Hello,
I'm new to the site and at 25, new to restoration of old vehicles. I recently dug an old 1953 F-500 out of a shed on our farm and am in the process of getting it fixed up to run. I'm on a tight budget and as a heavy duty diesel mechanic, I'm used to the drivelines and also have worked on numerous carbs for quads, sleds, and lawnmowers (previous employment). I have done work on hydraulic brakes, but never with a vacuum booster. I also am in high doubts that my system will work as is. I put fluid in the master cylinder and pumped the brake a bit to try to get it to move into the lines, no luck. I am seriously considering updating to a modern master cylinder and avoiding the vac booster as a whole. Any tips and has anyone ever done this and had success? We also own a farm and would possibly like to use the truck as a seed runner if it works ok. Have an inline 215 in the truck.

 

Welcome Weiss Farm, to FTE, the best Ford Truck Forum on the world wide Web! I don't have any answers for you at this time. I am assuming it is a larger truck like an F600 since it has the vacuum booster. There are plenty of guys here that are experts on these bigger trucks and I'm sure they'll be here to help you.

There is one requirement we strictly enforce here. You must show pictures of your truck! LOL! Also let us know what area you are from. Has this old farm truck been on the family farm for some time? If so, tell us its history.

 

Welcome to FTE.
New master cylinders are available, as well as rebuild kits. Rebuilt Hydrovac units are also available. Depending on how long it's been sitting idle, you might want to pull the wheels and check the wheel cylinders. New wheel cylinders are available, and you might be able to find some NOS rebuild kits. Check the brake line hoses at the front wheels, and the hose at the rear axle. Inspect the actual brake hard lines because they have been known to rust through over time. No need to upgrade the hydraulic system unless you are dead set to do it. The original brake system works fine.

 

Howdy,

Welcome aboard!

You have essentially the same system I had in my 55 F-600. I was able to rebuild the master cyl and replace the booster. A local company had a rebuilt one sitting on the shelf when I needed it.

Having said that, I too want to go to a more modern split system. I believe I can use the hydraulic boosted master cyl out of an F350 like the one in my 2005 Superduty.

The original master has a 1.25" piston and the newer dual master has 2 1.50" pistons. I think the volume of fluid will be adequate. I also want to go to a hanging pedal.

There should be more than enough pressure capability with the hydroboosted master cyl. Just have to mount a PS pump (which I already have with all the brackets)

Although I agree that the original brake system works well, a split system will be safer. With the old system, one leak anywhere and you lose all brakes.

Regards,


Rick

 

My welcome too. While you're into your braking system please first familiarize yourself (if you aren't already) with it's two part wheels. The Budd type originally fitted have Firestone RH-5° outer rims that are today known as "widow makers". Stu

 

Heres the project vehicle. Runs good, tranny is good, clutch is good.

 

Wow! Very nice looking truck.

 

Looks real nice, Weiss. Keep the pictures and your progress coming.

 

I plan on replacing all original brake lines because they look pretty crusty. In response to a couple of other questions, 1) I have asked around locally and have only one shop that thinks they may be able to repair my booster IF they can find parts. 2) by "widowmakers" I'm assuming you are referring to split rims, and I checked the front are definitely not split, but the rears I have just glanced at. Not a fan of split rims, and as the rears are in rougher shape, I am planning on pulling them for new tires, even though I am currently planning on needing to rebuild the rear brakes. Anybody got any good recommendations for parts sites? The searches I have done on google seem to take me to multiple sites for what I would consider pickups. f100-300, or f 150-350; are these generally the same parts? I have a catalog from national parts depot, and ordered one from macs auto store ( I think that was the name) but am open to trustworthy sites that people have used in the past. not much luck from my local Ford dealer, as well as our AutoValue store.

 

Also in my time of digging for parts, I notice that when I do find sites for parts, they never list an F-500 for 1953... even though that is what my truck is. Is there a reason for the discrepancy or is it just a black sheep in the family?

 

The way you say that I fear you don't know what you're looking at. A widow maker looks to be a one piece wheel when viewed from the front. Pictures below.

For big truck parts your best resource is Chuck Mantiglia of Chuck's Trucks. Chuck has big trucks himself and will get you the right parts. Stu

Chucks Trucks LLC., Chuck's Trucks, Chucks Trucks

 

Thanks for the pic, there is no way of telling if that is what I have or not at this point. Probably don't want to use an air impact on those rims to get wheels off. we have an old chevy with split rims, but they are easily ID'd by a cut in the rim on the outside. How do I safely remove these from my truck and where can I get new rims? I'm not going to be reusing them. I have heard lots of bad stories about them coming apart.

 

It's safe to say that all Ford big trucks from 1948 to the early 1970s came with RH-5° rims on two part wheels. So the only way you don't have them is if a prior owner swapped on 20" wheels from a Dodge or IHC, or tubeless 22.5s from a 1956 or later truck.

My preferred way to disable widow makers is to stand to one side and drill a 1/8" hole in the tread area of each tire. Let's the air escape slowly. The other way is to remove the valve stem while standing out of the way. If a rim lets go it is the outer rear duals that are most dangerous. They blow out while fronts and inner duals blow in toward the truck.

You might ask Chuck if he has tubeless 22.5s available. I know he watches from them, and has in the past had new Accurides available. There are also new imported 22.5s and 19.5s available from companies like Wheels Now in WI and American Wheel Specialist in WA. Also used 19.5s can be found in yards on old 1970s era Class A Ford and Dodge motor homes. Stu

 

The F-4, F-5, F-6 all share the same brake systems except for the booster and shoe sizes. I bought all my brake stuff at Rock Auto. Some of the trucks had double sized rear wheel cylinders, so I would hold off on ordering parts until you know what you have. The rebuilt brake boosters are plentiful. Having one rebuilt will run North of $500 IF the parts can be found.

 

Welcome to the forum, you will get lots of good advice here. Nice looking truck. I like the NFO sticker on the door and the MF banner on the wall of your shop. Best of luck with your project.


B