The Stovebolt Site Forums The Parking Lot Big Bolts Brake adjusters

Hi, I am a Newbie to stovebolts,but not to old chevy's.Found this site about a month ago, and really liked it.My question is does anyone have a good fix to the adjuster stars on the rear wheels of a 46 2 ton. Mine seem to be spinning on the adjuster bolt, can new ones be bought?Afraid to try to spot weld them ,they look like a cast material.I hope to here from some of you that may have had the same problem. Thanks

I'm not sure I'm following. Are you saying the bolt is stripped out of the wheel cylinder cap? I'm not absolutely sure your set up is the same as my 48's so I need more info.

Regardless, welcome to the Stovebolt. If you have pictures to share, they would help out a bunch,
Scott

lar,
are you talking about the adjusters that go through the backing plate? Mine are Ok but I wondered how they are assembled. There is a spring in there to provide friction but I haven't looked at how they are put together.

Yes I am talking about the ones that go through the backing plate. Seems the bottom of the adjuster bolt is peened flat against the star wheel. ( I hope I said that right)The wheel against the backing plate, stays in place while the bolt turns just spinning inside it.The adjuster wheel looks like a pot metal material, so I don't want to weld it with fear of destroying it completly. Any good Ideas for a fix? Thaknks

Hey larr, welcome to the site.

I'm not quite following either, but sounds like a replacement, even used, would be better than a "fix".

The Huck adjusters are part of the wheel cylinder. the adjuster "stars" are tack welded to the end cap of the cylinder, and the whole endcap moves when you adjust them. There is a small metal "clip" that restricts the endcap's rotation so that you don't loose your adjustment from vibration.

The quickest and easiest way to verify that the adjusters are working is to pull the drums and spin the adjusters. The shoe should visibly move in or out in just a few clicks.

A brake spoon makes this task MUCH easier, btw.

The endcap units can be replaced with a rebuild kit, I think. If not, the entire cylinder can easily be replaced. My FLAPS carries the wheel cylinders for all of the 1946 trucks. Yours may, too.

Keep in mind that if your drum is a little out of spec, it will take SEVERAL turns of the adjuster to get the shoes out where they belong.

Good luck, and let us know how things go!

Hi, Ok guys, lets see if I can try to make this a little clearer,The backing plate supports two adjuster bolts on the outside of the plate.Inside the backing plate with the drum off are two small wheels that butt up against the end of the wheel cylinder end caps.When you turn the bolts behind the backing plate ,it spins the caps on the wheel cylinder to adjust the shoes. When you turn the bolts behind the backing plate on mine, The bolts just spin inside the little wheels that are resting flat against the inside of the backing plate to turn the end caps on the wheel cylinders.Any ideas on what to do? Thanks for all the replies.

Larr,
I know exactly what you are talking about. If they are peened in place and they are slipping, that presents a unique problem. I wonder if it would be possible to drill a very small hole between the end piece and the bolt. Then you could tap the hole and insert a small threaded bolt, grind it flush and the wheel would be keyed on there. I know that when they do stitch repair on engine blocks, they use small threaded rods to fill the crack in this manner.

There is a discussion on pot metal welding on the Old GMC Truck site, in the metal shop. You may get some answers there. Also, you should definitely ask this question on the VCCA site.

Now I "get" it. On my 48, you have to push the exterior adjusting bolt in towards the wheel cylinder to engage it, it's spring loaded. The bolt and cog wheel on mine are steel, so tack welding wouldn't have been a problem.

You'll have to jam something between your backing plate and leaf springs and repeen your cog wheel with a good center punch if they are made of dissimular metals. Could you make a new backing plate bolt and wheel with hardware store stuff?
Scott

Thanks Guy's for all the replies. Update on the end result,after careful study, I deceided to put something between the spring and the adjuster bolt as Scott suggested.Now not being a hammer and chisel mechanic,I gave it a wack and the first hit was dreadful.The adjuster wheel fell of the bolt,ouch.(For info, behind the wheel is a thin tin washer that shims it), so I put some never sieze between them and carefully pushed it back on the adjuster bolt.I applied more pressure so it would slide on farther, and gave it another wack.Low and behold it worked,so carefully peened all around so it would stay on.So far so good, put the drum back on and tightend the shoes and backed them off to a slight drag and it held,so I think it's done.Thanks for all the replies,and hope to get some pictures up someday. The truck has been in our family all it's life so it means a lot to me.After all it helped start the family business,1946 -2ton stake body,235 Loadmaster engine,2 speed rear,with a Truckstell Wilcox conversion kit,Large torque arms on the rear end.One more question,does anyone reproduce the Loadmaster decals that were on the valve covers? Thanks Jim