1954 Job Rated 1/2 Ton Brakes

[Kels]

Just picked up a '54 Job rated 1/2 ton truck. Rear wheel cylinder was leaking... Took some serious effort to get the rear drum off the passenger side. (RHT)   Switched to the Drivers side (LHT) having issues because I have to use the lug bolts on the puller and they are not quite long enough and pop out..  Priced LHT bolts  (1/2-20) AND WOW!! $35/ea if you  can find them.. Anybody have any other sources for these LHT bolts that are less money?

 

Anyway, I'm going to try some serious heat on the drum to see if that helps.. If not, I'll have to buy the longer bolts.

 

OK, 'nuff of that... So, I am striking out on the drums.. I THINK mine are OK, but it seems these are very hard to find (11" x2 rear, 10"  x 2 front) AND the wheel cylinder for the rear have a few different options.. ALL the pics I see show the uppers with the housing cutaway/recessed for the brake supply line. (I will attempt to post a pic of this)  Mine have no recess in this area.. I do not see this being a big problem but would prefer to have the ones without the recess to insure they lay flat and no dirt can enter ..

It appears the '52 Plymouth Cranbrook front brakes MAY use the same wheel cylinders as my rears.  This is what I am trying to determine.. Will the '52 Cranbrook fronts works for me even with that recess or are there other differences? The pics from those places selling the "correct" uppers also show this recess.. So, I am guessing that they are using the same ones.. I have not been able to find good pics of any of these that do not have this recess.

 

The Centric part numbers are such:  Upper (supply):CENTRIC 13463040 and CENTRIC 13463043 and then the lowers are CENTRIC 13463041 and CENTRIC 13463044    

 

Have any of you guys used these parts numbers successfully , if not what are the correct parts numbers?

 

Any help or thoughts on ANY of the novel above would be great!!  Thanks in advance

[Kels]

also was thinking..is there any reason why you would not want to convert these to studs vs. bolts?  Any issues pressing in normal RHT studs into the hub?

 

Any of you done this conversion?

 

THX

[1949 Wraith]

I buy a lot of tune up, brake and shock parts from Rock Auto. Wheel cylinders for your truck. Check out the wheel studs RHT $1.21 each worth changing them all to RHT?

 

https://www.rockauto.com/en/catalog/dodge,1954,truck,3.6l+218cid+l6,1487770,brake+&+wheel+hub,wheel+cylinder,1952

[JBNeal]

when it come to wheel cylinders, just because they look similar to what you need does not necessarily mean that they are the same as critical dimensions can vary on different applications.  Replacements almost all come from china and stories about their quality sounds like that is a gamble.

 

additional information - brake sleeving testimonial

additional information - parts manual Interchange

additional information - brake drum replacement

[kencombs]

12 hours ago, Kels said:

also was thinking..is there any reason why you would not want to convert these to studs vs. bolts?  Any issues pressing in normal RHT studs into the hub?

 

Any of you done this conversion?

 

THX

First thing I did to my 56.  Bought studs from a trailer parts place and drilled the hubs to match. 

[B1B Keven]

https://hagensautoparts.com/dodge - truck/9-brake/2903

[Kels]

On 5/3/2021 at 8:53 PM, kencombs said:

First thing I did to my 56.  Bought studs from a trailer parts place and drilled the hubs to match. 

Yup.. will be doing the same (adding studs)   Should make it a lot nicer for  hub pulling and a bit safer as well IMO.. Plus those LHT are a pain..

 

I ordered those Cranbrook wheel cylinders... Should have them end of this week or early next.. Willlet everybody know if they are the correct ones or not..

[Kels]

UPDATE:  The 52 Cranbrook upper wheel cylinders works great on the C-1

[squirebill]

Kind of makes you scratch your head doesn't it? Why would Mother Mopar use the blind ended wheel cylinders of the front wheels of her cars (at least the Plymouths I am familiar with) and then use them on the rear wheels of her trucks.  It seems now adays the replacement parts for the rear of the trucks are the same as for the front of the cars.  All having the counter- bore machined around the hydraulic inlet port.  On the front of the cars this is necessary so the crush washer on the  rubber flex hose that attaches to the wheel cylinder has a nice flat surface to crush on.  When this same cylinder is used on the rear of the truck, there is no flex hose used at the wheel cylinder so the flat recess is not really necessary.  To confuse the issue further,  the thread size to accept the flex hose is different than the thread size of the inverted flare fitting used on hard brake line that attaches to the rear cylinder of the truck.  This requires that an adapter fitting and crush washer be used between the rear wheel cylinder and the brake line on the rear of the truck.  I no longer have the fitting number for this part but it was an Edelmann fitting and I got mine from Summit racing.  Good luck with your "new" truck.  Regards

[Kels]

You are correct about the recessing around the input line.. ALL of the ones that I looked at had this machining done.. So there is a little gap in that area

 

I was just happy to be able to find them and get the brakes working. 

 

Spent most of the weekend re-doing rotten wiring so I could have some lights.. Made the park light come on with the high-beams for a little cooler look when driving.. more light too (still 6V)

 

 

[Merle Coggins]

9 hours ago, squirebill said:

Kind of makes you scratch your head doesn't it? Why would Mother Mopar use the blind ended wheel cylinders of the front wheels of her cars (at least the Plymouths I am familiar with) and then use them on the rear wheels of her trucks. 

 

If you think about it, in a car you need the higher stopping power up front, whereas in a truck that's hauling a heavy load you may need more stopping power at the rear wheels. The dual cylinder brake systems essentially have 2 leading shoes vs. the double sided cylinder systems that have a leading shoe and a trailing shoe. 2 Cylinders with 2 leading shoes equals greater stopping power. 

[squirebill]

Kels:I'm guessing  you found the "adapter fitting" I mentioned in my previous text.  That was a real bugaboo for me when I did the brakes on my '49 B1B.  Had purchased the wheel cylinders from Andy Bernbaum.  Got to the point of mating the rear brake lines to the rear cylinders and the threads didn't match. Who would've thunk.   Called AB to ask about it and they were unaware of any mismatch problem and did not have the adaptor fitting.  As I said located the needed fitting at Summit Racing.

 

Merle:  Sure will give me something to think about.  I'm also still trying to figure out why Mother Mopar felt it necessary to put "left hand" threaded lug "bolts" on the left side of their vehicles .  Something else to think about.

[Kels]

Mine already had those fittings installed... I figured it was factory because without them  the line would sit inboard the drum..

 

The LHT bolts were standard on many of the early cars.. Theory behind it is the same as with all LHT set ups..  To keep from loosening since you are turing in the direction CCW..

[kencombs]

2 hours ago, Kels said:

 

The LHT bolts were standard on many of the early cars.. Theory behind it is the same as with all LHT set ups..  To keep from loosening since you are turing in the direction CCW..

Yep, leftover engineering from single,centered retainers. Like knockoffs or screw on grease caps for the hub

Edited May 19, 2021 by kencombs