I have a 67 F100 CCS with 390 and FMX...

A while back I replaced a wheel cylinder with one from an Autozone (it was leaking all over the pads). Ever since then, I've been having a hell of a time with the brakes pulling to one side. After much hemming and hawing, I finally figured out that I'd put the shoes back on backwards on one side (DOH!)... i.e. the longer show was in the front on the driver's side. Fixed that up, and now it pulls the other direction (right). I was noticing that (*I think*) the wheel cylinder I replaced is smaller than the original that I still have. I'm probably going to replace both this weekend, but is the size of the wheel cylinders something I need to worry about when I buy replacements? Were there two sizes of wheel cylinders used in 67?

Also... my brakes don't have self-adjusters. I have to get under the truck every month or two to turn the star and adjust them out so I don't have to push the pedal so far. Is it hard to convert to self adjusters? I seem to remember pictures where the cable goes around little brackets on the backing plate, and my backing plate is really just a flat plate with a hole in it (for the adjuster).

I'm getting tired of all this brake crap. I should probably just convert to disks now and get it over with, but I just finished rebuilding my whole front end (tie-rods, kingpins, radius bushings), and I don't want to start over...

Greg
67 F100 CCS 390 FMX

 

Go to this site and keep putting in info about you vehicle regarding the brakes and see what comes up. I'm sure they have self-adjusters for trucks back then.

www.rockauto.com

Click the Big Red Button ,it takes a minute to download the info and go from there.

It's a great parts look-up site

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:+
Your brake problem is common on old fords.

Rule #1 When you do a wheel cylinder always do both sides at same time. (I know from the hard knocks school)
(OOOPPPS I meant to do that U-turn at 40 mph)

A little known trick about drum brakes is too change the size of the wheel cylinders to get more power to the shoes.
Ie. the bigger the cylinder the more surface area the fluid has to work against thus the more psi that will be exerted from the same input pressure. This works up to the point that the master cylinder cannot keep up with the volume demands. Then you just find a master cylinder with a bigger bore.

So the answer to your question is (YES) you have to watch the sizing of the cylinders side to side or you will have problems.

As for getting one from autozone. You can do this yourself with a $7.00 kit from napa and a wheelcylinder hone from autozone. (Messy and time consuming, but then you know you're getting the right size cylinder.)

Otherwise drums work fine when you don't drive too fast or have too big of a tire. Adjusting them is a pain, but I've never had self adjusters that work right. Not even on my 97 F150! One trick I learned is too adjust the drums then get in and pump the pedal a couple of times to make sure the wheel cylinders retract and the shoes return to home. Then get out and re-check the adjustment. You'd be surprised how much difference this makes if you have a drum sticking a little.

Good luck, Long live old cars!!!!!!!

 

When buying wheel cylinders, there sometimes is a difference in size between front and rear. Also if I remember correctly, front drums don't have the self adjuster setup, only manual adjuster. I have had two '60 models and a '71 & '72 model and I'm almost certain they were all set up that way. There are self adjusters on the rear, though.


The way I adjust front brakes is to lift the front of the truck off the ground (use jack stands, just to be safe), pump the brakes several times to equalize all the brake hardware within the drum, then give the wheels a spin by hand. If you don't hear a light "rub" of the shoes on the drum, then they need tightening. What you want to hear is light contact of the shoes without drag on the drum. Adjust both sides to where they sound identical and then pump the brakes again. Then spin the tires again and check. You want to continue this until you can pump the brakes and not hear any appearant change in the adjustment.

As for the rears, I like to adjust them a little tighter than the front. That is, adjust them until the shoes drag the drum. I tighten them down until you get about 1 - 1 1/4 turn from the wheel after spinning.

Using this method, I rarely have to adjust my brakes between brake jobs. If I do, it may be once or twice.

 

[updated:LAST EDITED ON 28-Mar-02 AT 08:52 PM (EST)]Just thought I'd toss my 2 cents in here...for what it's worth. My truck sat in a barn for 14 years before I bought it, so brakes were a HUGE problem for me. I too replaced the master cylider and all 4 wheel cylinders.

The master cylider that I had to special order was rounded in the front, instead of being squared off like the original. It has been great this far.

The wheel cyliders were in fact different sized,(bought mine at AutoZone as well) with the larger ones being on the rear end. I have an F-250 with a Dana 60 back there, so that might make a bit of a differnce, but who knows???

As for the adjusters, mine are there on all 4 wheels, but only the front ones work. Both cables on the rear are broken and I cannot find the correct length anywhere. Both the front and rear adjusters look identical, but the cable lengths seem to be different. Trust me, I threw enough tools across the garage floor to know this.

To answer the adjusting question, I guess this is one of the things that we all have to live with...its either that or get rid of the truck...I think I'll climb under every now and then and turn the star wheel.

Ken

 

Greg
I have a 69 f100 that sat for over 5 years. Thus when I got it everything was seized up. I replaced the master cyl. and all four wheel cylinders, adjusters etc. Mine had self adjusters all the way around but they were rusted into pieces when I took the drums off. The wheel cylinders for the rear were larger and I did find that Napa had the best parts that matched my original as far as the self adjusters and springs go. Advance auto had the wheel cylinders but all other pars came from my local napa.
Good luck.
Wade

 

 

This is the first time I have done front drum brakes and they were shot when I took them apart. My problem is the springs I took off are different than the Autozone or NAPA kits.

The front kits have a short, fat, angled spring for the bottom, just like the kits did for the rear with the self adjusters.

The 1st problem is the bottom spring that came off was straight, narrow, and about three inches long.

The 2nd problem is when I replaced the narrow spring it now hits the star adjuster (on the front wheel) and I am pretty sure it originally sat in the bottom holes above the adjuster. So, the shoes must be different? I already returned my cores...

The 3rd problem is when I use the fat, short, angled spring on the bottom of the shoes it easily pops out on the holes.

Anyone have advice before I try to reuse my 10+ year old springs? BTW: Looks like an OEM drum was on the wheel. That 177K might be 77k.

 

If you're sticking with the drum brakes, you might want to think about getting the shoes and drums from a 68-72 as they are half an inch wider and are self adjusting. It should be a bolt on swap. If you want to switch to discs, all you need are the spindles and associated parts. Check out the tech article here on the site.

mike

 

It is a 1971 and I did get the 1971 drums and shoes. No self adjusters though ...

It has had drums for a few decades so I am going to stick with them unless the drums prove totally useless off-road.

 

My reply was actually aimed at Greg. Not sure about your springs.