The Stovebolt Site Forums The Parking Lot Big Bolts 1973 C65 brake adjustment

Hello I am new to this forum. I have recently received a 1973 Chevrolet c65 dump truck. I have replaced all the rear wheel cylinders, several brake lines and the master cylinder. I have bled the system and am still having to pump the brakes twice before the truck will stop. I have tried to adjust the rear drums but all of the adjusters are frozen. I have removed the drums and shoes from the driver side. I can only get the adjuster to move about a quarter turn. I cannot seem to find any of the brake hardware. I would like to replace the bolts the hold the shoe in place and the adjusters on the rear axle. I was hoping that someone could help me with some part numbers. All of the local stores look at me like I am crazy when I go in asking for parts for a 73 C65. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Hy cowman79, welcome, no doubt someone will tell you your truck is too new for our site, but I will try and help you if I can. Could you please answer a few questions for us please, is your truck a single axle or a tandem, what is the width of your brake shoes, what procedure did you use to bleed your brakes? There may be more questions.

I had a similar problem with a 74 C-65,it was a crack in the brake line that runs from the M/C to the Hydro-vac booster.

My truck is a single axle I think the brakes are a 15"x7". I bled the brakes with one person in the cab pumping the brakes and me venting the fluid. I started at the front driver side, front passenger side,rear driver side then the rear passenger side. I used around 2 jugs of fluid when I bled them.

The history on this truck since I have owned it.

Installed new wheel cylinders and oil seals on the rear of the truck.
Reconnected the passenger side rear brakes.
Bled the rear lines.
Truck stopped when I did this but you had to go almost to the floor before it would stop the truck.

one week later I had a leaky line on the passenger side rear.
I replaced line a bled the brakes again.

Drove the truck for a few weeks hauling a few loads of gravel and noticed that the master cylinder was leaking at the firewall.
I replaced master cylinder and the hard line down to the frame. I have bled to system and that is where i am today. I have hauled on load of rock since replacing the master cylinder. The brakes now have to be pumped before the truck will stop. I have always felt like the rear brakes were out of adjustment. I have adjusted the front brakes and they are adjusted per the manual.

Hy cowman79, If your truck still has its factory brake booster it must be included in the bleeding process. When you replaced your master cylinder did you bench bleed it before installing it? I will give you the proper bleeding sequence from the shop manual, one is the master cylinder itself if it has a bleed screw, number two is the booster, number three is the right rear, number four is the left rear, number five is the right front (if your truck has twin front brake cylinders then bleed the lower right first and then the upper right front) number six is the left front with the same instructions as above if the truck is equipped with twin front wheel cylinders, number seven is the brake booster for the second time. Hope that helps, good luck

Is there a bleeder on the Booster. I didn't see one. The truck does have dual wheel cylinders on the front.

Hy cowman79, I quote from the maintenance manual "IMPORTANT: If neither master cylinder nor power cylinder is equipped with a bleeder valve and bleeding at the wheels only does not produce satisfactory results, it will be necessary to disconnect line from master cylinder and bleed it through the outlet port. Then reconnect line and disconnect power cylinder output line and bleed. reconnect line and check operation of brakes. If still not satisfactory, re-bleed wheel cylinders in sequence shown." I hope that helps and solves your brake problem, good luck.

I will check the booster when I get back to the project. The master cylinder does have a bleeder. I feel like the master cylinder is bled but I am thinking maybe I still have some air in the Booster. I am currently waiting on some brake hardware. The adjusters on the drivers side rear were completely frozen. I found new mounts and adjusters for the drivers side. I am waiting on USPS to deliver the last of the parts.

I have an update. I replaced the drivers side brake anchors and was able to get a big bubble of air out of the bleeders when I adjusted all the drum all of the way down. This helped the brakes tremendously. But now I need to replace the passenger side brake anchors because all of the adjusters are frozen. I was able to find the drivers side but I am unable to locate any of the passenger side anchors. I believe the casting number is FE-18289. The drivers side was an FE-20551 which was crossed to an H1902 Raybestos. I am unable to cross this other number or even locate anything online. I was wondering if someone could help me find some information about this part. I already have the adjusters.

Hy cowman79, the casting number FE-18289 I believe should be 19289 and that comes back to parts for 16" brakes. The other number FE-20551 comes back to a left hand bracket for 15" brakes. which bracket(s) do you need, upper or lower right hand or left hand, right hand brackets have the slot for the adjusting wheel on the right side when viewed from the installed position, left hand is opposite. The casting numbers appear to be the same for upper and lower brackets. If you can tell me which hand and which position I may be able to come up with some part numbers for you.