Just went out to wash the truck and found a small pool of fluid by the rear passenger's side wheel. I took a look behind the wheel and found fluid all over the back of the tire. Checked the master cylinder and found the brake fluid level at "add." Brakes were just done, approximately 3k ago. Brake cylinder??? ... or was that a stupid question????

Is there a lot of work in changing them out? Is there a recommended fluid? I might as well do a fluid exchange while I'm at it.

I'd appreciate any help! I need to get this thing back on the road for the morning ... I hope!

 

Changing out the brake wheel cylinders is not a difficult job. while you are at it you should upgrade to the GM 1 ton cylinders as they are a bit larger and will fit. The NAPA number for these cylinders is 4637337 and I believe the corresponding Car Quest number is SWC1014. They are inexpensive - under $20.

Simply remove the springs at the top of the shoes. (no need to take the shoes off). The wheel cylinder is held on by two bolts and the brake line. Remove the brake line first then the two bolts that hold the wheel cylinder on. When reinstalling the new cylinders, I found it is helpful to just start the brake line connection, then install the cylinder holding bolts, then finish tightening the brake line.

Reinstall the springs, bleed the system good, then you are good to go with much better brakes.

John (DH)

 

I haven't taken anything apart yet, but it looks like the shoes might have gotten wet from the brake fluid. Is it necessary to replace the shoes? They've only got 3k on them!

 

Gor for the new brake cyl,s for sure, they will help out alot, best time todo them

 

If you upgrade to the Napa #4637337 cylinders make sure to do both sides.

 

Infidel,

Will do! Can't find the Napa's but did find the Carquest SWC1014 in stock. Do I need to bleed the fronts when I'm finished or will the rears do?

 

You might not have to bleed the fronts. Depends on how much air got into the system. But for the extra couple of minutes it would take I would bleed the fronts as well.

 

I guess your right!

Is this system the same as my last, work from the closest wheel from the MC to the furthest ( driver's front, pass front, driver's rear, pass rear)?

 

You probably should use new shoes. However, if you can clean the old ones off with brake cleaner, you might get away with it if you scrub the shoes up well after with rough sand paper. Be sure to clean the drums, too.

 

I have read on this site that you work from the right rear, left rear, right front and then the left front, but I could be mistaken. Perhaps Bill will chime in here as he is much more familiar with the process and was probably the first on this site to bring up the subject of the GM 1 ton wheel cylinders.

I did my rear brakes yesterday. Took me about 6 hours to replace the shoes and the wheel cylinders. I let them gravity bleed (drip slowly) while I did the shoes, making sure to keep the MC full so no air could get in the system. Believe I got all the old fluid out of the system from the MC to the rear wheels. Yeah, I know, I am slow but I am also old. Got enough walking practice going from side to side using my Oklahoma blue print on the opposite side.

I intend to do the front pads and calipers soon and then will bleed the entire system.

John (DH)

 

Yes, change the shoes.

If it were me, there is very little chance I'd switch to a different wheel cylinder. I'm not familiar with this swap but the bottom line is, if you put X amount of hydraulic force on a larger wheel cylinder piston, you'll get more force than from a smaller piston. With that in mind, you'll be working your rear brakes more than they were designed to work which (again, I'm not familiar with all the technical details of this swap) means you're asking your brakes to do something that the smart guys in the white lab coats didn't want them to do.

Good luck!

 

I got the job finished ... what a pain in the ****! The darkness didn't help and the flashlight pointed into my eyes made things worse ... thanks son!

I couldn't get shoes today. It's going to have to wait until next weekend. Do you think that'll be ok? I cleaned the others with brake cleaner. They weren't totally soaked with fluid, just a light coating. Should I change both sides or just the side that got wet?

I adjusted the brakes by backing up and pulling forward a few times, is that sufficient? Didn't really get a chance to test them, since it was so late. I'll find out tomorrow.

 

Tim: These are probably the same guys who designed the KDP to fall out and then would not own up to their omission. I bet they also designed the track bar that wears out real. soon.

Changing to the 1 ton wheel cylinders is probably one of the best and cheapest upgrades. I personally don't see anything wrong with having better brakes.

John (DH)

 

Very well said! Having been a mechanic all my life, I have more than once burned the ears off those dumbgineers. I have often said, if they forced the engineers to work on their designs, things would get much better and easier in a hurry.

I went to do the upgrade in mine, and found the previous owner (truck bought with 22k miles) had already done the shoes but not the WC. I still had about 75% of the shoes left, so I just installed the new cylinders as BBWD mentioned, cleaned and adjusted everything.

 

Why not use Dodge wheel cylinders? My 97 1 ton uses 1 3/16" bore cylinders, which is the same as the GM 1 ton cylinders. At least you wouldn't have to admit to having GM parts on your truck