The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Driveline Huck brake install questions?

I had a question from Pretzer46's post in the DITY Gallery. I wondered what the sardine can keys and springs in the center of each shoe were. They weren't present in the "before" photo and they weren't present on my brakes, either.

I saw them on the schematic but even the Hagerty guy's video on Huck brake replacement doesn't include those keys and springs. What are they for?


DITY post:
1946 Chevy 1/2-ton Stakeside -- "A Little Piece of the Family Farm"

Otto, My '51 with bendix brakes has similar items. Pins that hold the brake shoes against the backing plate. If they weren't there, it's possible for the edge of the shoes to rub against the drum.

Here's a pic of what you're referring to.

Yep, correct. They work with the cone shaped springs to hold the shoes against the backing plate. You push them in and turn it to key them into place. I believe I had to order a couple different kits to get everything I needed, some are less complete than others.

Interesting. I 'm familiar with the pins on Bendix style brakes but my truck didn't have any and I don't remember seeing them on two Huck brake videos I watched.

Will the standard Bendix style pins, springs and caps work on the Huck? Where did you find the sardine can keys and springs?

I ordered them from chevsofthe40s.com when I just rebuild my brakes.

Jim Carter sells the hold downs too as Part# ME340.

Otto, The answer seems to lie between the lines in the Master Parts books. I looked at 3 different published year books for Group 5.043 - Brake shoe hold down pin set, GM# 3696830 which match up with the 1936-48 year range in Jim Carter's description for Huck brakes. However, Huck brakes continued on through 1950 for the 1/2 tons and later for the 3/4 tons. The Parts books all jump from 1948 to 1951 with the different hold down part numbers associated with the Bendix brake change over.

Best understanding I can come up with considering this info is the listed hold downs will also work for the 1949-50 Huck brakes. Clear as mud??? Maybe a fellow Bolter with more background knowledge can confirm or set the record straight.

Anyhow, back to Pretzer46's story...

My '39 thru '53 GMC (yeah, I know it isn't a Chevy, but I'm pretty sure the 1/2 ton brakes are the same) Master Parts Book shows that 3696830 spring and pin set used on all 1/2 ton Huck brakes.

Thanks you guys. I guess I'll order up 8 of those and "finish" the brake job that I did a year ago.

This discussion was pulled from a DITY Gallery thread (1946 Chevy 1/2-ton Stakeside" -- "A Little Piece of the Family Farm"). It needed to be its own discussion for Driveline. It got buried a bit before we could clean it up. Just wanted to bring the topic to Active Threads so all the people who participated can see it just didn't get deleted. It's got some good info in here.
John is thinking we see a possible Tech Tip for Huck Brakes.

Huck brakes for 1/2 ton's did not all come with the springs and the key hooks. I don't know which years did not use them.
The ones which did not use the spring and key hooks, the backing plates did not come with the welded on little piece of angle metal with the hole in it to accept the hook of the key.
Personally, I don't really see the need for those springs and key hooks on Huck brakes, given that the shoes are held fast by the upper pivot pin and by the wheel cylinder at the bottom of the shoes. The shoes do not articulate all over the place like Bendix shoes do.
Maybe GM figured that out and stopped use those springs and key hooks late in the run of Huck brakes on half tons.
Or it could well be that the early ones didn't use them and GM found out that they indeed would work better if they did have them and added them to the later models.

FWIW, I redid the complete set of brakes on my '50 1/2 ton. It had Huck brakes on all four corners, and they looked exactly like the picture that Otto posted. No hold-downs on any of the shoes--just that pair of articulating levers at the bottom of the shoes. Get that set-up in place and the shoes cannot flop around like the Bendix setup.

Interesting. I need to look at my setup and see if there is a hole in the backing plate to accept the hold down key. It seems to me that there wasn't one or I would have been scratching my head over it back when I did the brakes.

Look Ma, no holes! Luckily I didn't rush out to the virtual Jim Carter warehouse and pick up four sets of springs and keys. Further confirmation that not all Huck brakes are designed to accept the springs and sardine can keys.

Huck backing plates never had holes for spring retainers. The Huck spring retainer hooks into a small piece of a 90 degree angle metal spot welded to the backing plate viewable only by removing the drum.

Oh man! What a rip off! I thought I was in the clear!

Well, I'm going to have to look at all the pictures I took of the wheel cylinder and shoe replacement job. I don't remember any funky welded metal, though. I'm sure it would have caught my attention.

Alright, it doesn't look to me like there is anything on the backing plate that a sardine key could hook into.

That welded on landing point can be seen in this photo, look hard

Chuck

As per the parts book, my 1-ton does not have the hooks. The shoes are contained by the fixing pivot and some "arms" that stick out to capture the shoes mid way. These brakes last a long time in my experience. I've replaced the linings once in 50 years and that was because of an oil leak. I run it about 5,000 miles a year.

"Hooks?? We don't need no stinking hooks!!"

I'm with Tommy -- No hooks on my '49 1-ton, either. And I was the first one to do the brakes since it left the factory in '49.