The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Driveline Rear brakes 49 3600

My left rear wheel cylinder on my 3600 sprung a leak and the shoes are fairly wet with brake fluid. Sprayed them off with brake cleaner. Two questions. One, I have not been able to find replacement rear shoes for a 49 3600 does anyone know a source? Two, is it possible to reuse the shoes even though they were wet with brake fluid? The shoes look virtually new, showing almost no wear would like to reuse them if possible. Any suggestions. Thanks so much you guys are great!

Yes, you can reuse the shoes.

You can have new brake linings re-bonded or riveted to your existing brake shoes.

This company will do it for you.

Scott & Margaret Bethke
Brake Materials & Parts Inc
800 Sherman Blvd
Fort Wayne IN 46808

Phone: 260-426-3331
Fax: 260-424-1331
Email: BrakePartsSTOP@aol.com
Website: http://www.BrakeMaterialsAndParts.webs.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/BrakeMaterialsAndParts

Using shoes that were soaked in brake fluid is not recommended. The brake fluid will cause the brakes to grab and cause uneven braking which in turn could cause you to go into an uncontrollable skid. The lining on the shoe is porous and absorbs the fluid like a sponge and as the shoes heat up, they leach out more fluid. I have heard it’s possible to heat the shoes up to bake out the fluid but if you heat them too much you can destroy or loosen the bond. In my opinion, it’s not worth the risk!

If you can’t buy new, I recommend having them relined.

If they've been soaking up fluid for a long time, yes, they'll be hard to dry out. Presumably though, he caught the problem early enough that they're not completely ruined.

Clean them with brake cleaner and dry them in the sun or with an air hose.

Thanks guys for your response and help, always appreciated. They look pretty well soaked in brake fluid I didn’t catch the leak for about a week when the truck was parked. I think re-lining is the way to go. I’ve looked online there appears to be a couple of shops here in the Detroit area that claim to perform the service, i’ll check with them on Monday. I’m also thinking I should have the other rear shoes re-lined so I don’t have two different types of brake shoe material on the rear brakes which could differ even slightly in stopping power? any thoughts on this?

TKM On off road trucks have carefully dried those off with acetylene torch,you will see an inner flame that disappears pretty quickly,that is enough try em !! OFF ROAD. Done that cause rain was coming,if they act OK use em. That heat would be no worse than coming down a 6% grade. OK for NASCAR to run em white hot.

OttoSkorzeny Wonder if they still arc grind your linings,I got a call the other day for that. If the shoes are ground to fit the drum oversize you get the best brakes first try. No brake in,no rubbery pedal.

Good point I will ask whoever ends up relining the brakes if that’s possible, something I never thought of. Which is why I love this forum! Thanks again

And thanks Otto for the referral