbill88]

You really have to keep up on your brakes it seems to me at least the hardest thing to keep up on I keep a spare set of wheel cylinders and I have a spare airpack when in doubt do your wheel cylinders and check your shoes for proper adjustment

 

[Dipstick]

Thanks DW! Great post! I'm sure I'll be doing this in the future. I sure do envy you guys with work benches. I do my repair/painting stuff out on my third floor apartment balcony. I must've put on a million miles this year trudging up and down the stairs to my apartment and my truck in the parking lot.

 

[sgtrisk]

How did you get the piston gasket bearing thingy (I don't have the paperwork in front of me right now) - see post #3 herein - out/off without damaging it? Mine is in the body pretty firmly. And I'm not in the mood to damage it.

 

[blisters13]

I got very lucky- my truck's brakes locked up in my driveway, and not while I was doing the Toys For Tots drive.


Master Cylinder Piston

Partially gelled fluid

Air Piston with disintegrating cup

Air Cylinder with cup debris

Slave Cylinder rusty

Water poured out of the air cylinder (about three tablespoons), so I plan to install an air drier. I do drain the tanks after every run, and I live in a fairly dry climate. Also, I don't like the pitting in any of the three cylinders, so I will be installing all new next year if I can afford it.

I honed the piss out of all three, and installed a rebuild kit to get the truck on the road (I applied air tool oil to all the air cylinder parts), but as of this morning I haven't reinstalled anything. Hope it all works.

 

[DeucesWild11]

If you take your time and clean and hone everything well you should be fine. Glad to hear it locked up at home. Mine did it on my recovery drive home.

 

[dmetalmiki]

Very informative and instructional write up and pictures. Thank you, your write up is now in our workshop files. again thanks.

 

[DeucesWild11]

I am humbled that my write up is in a file on the other side of the pond. It was my way of trying to give back a little to this site which I have learned and continue to learn so much from. Thanks!