The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Driveline 1954 4100 brake lockup

Folks - I am a new owner of a 1954 4100 dump truck. She is in running condition, drove her 50 miles home knowing she has a weird issue with driver side front brake:

If you hit the brake pedal normally or fast, front driver side wheel locks up resulting in wheel skid.

If you slowly depress brake pedal, front driver side wheel does not lock up - as you depress brakes harder, truck stops quickly, very quickly (making me think they are all working). It appears all wheels will lock, though the driver side front will want to lock first as you depress pedal attempting to lock brakes.

Oddly, truck does not pull to left while braking.

I have not had the opportunity to pull wheel/drum to inspect yet. Was hoping to glean a little info as to what to look for.

Thanks in advance for any clues as to what to inspect.

Hy stouchton, I am at a loss to explain why nobody has given you any suggestions. You will have to disassemble everything to inspect. You may find brake linings which are contaminated with oil or grease, you may find broken or missing springs, you may find that the brake shoes are installed incorrectly (shoe with the most lining at the forward side of the brake backing plate), just a couple of things to look for, hope that helps.

Thank you. I was hoping to get educated on anything that was unique about these brakes. I have worked on mechanical brakes, and more modern hydraulic. But figured these might be somewhat unique. I will be pulling both front wheels and drums to try and figure this out.

I appreciate this forum - and will have many more questions!

Before you pull anything find the manual for your truck. See if you can find pictures so that you know what “right” looks like. Compare your truck to the book and reassemble by the book directions. I would love to help, but I have a 51 3100. My pictures won’t help.

Good luck

Chris

Try this link. Might have to look around on it. http://chevy.oldcarmanualproject.com/parts/1929_54/460.htm

Thanks Chris - found pics and it looks pretty straight forward. Will be diving in soon. Truck finally got tucked into the garage out of the weather.

Haven't had time to get too far with this, but would like to ask some questions to make sure I know what I am doing.......

I did jack her up and the driver side brake is too tight - takes 2 arms to rotate. Passenger side takes one finger. So I may get lucky and this just might be a case of being adjusted too tight. However, the adjuster is stuck, thinking I might have to remove the drum which might be difficult.

To remove the drum, I need to pull the hub - correct? This looks pretty straightforward, but just wanted to ask first.

Also - any tricks to loosen stuck adjuster prior to pulling drum? I'd hate to spray PB Blaster or such in there and contaminate shoes. I would also hate to break the adjuster. I have simply tried to rotate with big screwdriver - I do have an adjuster tool buried away that I could try.

If I do pull the drum, any slick tricks to back off the shoes to get the drum off - figured I could open the bleeder, maybe loosen the wheel cylinder, anything else folks have tried?

I appreciate any hand holding! I am new to this big old truck.

To adjust the front wheel bearing you'd remove the Hubcap, then the dust cover that is pressed on. Then remove the cotter pin and adjust the Nut. There's no need to pull the hub.

Have you read the Shop Manual?

Presumably, you did not yet take the brake parts off and clean them (as suggested by 3B)?

I have read shop manual - and have not taken drums off yet so did not clean/inspect anything yet. That is my next step of course. Just wish I could back that adjuster up first.

Just my first rodeo with this truck, so asking stupid questions that are really obvious

Your question is not stupid.

When I have bought my "new" old trucks, the first thing I did was to take apart and clean/inspect the wheel-brakes.
It is almost a mandatory "first step" before driving any old vehicle.

I plan to keep my trucks a long time, so I also do a complete brake overhaul.
I like living.
I would not like having an brake-related accident with family/friends in my truck.

Hy stouchton, just a small correction on some of the advice you have been given so far, the dust cap on a 4100 would screw into the hub not be pressed on. If the hub cap is eight sided it is a screw in type not a pressed type, hope that helps.

I recently went through the brakes on my almost new 50 4100 with 2.4kmi on it, and in the process I found the RF outer wheel bearing inner race had been put on backwards on the inside, instead of behind the retaining washer.! That could have ended badly if I hadn't caught it. The outer bearing was beyond toast, and all of the thrust was on the washer with a nice groove in it, under the spindle nut. Had about a 1/2 inch of play in the right front hub. Drives, runs, and brakes perfect now. Tires are my worst issue I'll have to deal with next, or more importantly the wheels, or both. And yes the dust cap threads on I found out after yanking on it didn't work.

Thanks guys... especially for the heads up on the hub cap, I would have been pulling for a while!

I plan to go through the brakes and bearings. I did manage to back off the one adjuster with some careful application of PB Blaster. So now I should be able to slip that drum off.

Appreciate the help.