Jeff Balazs

You know it is funny but when I bought one of these from Mark I didn't really care what the color was. But that deep Burgundy color kind of grew on me. I ended up using it for accents like the wheels and some cab components. May or may not be stock but it ends up looking period appropriate. I get compliments all the time. Jeff

Bob; That is beautiful. I am not normally a car guy.......but when there is some nice wood involved my perspective changes. Very very nice! Jeff

Merle is quite correct. The real clue is that you have two axles that have that same bend. No way that would ever happen by accident. Bent tie rod sure......bent axle? No way........the force required to bend it that much would have resulted in some horrific frame and suspension damage. Might be a good time to look through the repair and parts manuals to help understand how these trucks were built. I am sure there are lots of body off photos here as well that might be helpfu to look throughl. Jeff

Good point......and all it really takes. And if the overall condition was pretty good it may have been right in the buyers comfort zone. Also we all have those things which tug at us. A favorite year or model ? Probably a combination of all this. Hard to say what goes through other peoples minds on something like this. Sometimes there is a perception of rarity or value associated with a car or truck that drives the numbers up. One thing is certain.......at that sale price there isn't much of a possibility of flipping it for a profit. Jeff

Yep.....all it takes is two bidders with more money than sense.

If you consider that these trucks are over 60 years old it really isn't surprising that some have been altered somewhat from stock. God only knows what some PO did. Jeff

Should be 5/16" on those steel lines. Jeff

SquireBill; Thanks for putting the visual aids to this. That is exactly what I was trying to describe in my posts #16 & #23. Internal corrosion like this is pretty insidious stuff.......... stays hidden until it finally bites you. If you think that 60 year old steel lines don't have some of this going on it is just wishful thinking. I would urge anyone working on one of these old vehicles to pay heed to this. Jeff

This could be a situation where you have some sort of a drain or short in the system. No battery will stand up to that for long. Need to check the electrical system over very carefully. One good telltale that I learned a long time ago is to see if you get any kind of spark when hooking up the cables. If you do you have a problem which needs to be isolated. Of course you need a good battery to test all this with. Jeff

I agree. But then that all depends on how judicious one is.

Ya Dave me too. You are correct it is way too easy to spend $ on them. But I am sure you will agree there are much worse things to spend it on than reliable and easy to live with brakes. I really feel the disc brakes I installed was some of the wisest money I spent on my truck. And since I drive it every day totally justified. I do know that the original brakes can be made to work quite well too. But there is IMO more to go wrong and certainly more maintenance and special tools involved with doing so. With discs on all four corners I get excellent stopping power with next to no tendency to want to lock up. In the traffic I have to deal with it just makes sense. Might not be justified under different types of usage or conditions. I guess it all depends on what each of us expects from our trucks. Jeff

and a fire extinguisher handy. Mark; You have to be careful with these kinds of suggestions....Paul probably see's them. Hopefully it is not too late? Jeff

Dave; I used the Rustyhope adaptor kit on the front and swapped in a 2002 Grand Cherokee rear axle that allowed for the rear disc's. Rotors, calipers . M/C, proportioning valve etc were all new components. Around $1500 including the rear axle. It is a relatively straightforward job. Probably the fussiest aspect was making new 3/16" lines and routing at the M/C. My truck is a 3/4 ton and because of that there was some extra work on wheel spacers, etc... that would not be required on a 1/2 ton. All in all I consider it totally worth the cost and extra work. It still amazes me how nice it brakes and stops. Not at all what you expect from a truck of this vintage.

Yes this is a tough one. I feel for you having been through it several times. The thing about dogs is that they bring so much joy into our lives that it hard to not have them around. The one we have now is a honest to goodness rescue project. 3 time loser at the shelter and was on death row. We are getting through his issues and he is a good dog. Most people thought I was crazy to take him on as he had the personality of a wolverine (towards them) but he and I had an understanding from the very beginning. All I can say is that the love you give a dog gets returned a hundredfold. Jeff

Obviously there are many different components that could be used. My philosophy on the braking system is quite simple. Build it with proven quality components and make it as bulletproof as possible. Avoid used parts wherever possible. Then when it is all together take it somewhere safe and test the living daylights out of it. You may be able to skrimp on some things but brakes need to be 100% reliable. And when you re-engineer a braking system you need to take the work very seriously. Jeff

Ya.....Homely would have been a better choice..........

Would be interesting to know the history. Does say made in Detroit. Needs a friendlyTiajuana paint job........

I can't say if it will fit a 54 year truck. There was a thread about this a few days ago........ seems like it might not work due to differences between the 54 and earlier models.? It should work with original brakes on the 53 and earlier trucks........with a the benefit of having a bit more safety than the single chamber M/C. I doubt it would improve the way your drum brakes work though. Biggest improvement to braking is going to come with the addition of front disc's. Done correctly they not only stop quite well but are much less prone to adjustment or component issues. Since my truck is my daily driver I opted to treat the rear to disc's too. No regrets there. Jeff

Well IMO the Cherokee M/C has worked out well for many of us. It is relatively easy to swap in and not expensive. If you want to upgrade the front brakes to disc''s it works well. There are several threads on this topic. I took it a little farther and used Grand Cherokee components to change ratio and gain rear disc's. I am quite happy with what I did. Yes there are other ways to do this......I will let those that have done them chime in. Jeff

Kind of depends on what you are trying to achieve. In other words are you trying to make room for a different engine etc? or do you just want to upgrade the M/C? Jeff

Not saying that you have this problem. But just because there is no rust on the outside....doesn't mean that they are not corroded or rusty on the inside. If it sat for a long time there is a possibility that there was moisture in the system......and it will work against you from the inside. Pitted wheel cylinders are one example of this. When I replaced the lines on my truck which had sat for many years I found plenty of evidence of pitting and corrosion inside the hydraulic system. It was not too rusty on the outside either. It seems to me that brake fluid actually attracts water. Here is hoping you find the problem. Problems like this can be quite frustrating to pinpoint. Jeff

Keep chugging away Brent......you will get it done. It is always good to see progress. Jeff

Anybody who knows me knows I don't get too excited about all this new fangled techno-crap......with one exception. My music is on I-pods the size of a matchbook. And it plugs right into my sound system. More than 2000 selected tunes on each tiny device and organized into playlists. Having whatever I want to listen to ....whenever I want it.....is one bit of technology I really like. Well worth the effort.

Not sure I would trust those old metal lines to be totally clear of debris. I don't know if it is possible?......but what would happen if some debris or metal flakes got hung up in a junction block or a wheel cylinder? Not saying this is the problem but it seems a possibility. If water ever did get into those lines it would attack them from the inside and might not show at all externally. All this is just supposition on my part. I am certain that someone more in tune with the inner workings of these particular drum brakes will come up with other ideas. Jeff

Ed; Boy is that a loaded question. From what I saw of Pauls photos ...... way too hot! Jeff