55 Fargo

Hi all, is there a big parts store thats stocks front brake shoes for 1955 Dodge trucks? Or do I have to have mine relined? thanx Fred

Welcome to another fellow Canadian, love the truck, and yes your in deep like the rest of us.....LOL Whats the plan for the panel......FRed

Pretty deep, like the rest of us.....LOL Nice Fargo panel, will be very cool, whats the drivetrain plan? Welcome to the forum......Fred

Pulled front drums left side scored, shoe lining scored, but lots left, right side, drum not bad, shoe lining almost nothing and that fell off shoe, nice huh, and me driving at 60 mph sometimes. Had drums machined, they measured 10.040, within spec for here. Getting shoes relined next week, place does bonded lining $15.00 each. Back shoes 80s Mopar 10 inch bendix type, shoes need replacing, drums need a clean-up,maybe replacing. MC, wheel cyls, hoses and lines all okay no leaking. Back brakes would lock up if pushed hard, but not fronts ThAnx for your reply

oops, I should know this PAt,have 1 on my shed floor.......LOL

Me too, these ones appear not overly old, they certainly are not original

The 265 has the 8 bolt crank, you will need flywheel, clutch housing, starter motor from Dodge. Is it a semui-auto M6 4 speed trans, or a 3 speed attach to fluid coupler? If the M6, you will need to continue to use all electrical items and the carb onto the 265. Others will chime in, Dodgeb4ya, can certainly advise you correctly in this case...

Okay the brakes on the 55 Fargo, work, do not leak, but are in a state of wear. Front left, lots of lining, but grooved drum and shoe, had the front drums machined today, they measured with in spec too at 10.040. THe right shoes, well what was there, and not much fell off when I took off the drum, the insdie of the drum, was in decent shape, so had it just slightly machined. I need new shoe lining for both fronts, the hoses look okay, wheel cyls do not leak. Rear brakes, 80s mopar 8 1/4 diff with 10 inch brakes, drums need machining or replacing, shoes worn bad on one side, all 4 shoes. Wheel cyls no leaking, hose looks very good. I am only probably going to replace shoes, and re-bleed and adjust all brakes, will also replace rear brake hardware. I sure hope I get dcent brakes once this is done. This truck was in service until 2006, but previous owner let things go, especially in the brake shoe department. Any suggestions appreciated....

If you have access to a decent sized brake and shear, might not be that difficult. Do some searches, there have been plenty of others on here that have done this very task. I actually eliminated my inner rockers, used square tube steel 2X2, then fabbbed and outer rocker over this, it worked out okay,and is good and strong

TRy the plymouthdoctor in your home state. How bad are yours? Or you can have some bent at a local sheet metal fabricator, then weld in. CAn yours be patched and repaired? Or they gone beyond recall?.....

On my truck brakes, which have fairly worn rear shoes, front brakes stock, but with lots of lining, and some scoring, the back drum brakes modern, but worn thin. I have bled these brakes, pedal is high, and hard, but when you hit the brakes, the hard pedal has to be pushed hard, and brake response is poor. I have adjusted both fron and rears,, any ideas on this one, I do paln to replace lining, and drums to be machined or replaced. The brakes work, but are very poor, no brake fluid leaks or loss. My 47 Chrysler stock brakes are 100 times better, adn stop you real quick.

Yesterday for fun painted the side mirror red on the truck, 24 hours later, did not care for that look so sanded the mirror housing down with 400, then shot regular Tremclad rattle can dark blue, right over the sanded super smooth red Tremclad pro fast dry enamel. It went on super slick, is higher gloss, and is nice and smooth. Now this was only 24 hours later, what was the difference between this and recoating my rims with the same red paint that crinkled. The difference is agressive solvent, the regular Tremclad(rustoleum), has a lot less agressive solvent base, so it did not cause a reaction, to the not fully cure paint that was sprayed on the day before....

Hey Greg, with my truck and the 3.23 diff ratio, with P205 75 15 tires at 27 inches. At 60 mph this works out to be 2411 rpm, which is not bad at all. The thing, is this truck needs spring work, shocks all the way around, so at 60 mph she seems choppy. I prefer running her at 50 mph, but the engine is not winding to hard at 50, at 45 mph, yuo can hardly hear the engine. I did notice something tonight, went to town in the truck earlier, outside temp 82f, wind gusts up to 40mph or so, going against the wind in 4th gear, with the 3.23 you could feel her work. Now it is real flat here, but no doubt in my mind, this truck would labor on big hills with a 3.23 rearend, but I love here on flatland. I do not think I have any reason to try and go the T5 route, but it would be nice to have a smooth shift gate like with a T5 compared to this old stump puller 4 speed trans.

