The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Driveline Need a little help with my 56 brakes

So I've had my 56 for about 10 yrs. and it's finally time to replace the brakes. A couple of wheel cylinders are leaking and the shoes are wet so I figured I'd replace all wheel cylinders and the shoes, repack my bearings and good to go. WRONG!
I went to the local Napa and got all the parts needed. Get the first wheel off and the brakes apart and notice the brake hose is cracked pretty bad so I send my wife back to Napa for a new one and the rest of them (change them all if one is bad)
When she returns I noticed the new brake hose outside diameter is smaller. I figure the original is probably internally the same size just the second cover is thicker on the old one.
Replaced the wheel cylinder with the new one and go to thread the new line on. NOPE. New line won't fit. Check the old line to the new wheel cylinder and it doesn't fit. Okay so Napa sells replacement wheel cylinders with 3/8 inlets and the old is 7/16.
Napa now closed so I call Autozone. Wheel cylinders are all 3/8" inlet according to the parts person on the phone.
I'm at a loss. Has anyone been here before and know where to get the correct parts?
I've looked at "Brother's" "CPP" and other sites that specialize on having parts for old trucks and couldn't get a solid answer on wheel cylinder inlet size. All the photo's are the same for all years.
So just to wrap up I'm looking for wheel cylinders that actually fit with a 7/16" inlet hole and do the newer style hoses matter if they're smaller. I was thinking a smaller diameter hose is going to let less fluid through and the truck will pull when braking.
I was thinking about just converting to disc brakes but I see I can't use stock wheels which means more $$$.
Just want to drive my truck...

Firt thing I did to my 58 GMC was to fix brakes and make sure it will stop before doing anything else. I pulled rubber lines and wheel cyclinders and took them to napa and they matched everything up for me. Even though they aren't made here in the us you can get the proper size at napa. It's also cheaper because you're not paying shipping.
Larryw

Same here, the first thing I did on my 52 was fix the brakes.

Rue are you replacing the cylinder itself? I bought cylinder "kits" and replaced the seals in the old cylinder. Both hoses fit properly, but I had to bend a steel brake line to fit.

On TF trucks the 3100 (short bed) and 3200 (long bed) use different size brake lines, front hoses and front wheel cylinders. I believe the rear wheel cylinders and the hard line on the rear axle are the same for both though. I've been able to find both at Napa.

The 3200 is a med. bed of sorts not the longest bed (they made 3 sizes in 56). They tell me the lines, wheel cylinders and shoes are all the same between the 3200 and 3100.
Either way the 3200 lists the wrong parts.

I'm going to let them look at the old wheel cylinder but I'm convinced these guys are pretty clueless about truck parts. It doesn't help that they have sold out our country and the replacements are all made in China either. I mean the wheel cylinder fits on the backing plate just fine but the inlet is just 3/8" instead of 7/16"
Weird. Still worried about the line being smaller in the front too.

Okay I think I solved the problem (and created it too)
After going back to the store and showing him the problem we noticed the wheel cylinder I was using was for the back not the front. I bought all 4 and they all had a brown rubber plug like the 3/8 cylinder so I assumed (wrongly) that all of them had 3/8 inlets.
The other two in my box were 7/16 inlet and he matched them as fronts. Totally my fault and I told him so and took my parts back home. Hopefully it will work out.

The 3200 uses different brake components that the 3100 for the hydraulics. The only directly interchangeable parts are the master cylinder, drums, shoes, and wheel bearings/seals. The rest is the same as 3600, including the lines (1/4" vs 3/16" ). The front hoses from a 3100 can be used on a 3200/3600, only difference is the length, fitting sizes are the same.

I'm not sure that's the case. The hoses for the 3100 and 3200 are the same part number at Napa (doesn't fit).
Bad news is the part that attaches to the frame has a single circlip and isn't threaded. Original hose on mine is threaded and fits the hole in the frame and a nut secures the whole thing from the inside of the frame then the inner part of the fitting is threaded female for the brake line's flare nut to screw into.
They had to match my old hose to get another one.
I'm not really sure how the style they list fits. With a single circlip nothing is there to hold it to the frame.

I was also told by an old timer awhile back that if they ran out of parts for certain model at the factory they would use whatever they had on hand. A 3600 could have 3100 hoses on it. Not sure?

The replacement hose I got they matched is stamped 1/8 on the outside. It's a little narrower than the original. Hope it's not an issue and the inside diameter is correct.

The threaded hose would be correct for a 3200/3600. I ran into the same problem, as the correct 3200/3600 hoses are not available. On the 3100, the hose, in addition to being longer, is attached differently. The 3100 has the criclip on the outside that you mention. There is also a U shaped spring clip, similar to what holds the parking brake cable in place and what most modern cars use, to retain it in the frame. The clips are not included with the hoses.
I've been running 3100 style hoses, installed with the spring clips, on my 3200 since '94 with no problems. I do understand your frustration, I went through the same thing with mine. Seems most parts stores don't realize that just because the 3100 and 3200 are both 1/2 tons, they aren't necessarily the same under the body. The 3200 is really more of a light 3/4 ton than a 1/2 ton.

Yeah it's weird. I just got the correct hose by letting Napa match them up. The length and fittings seem correct. I'm going to try it. I have one on the pass. side that's older USA Napa made probably in the 80's and it was a perfect match. They switched over to the circlip BS to save money IMO.
It's easier to make then a internal/external threaded end.

Oops! This may only apply 57-59 trucks and not to all TF trucks. Sorry about that. I see yours is a '56.