The Stovebolt Site Forums The Parking Lot Big Bolts Front Brake Cylinder Question

I pulled out my front wheel cylinders of my 54 Chevy 4500, and noticed they are only a wimpy 7/8 bore diameter.

I am wondering if they are the incorrect size. I wish to send them off to have them sleeved in stainless, but not if they are incorrect for my year. I am sure the previous owner replaced them at one time.

Sources I have been using call for a 1 inch bore wheel cylinder

I am wondering if more than one size wheel cylinder will fit? I would think that the bigger the better.

According to the Jim Carters online catalog, 55 and up trucks used the 7/8 bore. 1953-1954 should use a 1 inch bore wheel cylinder.

Yet I see smaller trucks using larger bores, from 1 inch or larger. Even the 54 1 ton trucks this year are 1 1/8 inch bore.

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

According to my book a 1954 GMC 300-400 series which are 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 ton use a 7/8 bore and I would imagine Chev would be the same. If your truck has duel wheels, it will have larger cylinders in the rear and relatively small cylinders in front to keep the front wheels from locking up upon hard braking. The GMC number for the correct wheel cylinder for a 54 is 5454387

I see, the brakes are small on purpose, since the rears are large. I guess I am thinking that, typically, most of the braking should take place in the front. Obviously, this is not the case with these vehicles. Anyway, thanks for the good information.

George

That is why the rear is larger - to balance out the front brakes. Have you ridden a cycle and used the front only?
You actually need to use the rear more than the front to keep from going over the handlebars.

I had the same cylinders on the front of my '57 2 1/2 ton and thought they were kinda tiny, too. I looked for new ones, but they were listed as unavailable in the NAPA catalog and I didn't have any luck with any of the other vendors, either. I had almost resigned myself to getting mine sleeved, but I decided to take another look through the catalog again by spec instead of application. I found two part numbers (right and left) for a later truck that had the same bore and had NAPA order them and see what they looked like. I was pleasantly surprised. They were identical to the originals in every way except that instead of the hoses entering perpendicular to the bore like the originals (so the same cylinder fits both sides), the hoses enter at about a 45* angle. That small difference made no problems at all. They were about half the price as getting the old ones sleeved. I can get you the part numbers if you like. Also, I found that the front hoses are obsolete as well. The rear one is not and is the same part number down through at least a 1 ton. I used rear hoses for the front and it worked out really nice. They have the correct ends for both the wheel cylinders and the steel lines. All I had to do was make a small braket to attach the end to the frame. I can take a pic of my setup if you like. Other than making the bracket and drilling/tapping one hole in either side of the frame, it all just bolted together. Just a couple alternatives to the parts that aren't available anymore!