Brake cylinder blew - leaking all over the place. (1 Viewer)

[Ezra]

So, I think my brake cylinder is shot. I mean its clearly shot.

A few days ago I replaced my front brake shoes and adjusted the brakes all around. The old ones were installed backwards, and one was chipped. The cylinders are also reversed, but I have just been adjusting them in reverse.

Today when driving the truck it was pulling to the left pretty dramatically. When I crawled under it to readjust them i could see the brake fluid running down the inside wall of the tire right front tire. I pulled the wheel and drum off and fluid was everywhere. The brakes were tight, and the wheel could not be rotated before adjusting.

both dust covers on the non-adjustable ends of the cylinders had been forced off, and the forward most one could not imaginable be put back on. It looks like this cylinder is the one that blew.

So now I have three questions:

1) what did I do wrong? Did I adjust it too tight and it heated up a popped? What is normally the cause of this?

2) are the new shoes toast? When rebuilding or replacing the cylinders do I need to replace the shoe also. They are soaked in brake fluid, so I am pretty sure I know the answer.

3) rebuild or replace? Since a full set of cylinders for the front is $144 from cruiser corps, rebuild kits are $25 per cylinder, it seems like it makes the most sense just to replace all the front cylinders, but would love some advice.

Thanks as always.

 

[shawnfj40]

1) did it feel like your brakes where "too" tight? If not then what usually happens is after prolonged sitting the cylinders either pit, freeze up or both.
2) Yes the shoes are toast.
3) If you are in a hurry to get it done just get the cylinders. If you have time try and rebuild them. I have about a 85 percent failure rate on rebuilding toyota cylinders. In other words about 15 percent of the time minor honing will remove the pits in the bores. Usually I end up having to replace most of them. Its the same for both wheel cylinders and calipers.

Hope that helps

 

[thebigredrocker]

EZRA- Do your cylinders have TEQ on them? How's your ramp orientation? Might not hurt to post up a couple good pictures of your setup.

I wouldn't toss brand new shoes because they had fluid on them for a short while. I would think brake cleaner would remove most of the fluid or perhaps carefully burn it off with a torch.

It certainly takes a bit more time to rebuild vs. replace. So far all 8 1971 TEQ Cylinders I rebuilt work great and haven't leaked. I bought Japanese rebuild kits from Cruiser Outfitters. Coolerman did a good rebuild writeup here.

 

[emac]

I bought new brake wheel cylinders/calipers from Rock Auto. They worked fine after a good bleeding and adjustment. They have been in use for about one year, no issues.

 

[John McVicker]

As bigredrocker said, if your clyinders are TEQ I would definitely rebuild them. And that Coolerman link he posted has an outstanding write up to help you do it correctly. Properly rebuilt TEQ cly are superior to new non TEQ cly.

I also agree that your shoes 'might' be ok. Depends on how long and how deeply they were soaked with brake fluid.

 

[Ezra]

I would say the shoes were saturated. They were pretty gross.

Here is a pic of the setup and some of the carnage.

 

[emac]

If it were me, I would buy al new stuff. Take it all apart, clean and paint everything and put it back togetrher

 

[Ezra]

If it were me, I would buy al new stuff. Take it all apart, clean and paint everything and put it back togetrher

That's my plan. This rig had a pretty armature frame off restoration done a few years back, but everything is covered with paint. Want to keep it that way.

 

[emac]

Good plan. Brake fluid is very corrosive.