The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Engine Shop Brake Kit from Chevy Duty

Ok. My next project is complete overhaul of brake system. Anybody used the brake kits from Chevy Duty?

I can't say that I have.

But no matter where you go for parts, you should be able to find them! 1/2 tons are a piece of cake to find parts for! (The 51 is what you're doing the brakes on, right?)

Are you planning on staying with the stock Huck configuration, or will you be upgrading to Bendix?

Yes the '51. Don't know enough to know the difference. What's the advantage of Bendix and does it require any modification?

Bendix are what you would find on today's drum systems. You can usually tell them from their older Huck counterparts because they have more parts. Chevrolet started using them on the 1953 second series trucks. They actuate one shoe first, and then the second as your foot goes down.

Some models are automatically adjusted out, and some are manually adjusted by you.

There is quite a bit of modification involved, but they tell me that they are worth the trouble. It takes less pressure from your foot to get the same amount of stop.

Huck Brakes are the old single pivot point style brakes that have the one spring. Both shoes are actuated at the same time.

Huck brakes are very easy to work on (hey, I did them, and I don't touch modern drums), and will adequately stop your truck if you intend to retain its original powerplant and driveline. I redid the huck brakes on mine, because I'm keeping the 216 and the four speed.

If you're going to put a bigger engine in there, or put in an overdrive or different ring/pinion gears, then I'd look into the Bendix.

I thought Bendix started in 1951. The 51 I just finished doing had Bendix brakes. I have a 52 front axle in the "back 40" and it has Bendix on it, as I had planned to adapt them to my 49.
One thing to think about for those converting to Bendix from Huck is the master cylinder. The bore on the Huck equipped trucks is a different diameter than the trucks with Bendix. Can't recall how this affects things but it is something like pedal pressure.

I used the brake kit from Chevy Duty. I had no problems.

Word of advice is if you are going to get the front disc brake kit go directly to CPP because that is where they order it from. It is cheaper and you have the options to upgrade different components. Not to mention incase you have problems it would cut out the middle man.

Just for discussions sake I did a bunch of research on brakes. What I learned was that Chevy went from Huck to Bendix on the 1/2 ton in 51 and switched to bendix on the 3/4 ton in 52. The easy way to tell the difference is that the Huck brakes have big notched wheels for adjustment on both ends of the wheel cylinder. I also understand that only one shoe is used in each direction. The front shoe going forward and the rear shoe going backward. I am told this is due to the way the system "floats".