Brakes, Oh, My!

[dabtl]

The brakes failed, leaking cylinder on the driver's side front rear. To the shop.

Rear axle, passenger side, leaking brake cylinder, slick shoes, no braking apparently.

Front rear axle, passenger side, leaking seal, minimal brake. Front rear axle, passenger side, leaking wheel cylinder as expected. Brake failed, but otherwise it had been in good condition.

We move to the front axle on Monday. I hope it is OK, but then everything is being replaced.

By Wednesday it should have a completely new set of seals, a new brake system including shoes, wheel cylinders, air pack, master cylinder and new flex hoses.

You cannot be too careful.

 

[Desert Deuce]

So true!! We owe it to the folks around us and ourselves.

 

[APM215]

There should never be a price on safety. Good job for doing it right.

_____________________
53 GMC M215 DUMP
54 GMC M220 SHOP VAN
47 FORD 2.5 TON CARGO
CLARK 55AG LOADER

 

[pa.rich]

Apm215 ! Your Avatar! Tractor trailer from my favorite movie : DUEL Love to hear that diesel going thru the gears chasing Dennis Weaver in his little Duster.

 

[gt1009]

He's got some kind of a souped up diesel or something!!!

 

[m-35tom]

don't forget to carefully check the steel lines for rust. with single circuit, one small pinhole = no brakes.

 

[dabtl]

An update:

Rear axles contained one defective wheel cylinder, one OK but needing replacing, two bad seals. Both bad seals were old and cracked.

We move to the front axle tomorrow.

All new shoes, wheel cylinders, brake mounts and turned drums complete on four wheels.

New flexible rubber hoses on all axles. New air pack and master cylinder installed.

Next is the front axle.

 

[dabtl]

We got to the front axle today. Disaster loomed!

The front wheel bearings, driver side, were rusted, yes I mean rusted. Appeared to be in that condition for years. All seals and bearings replaced on both sides.

There had been no symptom of trouble prior to the brake job. Got lucky, I guess.

 

[Recovry4x4]

Looks like you are doing it the right way. Saftey is Job 1.

 

[neilhendrix]

Glad you found the bad bearings before you got caught out somewhere. Great job. Do it right the first time and foget them for a while
Neil

 

[dabtl]

The final tally. Over $2K for a completely new brake system with turned drums.

But, how much is your life worth?

Next are the U Joints, easy and cheap.

 

[dabtl]

The final casualty count is in.

The master cylinder was leaking. The air pak was leaking air. Two leaking wheel cylinders, two cracked grease seals, two brakes inoperative and front wheel bearings completely shot.

It is now new brakes from front to rear, all but the steel brake fluid lines, to complete the job. New front wheel bearings and new rubber hoses replaced the old.

With new U Joints, it should be good to go for a long time to come.

 

[cattlerepairman]

To me, there is a big difference in "having" to work on my vehicles (because of an unscheduled repair or problem) or "wanting" to work on my vehicles (to do PM, upgrade, etc.). The former always requires me to pump up my motivation...
Hey, could you post a pic of your truck?

 

[dabtl]

David4x4's first deuce, the new one and my M135.

 

[tjcouch]

To chime in . . . I just paid a heavy truck mechanic to replace all of the lines on my M35. (sometimes I have time to do mechanical work, sometimes I just cut a check.)

Total bill: $386 . . . best money I have spent in a long time. (I had a line fail not to long ago . . . so not a happy feeling.)