jsd245

Yeah that's a little tough to see. Is that mount just sandwiched between the leaf spring and the axel? And is it the same orientation on then drivers side? Or does the shock angle towards the rear of the truck?

Not sure if anyone is interested- but these are on facebook marketplace https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/1936692839865227/

My 1.5 ton has no shocks front or rear. I guess this is typical. While back is probably too stiff to benefit from any shocks, seems the front might benefit. There seems to be no provisions for mounting a shock on the front axle beam on my truck. I know they were available as an option - does anyone have a photo of how shocks would be mounted on the heavier trucks?

So yes this bearing is shot after I got this apart. Bushing in the other end has some wear too. This generator has another pulley screwed on the end in place of the nut. I believe it was running a plow hydraulic pump. Maybe why the bearing failed given this has relatively few miles. for the bearing- I am replacing with a sealed bearing. Any reason not to do this? Not sure why I’d go back to the open bearing hoping the oil makes it in. now I need to find a generator nut .

This sounds cool. We need an East Coast version!

So - the brake saga continues. I guess the PO didn’t do as much work as I thought! All the lines got replaced but both front wheels cylinders were shot. Clearly were original. Front wheels and drums are off, one wheel seal was leaking anyway and for some reason the grease in that wheel was very thin and sticky- so it had leaked into the drum and soaked the shoes, which is too bad because they had quite a bit left. at this point everything is off, including the backing plates I am de- rusting and painting. I got the shoes relined at a local place who really seems to know what they are doing, they arced them appropriately to the drum size. Pretty lucky I have a shop close by that relines friction materials. so I have all the parts I need, new wheel cylinders from DCM, I found some NOS front wheel seals from vics. Bearings and races look perfect and the drums are very good- their ID is just about exactly 14 1/8. Further reinforcing that this truck may in fact have only 24,000ish original miles. Once the fronts are done I will move to the rear since I know I have one incorrect wheel cylinder back there.

I love this. I'm probably a couple years away from my 1.5 ton being able to be loaded like this. Right now I'm just getting it mechanically drive-able but will need to fabricate a flatbed and get the body sorted after. I'm in CT, I'll have to find a similar historic activity to do. Not sure we ever get enough ice to cut, but this year we are pretty close. We had about 12-14 inches when I went Ice fishing a couple weeks ago. All I plan on doing now is hauling firewood with it.

I don't know what the condition of your brakes were before - again, it seems if all was working well, then you replaced some components then had an issue, seems checking the new components might be the place to start. But- on the master cylinder front, when I took mine off to rebuild, the tiny hole inside it was totally rusted shut. There are two holes inside that go to the cylinder bore from the reservoir. - one large, one tiny, tiny one I think is called the compensating port? Mine clearly was allowing no fluid through it. This hole allows pressure to be released when the pedal is released. So I think when brakes are fully depressed, if this hole is not clear, you could end up with what you're seeing. It is extremely small this hole. I had real trouble finding something small enough to clear it, yet also stiff enough to get the rust out that was clogging it. I had some tiny, micro drill bits and the smallest one worked. Piano wire might also work but I didn't have any. I think with the master cylinder in the car you could probably tell if this is clear. When you first push on the brake pedal a pretty lively stream of fluid shoots out of that hole until the cup covers it and the cylinder pressurizes. You should be able to hear it unless your master cylinder is very full.

Rereading, it seems you are talking about the individual hoses that go to each wheel. I’m not an expert, but it seems really unlikely that could be the issue. Seem like 1/8 would be fine there.

I just bought 5/16 brake line at Napa. They had pretty much all sizes. 1/8, 1/4” and 5/16. Had fittings for all of them.

If they were working fine before, and you’ve replaced the brake lines I guess I’d start there. The brake line that runs from the master cylinder to the booster on my 1.5 ton is 5/16. I assume it’s that size for a reason.

Well good to know the transmission is working as intended. I need to finish the brakes get some turn signals and brake lights on the truck and I drive it a bit to try to figure out the 2 speed rear and the 4 speed.

So I finally got a chance to drive the truck a bit- 3rd and 4th gear are definitely syncro. Downshifting to third requires no double clutching. However downshifting to second indicates that it definitely is not syncrod. Upshifting from 1st to second is no issue- downshifting from 3rd to second is a no go without double clutching- which I apparently suck at. Is this correct? only third and 4th are syncro on this transmission, or is my second gear syncro just shot?

Hah no I really appreciate the help and advice- don’t stop! You can see in the parts book it changes in 53 depending on serial number. Why? No idea. I bet prior to that it was the same front and rear. Part of the fun on these trucks seems to be the forensic parts investigation when trying to work in them. It’s not easy!

So I got the front off- they are step bore on this truck, 1.25 to 1.3875. This matches up with the parts book- my serial number matches up with the series that has two different part numbers on the front so that indicates a step bore. Good news is it looks like DCM has new ones to fit both front and rear on this truck for $58. I called white post- $150 each to sleeve and rebuild so much cheaper just to buy new.

