The Stovebolt Site Forums The Parking Lot Tons 'o Fun 1948 1 Ton Dually Complete Brake Overhaul

Hi All,

I am preparing to overhaul the entire brake system on my 1948 Chevy 1 Ton Dually. The VIN is 5 FS-D 1867 (137 in wheelbase). I have perused the forums and seen bits and pieces here and there but I am having trouble formulating a general plan.

First, where do I start? The only thing I have done so far is remove the front wheels and drums and had the shoes relined. The cylinders, springs, etc. are complete dust.

Should I go stainless steel? Is there a kit available for a 1 ton with duallys? If not, do I buy some other kit and modify?

I see a lot of brake parts in the catalogs for ½ and ¾ tons but nothing for 1 ton. I think someone told me previously that the ¾ ton parts can be used?

Many years ago when I started this project, I was planning on having the master cylinder sleeved. Is this still a good idea? And where do I get it done?

What are the special considerations for working with the duallys?

Any assistance or guidance you can provide is very much appreciated! As soon as I get a viable plan together, I’ll start buying parts (hopefully the right ones).

Thanks,
josé

Hello Jose',

I'll be watching your post carefully. I'll be up against the same job as my restoration moves along. Please take plenty of pictures. I hope your post gets some good attention. Got any photos of your truck?

Do you still have the 18" 700-18 tire setup ?

Joe

Hi Joe,

I found out in an earlier post that I do not have the original 18" wheels. I have 19.5" one piece wheels so someone along the line replaced them which I suppose works out a little better for me than dealing with the 2 or 3 piece rims. I've decided to use whatever is on the truck wherever it might have come from except the gas tank mounted under the flatbed which came from a Honda, Toyota or something like that is what the previous owner told me.

I will take many pictures and try to figure out the best way to do an album on photobucket and link to the first picture.

Sincerely,
josé

I have a 49 one ton Canadian Chevy. I will be watching your project with great interest.

ok, so I searched in the forums all night long and got a good read on stainless. I've decided to go with the stainless and got a list of the supply companies you guys have posted over the years. Tomorrow I will start searching their websites for what is available.

Thanks!
josé

Yes I have to believe stainless is the way to go. This is something you want to do only once in a lifetime. Have you looked at Jim Carter's website or given them a call? I have to believe he would have a lead for wheel cylinders for a 1-ton. I have an excellent parts guy here in Philadelphia. I plan to disassemble a wheel and bring it over to him to see if we can make some modern day matches. That won,t be until the winter though.

Joe

For the lines I once thought stainless was the answer, and did a truck in stainless. After that I found out about copper nickel lines and have used a bunch of that, I even imported and resold it for a while. These days it is easily available at most all auto parts stores. For example CNC-425 should be a good part number for a 25' roll of 1/4" line from Autozone, Advance and others.

Copper nickel is easy to bend, flare, and work with in general. Stainless on the other hand is difficult to bend, really hard to flare and requires the very best tools for good results.
Both are about as corrosion resistant, so the CuNi being easier to work with gives it the big advantage.
Assuming you've actually used (and I'm, sure fought with) stainless before I'd say if you try some copper nickel line you'll never go back to stainless.

About the rest of the brakes,
Is the goal to keep everything original?
If so then sleeving the master cylinder with Stainless is a good plan, or just purchase a new MC if available. I recommend against having it brass sleeved, if you do anything make sure it is stainless.
Here's some info on a source. I haven't heard of or seen his work lately but if he's still doing it that's where I'd go. https://www.stovebolt.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=477589&page=all

Again, if original brakes you just have to rebuild what you have, scrounge parts as you can, not so much is offered as a kit for rebuilding them like things are for the 1/2 ton trucks.

If you're looking to upgrade brakes an easy swap would be a whole 14 bolt rear axle, and you can get one with faster gears while you're at it if you like.
There is not a ready made front disc brake solution for the 1 tons. Some folks have used different parts form here and there and fabricated and machined stuff to work, but no kits. I put together some info here that may be of use for your dually, and of some use to single wheel trucks although perhaps not as much.
https://www.stovebolt.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=725027#Post725027
Third post explains how to make a 72.5" wide dual wheel 8 lug disc brake front axle. I still don't have the original axle width measurement for an AD dual wheel 1 ton to know if this is any help?

Grigg

Hi Grigg,

Thank you for all the info especially the cylinder resleeving. I assume that the wheel cylinders can be resleeved as well as the master cylinder? In your original post you say "send him your bare, stripped, clean cylinders", is there anything else I can have done to them before sending as far as finish? Can these be powder coated before resleeving?

I have found the inline brake line kit below and fuel lines. I would go with the copper nickel if I could find the same kind of kit. I really don't want to mess with bending and flairing if I can buy a kit. Question is, does the inline kit work well? From what I have read, most guys on here that have ordered the inline kit say it works perfectly. If so, I will order the stainless steel kit and all the fuel lines today!

