The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk Brakes, have y'all seen this before?

Hey guys, I'm restoring my 1949 Chevy 3600. I took apart my front axle today and was surprised (seems to happen more and more the deeper I go into this project). When I compared the shot of the brake backing plate in my service manual to the brake backing plates that were on my truck I found that my plates are missing the pins and conical springs on each side of the spindle that hold the brake shoes against the plate. When I looked deeper I found that my plates were also missing the 6 raised portions around the edge, that the shoes were supposed to rest against. The plates look completely unmolested, no grind marks were the pins could have been removed or hammer marks where the indents could have been flattened out. My axle number is 3681642 GM109. Now, as far as I know this is the original axle, but I haven't found a picture of my plate variation any where. I'm wondering if this is an issue, should I replace the plates? I've found 2 used plates that someone will sell to me for $100 plus shipping. I'd love to save the money if this is normal, but if it could affect brake operation in anyway I'd rather get the plates and do it right.
Here are a couple more pictures of my plates:
Plate 2
Plate 3
Plate 4
I appreciate the help,
-Alan

Without spending the time to check the numbers. I will say this.

Gm is and was known for the pictures in the service manuals to not match what is on the truck/cars. this still takes place today.

Even the info on the pages are not always correct.

Here is what can be the case with your truck.

or there is a chance that gm chose to use another type of setup other than what is in your book such as a optional rear end?

Someone should be able to help fill this in.

The way I would figure is what you have shown.. It works fine.

if you can get the kits to rebuild the wheel cyl. than don't replace anything.

If it aint broke than don't fix...

The brake shoes do wobble when they're attached though, it doesn't feel like a sturdy set up. And I would have though that if it was some factory option then someone else would have seen this before. I've already replaced the wheel cylinders several months ago and that went fine. I dunno, I guess that I'm going to worry about it untill I put "proper" brake backing plates on there. No one else has seen this before?

Alan,
I don't think you're missing any parts.
Here's a shot of my 3600 front brakes (Huck) as they came off my truck. Looks just like yours.

Thanks Steve. I'm glad to see I'm not the only one. I'll just keep what I've got then. I wonder how ours ended up without the pins and springs?
Anyway, thanks guys, y'all saved me from spending over $100 on something that it looks like I don't need.
Thanks again,
-Alan

Alan
The only springs on my 3600 brakes hold the shoes to the levers(?) that mount to the great big pin at the bottom of the backing plate. The pins and springs you're talking about sound like the ones one the rear drums of my wife's cavalier... Bendix style. Huck brakes are WAY different. Bid pin at the bottom, overlapping arms on the pin going up the fron and rear, one big return spring just below the cylinder and a double-ended, fixed cylinder with two adjusters and no auto-adjustment. Fun stuff!

Alan, the Huck brake is held in alignment axially by the bottom yoke and pins. As you apply brake the shoes just swing out from the pivot points at the bottom.

The Bendix brake is free to float at the top and bottom, therefore the need for the pads and springs to keep it in axel alignment. The advantage to the Bendix brake was that the shoes tend to hook or bite into the drum when they contact due to the drum rotation and this gives an additional mechanical force to the braking function. An early form of power assist you might say. The Bendix brake was first used in the late 20’s for large truck in the air brake systems and then later in the 30’s the principle was applied to the passenger cars. The self-adjusting brake was not introduced until the mid to late 50’s.
And became quite common be the mid 60’s.
There is nothing wrong or unsafe about the Huck brake design as long as it is properly restored to its original condition. It’s just a hydraulic system, no different in application than the Bendix brake except that it requires a bit more pressure to operate it.
Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL