The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk any one run into this Stumper ??

Was bleeding my brakes today , i have replaced every line EXCEPT the short rubber flex hose from the frame to the rear end ...Well after pumpin an vacumin our brains out ...NO FLUID to the rear .
Came to find after backtrackin the sytem till we had juice ...that that short little rubber line had completely corroded itself shut to the point of no return it would not pass a drop of break fluid.
After a trip to my local NAPA , an grief of tryin to explain what i needed to the kid that might have been 17 for 10 minutes & him not bein able to help since i didnt have an exact yr. and make ..since mine is kinda pieced together..i finally asked him if he would take me too the shelf where they kept there lines an let me survey for a few minutes & he obliged .
Whalla 2 minutes we had a replacement and now i got all the system bled out an workin GREAT !.
Truck will be drivin to Painter monday for the cab work.
WHOOHOOO !

Common problem with rubber lines. Also have seen them act as a one-way check and keep a wheel locked once the brakes were applied. That is why it is always a good reason to change the rubber lines. I myself have gone to stainless steel from my local race supplier as the prices are the same as the rubber counterparts and they look cool to top it off.

Scott

SW good tech tip. I am going to use the braided stainless just in case.

I got rid of my rubber lines this past fall, not sure if they were the problem, but brakes worked fine afterwards.

One of the very first things I've done when bringing an old car home--completely rebuild the brakes: new master cylinder, rebuild or replace the wheel cylinders, any hard lines that may be thin due to rust, and always, always new rubber lines. The rest I can fix on the side of the road when it breaks! When brakes break, it becomes more of an adventure than I like.

-Brad

I had the same problem last winter with my brake lines. I had no difficulty buying the correct replacements at FLAPS.

I've had the rubber flap inside before too... burned up two sets of shoes before i figured out what the problem was...

Yes, I've had it do that to a front wheel, could get a very little fluid, but if you pressed the brake hard you got nothing, must have had a piece moving in there like a check valve.

Grigg

After having problems finding the part be sure to keep the part number so you don't have that problem in the future. I keep part nos. an all of the custom parts so I don't have problems at the parts counter.

good tip there ttodd ,
just dug the box out of the burnable barrell and cut off the part #
Tim

later trucks with disc brakes were plagued with this problem causing calipers to drag. i can remember the first one i desected, the inner hose was collapsed acting like a residual valve. pretty hard to detect just looking at hose. after 3 days i finally asked someone.

On the 0ther issue of the lack of knowledge behind the counter. I have an Auto Zone near me where the kid didn't know what points were. On the other hand the guy at my local Napa doesn't even need the computer to find parts for me. I tell (or show) him what I want and he goes directly to the spot and retrives it like he was waiting for me to ask for it. He even sat and figured out all the brake lines and fittings I needed for my truck and made sure I hade everything before I left. If I did it I would have been back at least twice.

A good parts man is a great find.

Tim, in looking for the same hose for rebuilding my brake system I walked in Advance Auto (I deliver parts there part time) and ask for a hose for a 1952 chev 1/2 ton pickup and the guy says "no gotta". I knew they are the same up through about 55 or 56 so I ask for one for a 54 model and wouldn't you know...they had it! I have not used it yet but if anyone wants the part # its still laying on the bench.
I have mentioned this before and it may be worth repeating. Many times the same part is for MANY years. And while they have no listing for the earliest model they will many times have the parts number for the latest year model. I have done this countless times on the 37 as well as the 52. Just a thought!!

I've done that too, to varying levels of success. Finding Brake parts for a 1946 3/4 ton is an adventure, even if you have the guy look at the 1952 parts... The book starts when they switched to Bendix from Huck. :mad:

Though, I was completely shocked when my favorite FLAPS had a fuel pump for a 216 in stock... Everyone else had to order one in.