I have thought of this too, what your saying makes sense, but is it actually the case, when air and liquid shares the same space. When bleeding brakes, we pump the pedal up, then bleeder screws are opened to allow fluid and air to purge through, does not this action of pumping the pedal cause vacuum, and allow the air bubbles to move around in the lines or in the cyls. So really when bleeding brakes from the farthest line from the master cylinder, would that not allow a high percentage of air to be expelled 1st throughout the system,then by working backwards toward the neareast wheel cyl, would that not purge the system more efficiently and effectively. Woul the use of a pressure bleeder eliminate this and work more efectively in bleeding the closest wheel cyls or calipres first. Why have automotive engineers state to bleed the farthest bleeders first, are they wrong. I am just saying, but really what is the correct way to bleed a system, or does it really matter, as long as all the air is purged out.

Well this truck needs a lot of help yet, but she has come a long way, since I began playing with Her last October,2011.

Lemme check with the Guy, who wants the truck, see if he needs it or not, maybe he has an ID tag already.... Will PM you and let you know, when I find out....

NO thats not why this happened, has nothing tro do with primer in this case whatsoever. I sanded the rims slick, shot on 2 coats ofTremclad pro series red, super fast dry, very agrressive solvent base, lots of xylene, no primer was sprayed on 1st, the rims had a white base. I then tried to shoot on a coat the next day, thats when it crinkled, the open time was long over, and the paint did not fully cure, it needs 48 hours at 70 f minimum. I also primered the other rim, at 9:00 am, with regular slower dry tremclad red oxide primer spray bomb. At 11:00 am shot on 3 coats back to backcoats of the tremclad pro series red right over, it went on super slick, the wheel is already back on the truck. You see the tremclad primer, with a high mineral spirit/naptha slovent base, was still open enough to accept the topcoats. This much like a sealer sprayed on a car, just prioer to paint, topcoat in an hour or scuff and topcoat after full cure, that could be 8-? hours later. BTW, on my 47 Chrysler, I have home hardware Rust Coat grey primer on the bare metal 1st, then all fillers, then PPG 2k urethane high build primer, then enamel with acrylic enamel reducer and hardener, so things can be interchanged. The ticket is, the 1st home hardware primer was super cured, BTW, I sprayed this stuff on , and reduced it with Dupont acrylic enamel reducer.

Jon, it was no big deal, go the rim almost ready to go again. The pro series Tremclad dries hard, and is sandable in short order. I usually always shoot paint 3 coats after short flash time, and never a problem

sand em smooth with 220, then 320, or 400 spray on your favorite color. You hvae a good base to work with.....

yah ,its called fast dry stuff, less open time, the old slower dry stuff or lacquer spray bombs might not do this. My way is to lay all coats on in the 1st hour, then no problems, if more is needed for coverage maybe best to wait until full cure,that could be a week

Could you use the engine number, if you use the flathead 6, or do they actually check. Maybe I can dig 1 up for you, but it would be a Canadian built tag. I have a parts truck a 55 Dodge, 1 ton, that has the tag, but it supposed to be sold. Better not think of giving you that number, in case they have plans to register it someday, and VIN numbers are all on the computer for every state and Canadian Province no doubt.....

Rusty, I think the cars were using Ilco Chrysler X1199 B, those would be for the door, ignition, the trunk would use XO1199B, essentially the same keyway, different bow, and possibly a 3rd keys for the glovebox.These would also be Yale keys for these too, as I have some. The trucks used Hurd door lock and keys, not sure what the igniton switch was used, as I do not have one, I have a modern aftermarket switch.

you be needing a tag from another truck, to use for title, hopefully someone can help you out...

Serial numbers are on the firewall drivers side, there will be a tag, with the specs and serial number. The windshield is curved 1 piece, same windshield 1955 2nd series, to 1966 is a possibility.Speedy may also be able to supply this windshield. If you have flatglass, then get it cut, new windshiled rubber from Steele or Andy Bernbaum. Does you state allow small cracks in the windshield my locale does as long as it is below the drivers sightline. Welcome, and good luck......

Yup, this stuff cures slow, especially without a hardener included. The tremclad pro series dries to the touch in 15 minutes at 70f, so flashes real quick, all coats to be within an hour. I did use a slow primer on the other rim, it was drying for like 3 hours, then shot on the red no problems