The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Engine Shop why swithch out the huck brakes?

so uh, i talked to a guy at the local salvage yard and asked if he had some newer 51+ brakes. said he did but asked why i would want to change out the huck ones. he had me on that one, i have know idea why, only that it was mentioned to do hee on the forum. any reasons to why i should shell out $400 for the 51+ brake change. is it worth it? that much of a difference?

If you're going to change the brakes, go with disc brakes on the front.

Why get rid of the Hucks? Because they're an inferior design that fades fast under hard braking. Bendix brakes are a much better design, although disc brakes are far superior to any drum brake.

Murdoc,

I think a lot of people switched the Huck brakes for 52-54 passenger car Bendix brakes/hubs to get the 5-bolt hubs that would match the open driveshaft rear end they just put in.

Probably not worth changing to the truck Bendix brakes just for the sake of it. I put the passenger car Bendix brakes on my '49 many moons ago for the reason above but dumped them in a hurry for disk brakes after a little episode with a bed full of firewood, a steep hill, a stop sign and a busy cross street at the bottom.

I don't see how they would fade any faster than Bendix brakes of the same size and lining material. They do, however, take more pedal effort and they are more expensive to rebuild. They are also more sensitive to misadjustment. The wheel cylinders are hard to get and drums are no longer available new. Bendix drums are. I use my Hucks, and they work fine, but I am going to go with discs when I change over, using Mr. Proffit's tech tip of using Nissan 6-lug brakes.

I am not sure why the Huck design is inferior. They are set up very similar to a modern air brake with the bottom of each shoe anchored on a pivot pin.

They are sensitive to mis-adjustment because a lot of people do not understand how to adjust them. Each side of the wheel cylinder has to be turned clockwise as you look at the front of the shoe. That means that to adjust one brake, each side of the wheel cylinder is turned opposite each other to bring each shoe toward the drum. You do have to be careful but it is not rocket science..

Kanter Auto Parts has the wheel cylinders, I bought some recently..

Yes, the parts are more expensive. But, how often are you going to rebuild your brakes in order to recoup the 400 dollar Bendix swap cost ? The way I drive my truck I am sure my brakes will last ten years..

If you want to change them, change them. Just be sure you are an informed consumer before you make the change...

IN MY '5-0 I CHANGED TO BENDEX STYLE BRAKES ONLY BECAUSE THE FRONT BRAKES WERE ALREADY CHANGED WHEN I RECIEVED THE TRUCK. AND THE TORQUE TUBE REAR END I INTALLED WAS FROM A '54.

Before you spend that much on those brakes talk to people at carshows and cruiseins and find someone who is going to make a hotrod out of one. I got a front and rear axle from someone who put in latemodel drive train in his 51,I took the brakes off of them for my 37 but probably will not use them as I am going to a independent front and S10 rear. If you are interested in them let me know. Jeff