The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Engine Shop Brake dilemma

Hey guys, I'm new to the forum and this is my first post. I have a 52 Chev 3/4 ton pickup and
want to upgrade the brakes. At the very least I
want to install a dual m/c with power booster.
3/4 ton trucks still had Huck brakes in 52 and I am concerned about their performance. I plan to
use the truck for its original intended purpose
and am worried about brake fade with heavier
loads. Would the huck brakes with power booster
be sufficient? My other option would be to buy
a 6 lug front disc kit for a spare 48 1/2 ton axle that I have and find a 6 lug rear truck axle that would fit. (55-59?) I would appreciate any
comments or guidance on this subject.
Thanks

There is a guy that contributes to this forum that put disc brakes on his AD 1-Ton panel truck, and has it on a website. He posted a link once in a discussion. Search this site and you can probably find it. Good luck.

Thanks for the info. I searched this site and found about 3 links to the site you mentioned about the 8 lug disc brake conversion and it apparently is not up anymore.
I also heard about a guy that relines brake shoes with kevlar or something and they are supposed to resist fading.
If anyone out there has more info on this I would appreciate it.

Will you drive those loads down hills? Are you going to increase the truck's highway speed?

If not I think the stock brakes with some modern brake pad material will perform very well.

Have you pulled a drum to check your brake type? All of the 52 3/4 ton trucks that I have seen had bendix. I'm not saying you don't have hucks, just wanting to be sure you know what you do have. You can get the brakes from a 3/4 or 1 ton with bendix, you need everything from the backing plate on out. They will bolt right on.

There was a guy who converted to a disc setup and used cold-rolled steel for his brackets, which is not recommended. No one makes a conversion for these trucks, I wish there was one. There is and outfit in Texas that does some sort of high friction lining on shoes, but they aren't cheap.

From my experience with the 3/4 ton, there is enough braking power with the standard bendix brakes for highway driving in an empty truck. My 69 1/2 ton came equipped with the same size shoes. Loaded, I don't go much over 40.

They are definitely Huck and not Bendix.
The adjusters are on the wheel cylinders.
Front drums are 11" with 1 3/4" wide shoes.
Rear is 12" with 2" wide shoes. The truck only has 35,000 miles and a lot of meat left on the drums. The standard catalog of Chev trucks says
they used hucks thru 1952 on 3/4 tons.
Wish I had bendix though. Think I will use the
stock brakes. They should be ok from what all you
guys have told me. I will still try to find out about the disc conversion. I have the equipment to fab the caliper brackets. I won't be increasing the truck's speed very much. Just the small percentage I will get from going to 17" wheels. I am also putting in a 235 and manual trans from a 55 wagon.