Still having brake problems....

[ChrisRice]

I'm about ready to sell this car. The brakes are being extremely stubborn. I bought new brake lines, master cylinder, rear T junction, brake shoes, wheel cylinders, and rubber lines. I cannot find part number for a replacement T for the front. Also when I put the new shoes on (from oldmoparts) and the new cylinder on (Dorman W32555) the drum won't fit over it. Major and minor adjustment screws have been turned to allow shoes to come all the way in. The shoes are hitting the bottem of the cylinder. The cylinder seems too big, and is bigger then what came off of the car. I bought them from rock auto. All other sites list the same part number. Any ideas on what is going on here?

Edited June 27, 2014 by ChrisRice

[50desotocoupe]

Here is my $.02.  I had a hell of a time messing with the brakes on my Desoto.  I was mainly dealing with the adjustments and having zero luck even though I read multiple things on how to do it.  I decided to just bite the bullet and upgrade to discs.  In my eyes it is better than having to deal with drums.  Some may disagree but for me it was an upgrade to deal with modern traffic and not having to deal with the hassle.  Again, just my opinion.  The disc brake upgrade really wasn't that painful and you could still use your new master cylinder and will have better braking. 

[DJ194950]

All old parts suppliers do sometimes have problems getting you the correct parts. Oldmoparts used to buy as much NOS or NORS as possible, but supplies are drying up. They have started as most suppliers have started stocking China/mexico made parts to have something to sell. They sometimes are mislabeled or just wrong.

 

Suggest removing one side of the shoes and brake cyl. and match to old parts. Critical sizes Must be the same, if not, call where you bought them. Tell them why there parts are diff. from original and see if the Do have correct parts for you.

 

Had that problem once with another old car parts supplier on wrong main bearings for my ply. 230. Called and told them what was up and part # sent to me. Wrong part # ! I asked for them to send a prepaid return to me and expected no shipping on correct part sent. out!

 

Done!

 

Compare and give us a report.

 

Don't sell such a sweet car!

 

DJ

[Mark Haymond]

I do not know the solution but here is something to check. 1. If you take off a shoe and lay it inside of your drum, does the curve off the shoe match the curve of the drum? 2. On another thread cars owners have encountered different length forked pins that come out of the brake cylinders and push against the brake shoe. A longer pin will not let the shoes retract enough to get the hub on.

[ChrisRice]

The new cylinders didn't come with pins, so I cleaned up and greased the old ones and am using those. The shoes are the same size and fit the drum well.

My son pointed out that I didn't have the spring on, so we put it on... No help there. We took the major adjustment pins out and pushed the bottoms of the shoes in and the drum fit. The cylinders are bigger then the old, but it is the part number that everybody seems to agree is right for this car. So is it an adjustment issue, a cylinder issue, a shoe issue, or an owner issue? I have this problem on both sides.

images of shoe in drum, and old shoe on top of new shoe. And yes, I know the drum still needs to be turned.

[ChrisRice]

Maybe it's time to call dorman and ask about their part?

[Dodgeb4ya]

Probably the wheel cylinder push rods you are using with your new cylinders are the original equipment long style push rods. If so you need to use the shorter type push rods with your new wheel cylinders. I don't think you can buy the shorter push rods out right. As to where to find them ask here!

They (short push rods) come with USA made new 1946-1954 Mopar wheel cylinders.

Cheap china import Dorman W/cyl's now days I don't think come with push rods at all. Thats why they are cheap!

 

A pic of the short and long push rods and some piston styles that require either a long or short push rod so the shoes can be pushed in so the drums can be installed.

Bob

[deathbound]

All old parts suppliers do sometimes have problems getting you the correct parts. Oldmoparts used to buy as much NOS or NORS as possible, but supplies are drying up. They have started as most suppliers have started stocking China/mexico made parts to have something to sell. They sometimes are mislabeled or just wrong.

 

Suggest removing one side of the shoes and brake cyl. and match to old parts. Critical sizes Must be the same, if not, call where you bought them. Tell them why there parts are diff. from original and see if the Do have correct parts for you.

 

Had that problem once with another old car parts supplier on wrong main bearings for my ply. 230. Called and told them what was up and part # sent to me. Wrong part # ! I asked for them to send a prepaid return to me and expected no shipping on correct part sent. out!

 

Done!

 

Compare and give us a report.

 

Don't sell such a sweet car!

 

DJ

 

I know it doesn't help the OP with his problem, but, this is 1 of the reasons I have my USA made original parts rebuilt, re-sleeved, etc.....usually for a little more $ (and piece of mind) than new overseas made junk. Original part out, original rebuilt part in.....should be no problems.

 

Good luck.

Edited June 28, 2014 by deathbound

[ChrisRice]

@Deathbound, I wish that was an option for me. My originals were thoughorly thrashed. I'm pretty positive they couldn't have been resleeved.

I'll find out about the push rods, however the bottem corner of the cylinder is already hitting the shoes, so I'm not sure that will solve it either. I'm going to call dorman and see what I can find out from them. As is, they weren't just bolt up; I had to redrill holes in the backing plate for these to fit. Of course their is always the possibility that the entire setup was changed by a PO. I'm running in circles. I'll take pictures of old and new cylinders side by side.

[Young Ed]

You should have stopped the minute the bolt holes didn't line up. Im starting to think maybe you got the correct boxes since the part #s matched but not the right actual parts. A new wheel cylinder should look like the old and mount to the same holes.

[Dodgeb4ya]

Wheel cylinders would not mount up???????????

As Ed said STOP! Get the right ones!

[ChrisRice]

Ok, so I called Dorman Products this morning and here is what I found out.  The do list part #W32555 as correct fitment for my car.

They do show that part as measuring correctly for the part I have.  So evidently the part I ordered was the part I got.  However, After giving them the measurements for the existing wheel cylinders, they came up with part #W10588.  They show it fitting a Chrysler 1955-50, DeSoto 1955-46, Dodge 1956-46, Plymouth 1954-49.  As a curiosity, I pulled out my MoPar 1950-1965 interchange manual.  The manual shows that the same part that fits a 1949-1954 Plymouth rear wheel cylinder also fits a 1955 and 1956.  I assume at this point that their website incorrectly shows fitment for the part I ordered, and fails to show fitment for the new part number they gave me.   I am awaiting a follow up conversation with them as I requested more measurements from the part number they found.  I will post more information as it becomes available.  

 

It goes to show buyer beware and do extra research before buying.  Just because a parts house says it will fit, do a little bit of extra research.  And yes, I did let them know what the interchange manual was showing.  I hope that this may help anyone with this year range of Plymouths.

[ChrisRice]

Part #w10588 was the correct part. However I ordered from a company other then dorman this time because another company included new correct pins as well. It was an exact fit for my car.