So the replacement is not right- but the old one I have is. That’s good. I can just send it out to get sleeved along with the one that is still on there.

No- you can see one side where the fittings are very close- this is the new cylinder - you can see the fresh bolts. The other one looks to be unchanged and I assume original. Further- in the box of parts that came with the truck there was an old cylinder - which I assume came off the truck in the rear, my best attempt at measuring f(pistons are stuck solid) seems to be a 1 3/8 cylinder. The pistons are red in it. So I'm thinking even this one is not original. but it has Has the wider spacing between the fittings. The brand new one appears to match the one on the truck with narrower spacer between fittings and has a 1.25" piston. So I'm thinking I've got mismatched cylinders on the back . I think I just want to send them all out to be sleeved or replace them but want to make sure I'm working with the correct rears. does anyone with a 1.5 ton know what size the rear wheel cylinders should be?

Master cylinder was fine-but the front left cylinder let go and started leaking on my first short drive. Not enough to kill the brakes but was dripping pretty good when I took a look after. So it looks like while all the brake lines were replaced, only the rear Cylinders were either rebuilt or replaced. And it looks to me like one of the rear cylinders that were replaced may be the wrong one- the bleed screw in one side is so close to the brake line fitting you can barely get a wrench on it.

I don't see that this truck holds any residual pressure in the brake based on what's in the master cylinder. Unless the booster somehow provides it, but the booster was an option anyway. I don't think it would matter anyway, that rear cup seal would never see pressure. Neither would the front one with the brakes not applied.

Well I guess, but my main concern concern right now is will the master hold pressure when I’m trying to stop. I need to drive the truck so I can get a VIN Check for registration. With my jury rigged gear puller set up in the vise to test, I got it up to 300 psi. And it held there for 5 min without dropping. I’m not really sure what the mechanical advantage is on the brake pedal, but with a 1.5” cylinder I’m sure there can’t be more than 500# or so pressure in the master. Probably less. If it’s a 6 -1 ratio on the pedal, max I’m probably getting is 350 psi. At some point I will probably be dismantling this truck to do a light restoration, and at that point perhaps I’ll just send it out to get sleeved so I have no long term issues.

So this worked out fine. Honed it bench tested it and it held pressure fine. Hopefully even though the rest of the brake system was replaced the “ new” wheel cylinders that sat for 5 years aren’t now bad. Will find out this weekend.

Yeah I guess that’s an option. I put it together tonight and tested it in the vise- held 300psi for 5 min without leaking down so I’m probably good. Was just thinking that other master might be a close off the shelf fit. What did it cost to get the master resolved at white post?

So I still see some pitting in my master cylinder after honing for a bit- again - seems very light a and maybe not in the areas where the seal rides- so maybe I am OK. Haven't yet gotten around to installing the rebuild parts yet. I want to measure the Bore and see if I've really removed much material. But- new master cylinder is $250 - yet it seems its out of stock at DCM , sleeving is an option - but I assume that'll be fairly expensive as well- but I found this master cylinder- 1.5", although it has two ports it seems it is a single circuit, and its only $65. https://www.amazon.com/Raybestos-MC661-Professional-Master-Cylinder/dp/B00170OIS2 Seems easy enough to modify it however I need to to mount. And I assume down the road- rebuild kits and replacements will be much easier to find. Anyone with a big truck ever take a look at this one? Several makers have a identical one- Centric, etc. Seems widely available.

So I’ve got this master cylinder out- can see some discoloration in the bores- can see it but can’t really feel it. There was no “rust” so to speak of , except at the very end opening where the piston doesn’t ride. The rubber washer in the very end the sits behind the spring cup was also folded over- the air inlet in the plug was totally blocked with rust so the master cylinder was essentially sealed. I guess a combination of all, these things led to it not working. I’ve honed it a bit, hone I got is 240 grit , but still see the discoloration, which clearly means those are pits even though I can’t feel them. So I guess I need to hone until they are gone. With a hone that fine I know I’m not removing much material. My only experience honing is opening up shotgun chokes. I ream them and then hone the last .001.002” . It takes forever to hone out that last bit, so again I know I’m not removing much material. I’ve honed for about 5-6 minutes and the picture is what I have. Tough to see in the photo but of course the worst pitting was at the opening , but in the bore you can see what I’m talking about. If you run your finger over it it feels smooth. I figure I’m just gonna hone until it’s gone where the cups ride. The rebuild kit came with the tru k so I don’t have much to lose. How much luck has everyone had honing a master cylinder and having good function after? I’ve always just bought a new one since for most cars they are cheap- yet a replacement on this 1 1/2 bore one seems to be $250.00

I added a few drops- but it occurs to me, a few drops of oil is what it calls for is the car is being regularly maintained- This has sat for at least 5 years. And lord knows if anyone ever added oil to the cup before that. Cold be those felts in there have no oil left soaked in. It seems the initial fill on that cup need to be a bit more to get those felts saturated with oil. I could try adding a bit more I suppose. Yet my experience is once you can hear a bearing like that its already too late.