The Stovebolt Site Forums The Parking Lot Big Bolts rebuilding wheel cylinders

removed the rear wheel cylinders tonight. The bore looks really clean was still fluid in them) but the outer maybe 3/8" on each end or so is kind of rough. Just wondering how to determine if these are rebuildable or not.

If it were me I'd send them out to be sleeved in either stainless steel or brass...you'll never have to look at them again.

White Post Restorations in VA has been doing it for decades with a lifetime warranty.

Mike B

mdkelly What is important is the middle where your cups are parked most of the time.Hone the bores smooth and use em !

A leaking wheel cylinder can ruin expensive brake shoes.

I watched my dad try 3 times to put a wheel cylinder kit in one wheel. It would work for a few days then start leaking. He even borrowed 3 different brake hones from a shop. He finally gave up and bought a new cylinder. More than likely his wheel cylinder was past rebuilding or he didn't have the skills to lap the cylinder correctly. Sometimes the cheapest route is to buy a new/rebuilt cylinder and be done with it.

Consider Mike B's recommendation. Like anything, there are pros and cons. DOT 3 is hygroscopic (had to check spelling on this one). It absorbs moisture. Moisture in a stock cylinder causes rust. Maybe someone in Las Vegas can give you the odds on when you would need to rebuild again, I can't. I don't own a 2 ton but I can imagine taking the wheel and drum off the big truck is something I would have to struggle with.

Does your truck have a Hydrovac? You probably know the info in the following link but it has some good pointers on bleeding the system.
https://www.stovebolt.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/topics/877973/1.html

The secret to honing is time. Don't bet impatient or try to do it to fast. Let the stones cut. I've did many of them over the years and haven't had one fail yet.. maybe my good luck??
Hone hone hone, and when its nice and smooth a manual should tell you the clearance with the piston in the cylinder. For small trucks I think it is .002-.005 but do not know about the big trucks.
.....and there may be a bit of pitting right in the center but the rubber cups don't travel that far.
Did I say hone hone hone.

Rebuilt the rear driver last weekend, doesn't seem to be leaking for now... Going to rebuild the rest hopefully this week or weekend and test again. May be able to get this on the road sooner than I thought.

finished rebuilding all 6 wheel cylinders and the master several weeks ago, figured I would post an update. They were really easy to rebuild even though a couple looked pretty nasty and frozen up when I pulled them. Replaced one line from master to booster, it was rusty and broke upon removal. Booster seems to be working fine. Brakes have a lot of power, have to ease into them. Needed to adjust the shoes quite a bit to get the pedal to have pressure without 2 pumps, but all is well. Guess I got lucky that things went so well for me. Working on fixing the leaking fuel line now... It will be sad to see this thing go but wife is still unemployed.