1948 Chevy Truck 1 ton Brake Line Set:

CTB4801 1948 Manual Brake Line Set 137" WB 2wd Long bed 1 ton 7pc Stainless $180.00

1948 Chevy Truck 1 ton Fuel Lines:

CTF4801 Main Fuel Line 1pc 6cyl 5/16" Stainless $65.00

1948 Chevy Truck 1 ton Engine Lines:

CTC4801 Pump to Carb Line 6cyl Stainless $25.00
CTV4802 Vacuum Advance Line 6cyl Stainless $25.00

Thanks!
josé

If premade stainless lines fit and work there's nothing wrong with them. My main objection to stainless is the difficulty in working it, but if you don't have to do anything to them you're all set, it's not a problem.

On the cylinder sleeving he does wheel cylinders too. Best to ask the guy doing the work what he is expecting from you and what he can work with.

Grigg

ive used both the rolls and straight sticks depending on the length of the run. i like to use the sticks where i can since sometimes no flaring or only one flare will be needed. a tubing bender is nice to make good looking radius bends without kinking them. you'll also need to replace all three hoses. two for the front wheels and one for the rear. i got new front and rear cylinders for my 40 at napa and you should have no issues finding them there either. as for the master cylinder i use this place. http://www.brakeplace.com/ they have done work for me. as for me working with duallys on all three of my trucks the 8.25 x 20" are heaviest. so proper lifting procedures are needed along with some long pry bars for leverage. on the rears its best to walk the wheel of the hubs and dont pinch your fingers during the whole process or drag the wheel across the threads of the studs. on the fronts i like to remove the spindle nut and remove the whole wheel and hub as a unit which means i have to look at the bearings in the process but only after the first time i remove them for cleaning and degreasing everything. anything after that is my work and not somebody elses.

I called Inline Tube to confirm the CTB4801 1948 Manual Brake Line Set 137" WB 2wd Long bed 1 ton 7pc Stainless at $180.00 and they told me that it will NOT work with a dually (that's what the 2wd means). So... I am going to pull all the lines and t-connectors and send them up there for them to reproduce. The guy said it would be about 20% more on top of the $180 to have them custom build the lines for me. So far so good? lol

You should check in the parts book to see if they are the same, I would have said/guessed the brake lines were the same for a 1 ton AD truck with single or dual wheels, now I'm curious.
http://chevy.oldcarmanualproject.com/parts/1929_54/index.htm

If they're not the same then at this point I would make my own copper nickel lines. It will cost less than $200 (don't forget to add shipping twice) I'm sure and it's not that difficult at all if yours are in good enough shape to copy.

Grigg

Grigg, I think you are correct. The guy at inline tube said the axle lines are different for the dually but I've been looking at the parts catalog link that you sent and I think I see that the axle lines are the same length (pages 299 - diagram and 300 - table for 1948) for the 1948 FR, FT (3/4 ton) and FS, FU (1 ton) for lines F (45.5 inches) and G (22.0 inches) [rear lines from the connector to the drums]. Did I read this correctly?

So despite what the inline tube guy says, I think I am going to order the kit.

May I add, Guard the 1 ton drums with your life. Do not turn them down unless you absolutely have to. They are tuff to find used and NONE is being reproduced. If at all possible, if you can locate the entire rear from a newer truck with Bendix brakes, It would be a good move. Just my opinion, Jerry

Well, I placed the order today for the stainless steel Inline Tube brake line kit and other fuel/engine lines. We'll see what I get in the mail..

jose

Good luck Jose

Please post some pictures when you get around to it.

We look forward to it.

Thanks

Joe

I had my rear cylinders sleeved in stainless and I bought new ones for the front. I found quality problems with the new ones and the thread on one of my adjusting caps failed. I would not buy new now if I had a choice.

Joe, I will post some pictures when I get my Photobucket account back up and running. I had to delete the one I was using and I tried Flickr but nothing I paste into the replies here in the forum from Flickr seems to work..

Thank truckernix for the advice. Really, the front cylinders look like toast but I am going to pull them along with the master and the rears and send them off to have them sleeved with stainless. I will avoid buying anything newly manufactured.

One side note, after I placed the order with Inline Tube, I was reading their FAQ and I noticed that the kits and lines do not come with stainless steel fittings; these have to be requested and an extra charge is applied. I called and asked that all my fittings be stainless. It would seem they would advertise this requirement to request stainless fittings more prominently. I'm just glad I found out before the order was made and shipped. Good grief!

jose

Hi All, here is a link to my Flickr (finally figured it out) which has pictures of the front wheel cylinder:

Front Wheel Cylinder

I think from there you can see the rest of the pictures in the set for the front wheels, brakes, etc.

Thanks,
jose

I sure would have expected stainless tube nuts to be standard on new stainless lines... biggest reason for buying stainless is the long life, no rust. Rusty tube nuts are just as common/troublesome as rusty lines, so why even bother with stainless lines if you don't put the stainless tube nuts on...