The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Driveline Brake Question: Mystery Spring!

Hi Everyone,

I'm getting ready to do the actual replacement of the braking system in my 1953 3100. Below is a link to a picture that I took before disassembly:

Mystery Spring

Mystery Spring (non-close up)

In the pics you can see a spring that is on a metal piece that appears to be there to help keep the shoes aligned (I'm guessing). When I bought the spring kit from Chev's of the 40's I got the following pieces:

Spring kit Contents

The bag in the lower right of the pic contains the brake shoe hold down hardware and 4 springs. Are these springs supposed to replace the spring that is the "mystery spring"? If so, why are there 4 in the kit? If not, were my brakes missing something or is it just a generic kit for many years, including mine? Sadly, I am once again confused! Does anyone have a pic of similar vintage brakes and how they are supposed to look?

Also, I checked the shop manual (1948-1953 models) and it covers models through 1951. There is an appendix that adds later information but does not show the brake setup that was on my truck.

Any information is greatly appreciated.

I'm fairly certain that I had to reuse that spring when I redid my brakes.

The 1954 shop manual will cover those brakes
http://chevy.oldcarmanualproject.com/shop/1954truck/54ctsm0502.html

After reading the 1954 shop manual and reexamining my pics and reading the 1953 shop manual again, I found 1 reference to these parts. The bar and spring are barely visible in the 1953 shop manual on page 5-15 in figure 30. It is on the opposite side of the assembly than in my photo. I think it is a part of the emergency/parking brake system. After checking other posts on the parking brake, I found a link to a vendor (ClassicPartsusa.com) that actually has both the bar and spring. The bar is called a strut or spreading bar for the rear brake shoes. The spring is, wait for it, the spring for strut on rear brake shoes.

So the point of posting this: did I in fact figure it out? Or did I miss the mark?

You're essentially correct.

You'll find that your mystery spring is only on the rears. That's because it's a tension/anti-rattle spring on the strut that goes to the parking brake lever. It's not in your kit. The 4 springs are brake shoe holddown springs. I reused mine when I did a rebuild.

Here's a better pic of a 51 GMC (Bendix brakes just like yours) that shows a good view of the spring in place.

http://s456.photobucket.com/user/bl...ogress/DSC_1244.jpg.html?sort=3&o=10

David

I guess you are referring to the spring that goes on the end of the crossbar. It does not come with a kit. You can use the old one or buy new ones like you have.

David,

Thanks for the confirmation! Great pic, showed me everything I needed to see. Looks like I've got some springs to buy, as mine are pretty much shot. I wonder if I could get them locally or if this is a specialty item to be ordered from the internet?

You can probably find them local if you can find a counter jockey who is willing to dig in. This spring was used for decades and still may be in use. Take your old spring with you.
Carl

$0.99 each at NAPA

Part Number: UP 80744

http://www.napaonline.com/Catalog/C...Strut-Bar-Spring/_/R-UBP80744_0380141202

Be sure to take the part number with you when you go. I'll bet none of the little boys that work the counter will be able to find it for you. I've been looking for these for years and thanks to tom I'm going to napa tomorrow and ask for them. I've been there before and they couldn't find them in the computer.

I miss the old days before computers, and it's getting harder everyday finding an old guy behind the counter who knows what you're looking for.Larry

I just got off the phone with my local NAPA and they aren't in stock. Closet location that has them is a whole state away. However, they do have other parking brake strut bar springs in stock, so I'm going up there with my old one and see if one of the others will work. I absolutely will bring the part numbers with me! If that doesn't work, I'm back to ordering for working next weekend, which is Easter. Probably won't get much done then either....

UPDATE:

I took the strut spreader bar and the old spring and went to NAPA. They were unusually unhelpful today. So I ended up going to Advance Auto. The first counter guy only tried looking up my truck. When that didn't turn up any suggestions he called over another guy. He recognized the spring and said he thought they had one in the "help" section. This is where they keep all the small, pilferable material in the back. Sure enough, he came back with this:

Parking Brake Strut Spring Bag front

The springs look like this:

Springs

And they fit on the spreader bar like this:

Springs on the Spreader Bar

I test fit them in the store before I bought them to be sure. Out the door price was $2.10. So, in the end, if you go to Advance Auto looking for these, have them look for part number 1338-2. I looked it up on their website and it showed up. They may have it in the back somewhere.