Had my rear break hose fail today. (frame to rear end). Hit up a few local auto part stores and settled on one that will be in at 0700 tomorrow (Saturday). I guess since they are 40 years old I should replace the steel lines too. I plan to buy a roll of brake line and a handful of fittings while borrowing the bending and double flair tool.

Do I need to be aware of anything that may not be obvious when running a new brake line and removing the old.. This is for the rear only this weekend, perhaps next weekend I will do the front as i don't want to have them go out on me all of a sudden..



1970 F100 2WD SB w/ 302 or 298 & C4 tranny.

 

replace the flex sections but don't do the hard lines unless they are corroded.

 

Well the hard lines from the metering block back needed to be replaced.. The flex hose / line junction would not separate so I had to cut it and then moved forward on the truck and had same issue. the passenger side on the rear end had a nice kink in it so that is being replaced and the driver side rear is only 20'' long so I am replacing it too.

Took the wheels and drums off to find a blown out wheel cylinder and break fluid everywhere all soaked up in the shoes.. So she gets new wheel cylinders and shoes in the rear too.

So as of today everything from the metering block back is new when it comes to the rear braking system.. expect for the drums.. I am afraid to look at the front although this has been a very simple repair thus far.

 

Well today brought into light some bad rear axle seals, then when I removed the axles and 'checked ' the bearings the right one sounded like a grinder and the left one moved more side to side then it did in a circle.. Hit two auto part stores for bearings (one each) and tried to press them off, ended up cutting them then pressing off and cleaned up the axle and pressed the new ones on.. all that is left to do is put her back together.. I am staying away from the 3rd member even though it has a leaky yoke seal... If i start taking it apart I will be rebuilding it so I will gather all the parts before I do that..

Hope everyone had a great weekend..

 

when you do one brake do it all,the shoes, cylinders,lines ,everything i did mine because i was on l&i had the time and money and it is cheaper in the long run to do it all.

 

I give up.

Step away from the keypad.

 

Doing the front drums on my 64 now. The wheel cylinders were scary bad, and the shoes were installed backwards. Tried to disassemble the L/H cylinder to see how much crud was inside but it was gummed up. I don't think they were doing much. With new M/C, lines and hoses, shoes, drums and cylinders on one axle it will increase pressures elsewhere. In other words it may blow out another cylinder or hose or whatever.

 

H0ly Mother of god. Have never seen any cylinder that bad even while working at a Brake shop in the early 60's for a couple of yrs. But that was in Sunny So. Cal. 50 yrs ago now that, I think about it. No real cold weather there..
Orich

 

Yeah, I figure they were probably ready to be changed out. In 1980.

I bought a pair of those goofy looking brake spring pliers at NAPA along with the rest of the stuff. They had two different kinds. I bought the cheaper pair, for almost six bucks.

I had figured the socket looking thing on the end was for those pin springs. Nope.That's to remove the return springs, I done watched me a genuine YouTube video that shows how to use them.

I don't know what the plier part are for, but the notched handle end works slick as hell for installing new return springs. A screwdriver with a notch will work too, just wanted to try them out.

 

Holy Cow Ted, wheel cylinder from the Black Lagoon! The plier end is used to install some lower shoe to shoe springs. One above the adjuster. If a person has the style of brakes to use it they would anchor the pointed plier side in one of the shoe's rivet holes. The grab the end of the spring with the curled plier side. Squeezing the pliers then stretches the spring.

 

I was going to ask about that spring. The Shop Manual shows a picture of it, tho leaves it unnamed, but describes an "assist" spring in the text. Spring kits don't include it afaik either. But if one shows up, I'll be ready now!!

edit: I think you are referencing the star adjuster spring prior to self adjusters, it just installs across the shoes?

 

In principle I am against Cash for Clunkers and other programs to get junk off the road. But after looking at this mess and the back story of a blown original brake hose I am re-examining my principles.

 

Blow me. All vehicles need regular maintenance. I expect the brakes will work fine when the work is completed. It is true most people focus on "go" instead of "whoa".