wheel cylinders advice

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4 wheel drums still stop my '73 on 35s just fine. BUT living in the rust/mud belt no matter how I've anti-seized and cleaned the threads/bores my problem on any of them has been rusting up threads/frozen pistons. Off road mud packs up into them and I've even tried flushing through the holes. Then there's the big PITA of access to the adjusters (and turning them the right direction). I have custom home made adjusters for this. My '79 needs rear work again now from not adjusting over the winter because frozen up.
 
It's not recommended to rebuild/replace just one side… the other's bound to fail now.

Yeah, that is all I had time for this week. It is on my to do list when I have more time. The truck is grounded for other reasons anyways.
 
Rockauto has them all new for $20 -$30 each.
If I remember correctly the difference between the specific locations, for example rear left upper/lower & rear right upper/lower, is configured with how they are assembled, screwed in plugs or the adjuster location. Take a look at your old ones.
Making one fit another location may just involve moving the components around.
 
I just bought a set for my 71 at fjparts.com. Also sor.com has them.


1971 FJ40
1952 VW Split Bug
1997 Jaguar XK8
 
X2 on fjparts.com, Sonny had all 6 of the pn's availible. I re-did the whole brake system on my 70 and haven't had an issue yet, take your time and do it right up front.
 
I just bought a set for my 71 at fjparts.com. Also sor.com has them.


1971 FJ40
1952 VW Split Bug
1997 Jaguar XK8
this is all an awful lot of helpful information. thank you all so much. i think i am leaning toward rebuilding the ones i have. put the time in instead of the money. the snow has not melted in the high country yet and i have no garage so this job will have to wait a few weeks. but i am getting all the parts together now.
 
I recently replaced rear wheel cylinders with aftermarket ones from CCOT, and have a couple of questions.
  1. Even after adjusting both wheel cylinders all the way out such that I can't turn the adjuster wheel anymore, there is hardly any resistance when I rotate the drum. However, the brake does appear to work. Any thoughts? The Haynes manual says to expand the shoes all the way out, and then backing up 5 notches. If I do that I think the brake will be too loose.
  2. When I go in reverse and hit the brake, I get a clunking noise (unless I go very slow). The brake appears to "catch" all of a sudden, and I can feel a slight kick from the brake pedal. I don't have this problem when I hit the brake while the car is going forward. I can't find anything visually wrong with my installation. Is it an adjustment issue?
 
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1. IDK. Sounds like the adjusters are being turned the wrong direction.

2. This is a symptom of cylinder slots installed backwards. Look carefully at the slot that holds the end of the shoe. Note that some of the slots are 'ramped'. The ramps should slope so the shoe wants to return away from the drum. See illustration 10.13 in Haynes.
Don't feel bad, nobody gets this right the first time.
 
1. IDK. Sounds like the adjusters are being turned the wrong direction.

2. This is a symptom of cylinder slots installed backwards. Look carefully at the slot that holds the end of the shoe. Note that some of the slots are 'ramped'. The ramps should slope so the shoe wants to return away from the drum. See illustration 10.13 in Haynes.
Don't feel bad, nobody gets this right the first time.

OH MAN! Such details. I would have never noticed it had you not pointed it out. Thanks a lot man!
 
Kurt at CruiserOutfitters has wheel cylinders made in J.A.Pan
There are 4 different wheel cylinders in the rear because of the piping and bleeder arrangement. If you study them a little it is easy to see the correct orientation.
The details about the adjusters is not ultra important to have the brakes function however it is important if you want the to function with peak performance. MrT spent time designing them with this detail so it is best to pay homage to the Cruiser gods by doing this step correctly.I'm with PinHead, rear drums are pretty well fine in all conditions except maybe deep water where the recovery time is longer after emersion.
IMHO rear discs are over rated on a 40.

Thanks jb
 
1. IDK. Sounds like the adjusters are being turned the wrong direction.

2. This is a symptom of cylinder slots installed backwards. Look carefully at the slot that holds the end of the shoe. Note that some of the slots are 'ramped'. The ramps should slope so the shoe wants to return away from the drum. See illustration 10.13 in Haynes.
Don't feel bad, nobody gets this right the first time.
Just took off the brake shoes. All slots look flat to me. These are aftermarket wheel cylinder I bought from CCOT, and it's for a Feb '80.
 
These are aftermarket wheel cylinder I bought from CCOT, and it's for a Feb '80.

I'm pretty sure I've posted this on 'Mud before..."DO NOT buy parts that your life depends on from CCOT"...
CCOT is fine for sun visors and chrome air valve caps. Do not try to save money on brakes by buying from them. Or steering parts.
 
I have heard mixed reviews about the CCOT cylinders. Primarily, that they need to be "burped" prior to installation, or they trap air, and you wind up with soft brakes. Some say they are durable, others find them leaking in 6 months. There should be no problem "mixing and matching" your sources if you need to.

I'm pretty sure I've posted this on 'Mud before..."DO NOT buy parts that your life depends on from CCOT"...
CCOT is fine for sun visors and chrome air valve caps. Do not try to save money on brakes by buying from them. Or steering parts.

^^^Quoting myself, in support of @Pighead
 
Just took off the brake shoes. All slots look flat to me. These are aftermarket wheel cylinder I bought from CCOT, and it's for a Feb '80.
The cylinders are defective. Return and get correct ones w/ the ramped slots.
 
I have rebilt rear drum cylinders lots of times a good hone and a little time, the kits are inexpensive, properly adjusted the only advantage in the rear of disc is water crossing and heating up. Just my humble opinion.
 
In Illinois mud packs into the shoes/hardware on a regular basis when wheeling. Only way to get it out is pull drums every time and clean. If you dont it really cuts into their lifespan-grinds down linings and drums-rusts hardware-screws up rubber parts and adjusters-etc. Have tried cleaning through adjuster holes/etc-none of it really works.
 
I have a leaky rear cylinder as well as many of the people in this thread,

I figured i would replace all 4 rear cylinders while Im at it.

My FIL was pretty against rebuilding the ones I have, his opinion is it would be hard for me to hone to correct size as I am no pro to auto machining. I figured I would buy replacements for all 4 and rebuild the ones on it at a later date for a later project or if the replacements ever leak.


ANYWAY

Has anyone tried the replacement wheel cylinders from cruiser corps. They have a kit with all 4 for what I view as a good price if its a good product, I was going to get it but after researching here I can not find anything about the brand,quality, country of origin or peoples experiences with the cruiser corps cylinders

Does anyone have experience with the cruiser corps brake components?
or can recommend a product/vender with oem quality. Being brakes I want OEM quality that wont brake the bank if its available
 
I got mine from Napa. The brand was Altrom which is a high quality aftermarket brand.
They look identical to the pictures at cruisercorps.
I was (and continue to be) happy with the Napa ones for much less than CC.
 

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