Kansascrewcab76

I changed my rear wheel cylinders out yesterday since I had the day off for school. Since I had the camera on hand I snapped some shots to let other members see how easy it since.
I bet there are a few people that have read about these and thought, "that might be too hard for me" when in fact it couldn't be farther from the truth.

You will need atleast the following:

• 10 mm tubing wrench
• brake tool
• BFH and LFH (big F#$@ing hammer and its smaller counterpart)
• slip pliers
• 3/8" ratchet with 1/2" socket and 3" ext.

Here they are (angelic music playing softly as I stare at them) Napa 37337 one tone wheel cylinders. They cost 8.97 a piece and like a fine Italian sports car, "Made in Italy"





First, remove wheel, this was easy,but I don't live in the rust belt



Second, remove drum



Third, you only have to remove the forward spring to get the wheel cylinder out



I didn't get a picture of the removal of the wheel cylinder, pretty easy two 1/2" bolts and she comes right out.

Fourth, compare the two and they are dimensional close





Lastly, reinstall and bleed the system.

Note: your brake warning light may come on after the job is done ie. after the final bleed ( do not let the system go dry or it is a biotch to get the air out of the ABS unit, read: trip to dealer). If the light comes on, unhook both batteries for 10 minutes and problem solved. Pull out into the street and while backing up apply the brakes quick and hard to re-adjust the rear shoes. Enjoy new found braking confidence.

infidel

Excellent write up, you should post it Here

I assume you used the BFH to pound the drums off.
No need, do it the easy way, once the tires are off and wheels off the ground loosely screw on lug nut back on each side. Start the truck, put it in gear, rev it up and slam on the brakes. Do it in forward and reverse if necessary. You will hear a loud pop when the drums break loose.
It's worked every single time for me, I never break out the BFH anymore.

Kansascrewcab76

Excellent advice on drum removal Infidel, I planned to use that method and the BFH was actually just for back up if anything went wrong . My drums came right off because I had done rear shoes about 20K ago.

This has been dropped on that thread.

jcw74801

How is your braking after this mod?

96WhiteBuffalo

Just had that mod done, after eating a set of front pads in 25k miles and no wear to speak of on the rear drums. Braking is excellent now. Hoping to balance it out a little front to rear. Not to hijack your thread, but I want to get the rears set so they provide relatively more braking power.

My plan is to adjust the star wheel on click at a time until the rears lock up when you hit the brakes hard, then back it off one click. is this sensible?

blackimpala

I did the GM wheel cylinder a few years ago and am still amazed when I use the brakes. One of the best mods I have done.

Floyd

mcoleman

I did it last year. The truck still stops like a sports car.

infidel

For under $30 and a couple hours maximum of some of the easiest wrenching around your truck will stop like it's supposed to, no more nosediving.
Plus it's a chance to flush out your brake fluid.

johnh

infidel
how do you suppose the upgrade would work on my truck??

infidel

It will work excellent on any Ram with rear drum brakes.

Mikey-Mike

Went to my local NAPA dealer today to buy them, $25.95 (each) ouch!!
Ended up getting them from NAPA online for $9.99 (each + $7.95 s+h).
I guess I will flush brake system as Bill suggested when I due them (makes a lot of sense). Can't wait to feel the difference!!

infidel

Napa has three different grades/prices for the 37337.
When we took all three out of the box to compare two counter guys and myself couldn't figure out which box to put them back in.
They all looked exactly the same.
I went for the cheap ones over ten years ago, $7.99 then, still no problems.
I've installed the cheap ones on at least a dozen trucks.
Only problem has been the drivers almost going though the windshield on their first stop.
No problem after you know what good brakes feel like after being used to brakes that barely work.

A very few people here have reported problems with the rears locking up after doing the swap. I've never seen this personally and most of the folks who have experienced it feel it's a thus far unknown problem elsewhere in the braking system.

Kansascrewcab76

we just had a lot of wet weather and I could not lock them up even when I tried.

Cummins Freak

I need to do this MOD ASAP Sweet Write up. THanks

mfr426

We did this upgrade on my 97 3500 a couple of weeks ago and we were able to get the wheel cylinder in and out without removing any springs. The NAPA 37337 cylinder that we got was made in China. I can't wait to tow our 48 ft. gooseneck race trailer to see the difference. Our rear shoes had only worn .020 in 81000 miles. The truck stops level and much quicker and easier. It used to nose dive as the fronts were doing all the work and they would lock up too easy. We had a problem with the rear ABS valve sticking in the middle where we had no rear brakes at all and caused a small accident when pulling our 24ft trailer. We have since bypassed the the rear system to remove the ABS and make it just a manual system (short metal brake line). I would recommend that modification as well to any rear only ABS. Thanks to all of the folks who have posted about this upgrade!