Hi everyone. Just working on my old truck, and I'm having a hard time deciding what to do with the brakes. The truck is a 1951 IHC L-110 short box. It has manual adjusting drums fron and back, with shoes measuring 12x1-3/4". I'm running the stock front axle and planning on having it dropped and lowered leafs installed. I'm not sure whether or not to keep the brakes I have, upgrade to later 60s IH self adjusting drums, or do a disc swap in the front. The truck will be a daily driver of sorts, and it will have plenty of power. I haven't driven a drum/drum truck in so long (probably 10 years or more) that I can't remember what the braking performance was like. I'm not expecting this my truck to ride/handle like my new car, but I would like it to be safe enough for trips into the city. Any and all suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks. jn6047
Well.. I have a 1956 S120 and a 1967 Jeep J3000 3/4ton pickup. My buddy has a 1955 L110. All three trucks have 4-wheel drum. My Jeep and his L110 are both daily drivers that haul heavy loads often and we have both never had much trouble from the drum brake setup. My Jeep packs a camper on a regular basis and I've only had bad brake fade once. The Jeep runs a booster (factory) and a couple guys I know that have these trucks are running a Hydroboost froma GM pickup and are really happy with the results. Proper maintenance and using your senses go a long way to driving a drum-drum system. Look ahead, give youself enough room, gear down properly and you'll be fine. Get it running and driving. You can always throw the drums away later if you are unhappy. Shawn
Thanks Lotek, that's kind of the way I've been leaning. I had heard from a friend of mine that droves theses trucks when they were new that he never had a problem with the brakes while hauling, and he figured it was due to the large size of the drum. I'm still hoping to find a mid 60s solid axle to scavange from, because I'd like to swap the steering arms too. I don't like the old ball/socket arrangment, and the 60s had conventional tie-rods. Thanks again. jn6047
My dad was a mechanic in the SoCal oil fields. The company garage had 3-4 of these trucks. No problems with the brakes. The ol trucks handled pretty well on the steep and winding semi-paved oil field roads that ran up into the mountains from the beach area. Just get used to driving it. You won't really have any problems if the suspension is good, shocks are in good shape and the brakes have had a first class rebuild.
One thing I forgot. Try to find an OLD repair shop with an older owner. He might be able to put you in touch with someone who had a brake shoe arcing machine. These grind the brake shoes so that they fit the drums perfectly and give you way better performance. Few people even know they exist and fewer still know how to use one. I'm trying to buy one as we speak. Shawn
Do they actually grind the friction material? No one knows how to use the machine because they all died of mesophelioma!
I work at a high school tech center and we have a pretty nifty brake wash station. It works really good to keep the dust out of the air and your lungs. If I had the brake grinder I'd try to convert it to a wet station. Be careful with that stuff and post some pictures.
One question in regards to the brake arcing machine. Wouldn't self-actuating brakes make it pretty much useless? I mean, with self-acutating brakes, it's not that 100% of the shoe is making contact with the drum due to the travel of the shoe from the pins, right? jn6047
The brake grinder corrects the size of the shoe when the drum has been turned. If you have a 12" drum and 12" shoes then you're all good. Turn that drum a couple times and you now have 12" shoes and a 12 1/8" drum. Now the 12" shoes have a smaller contact patch in the drum resulting in lower brake performance. If you reduce the thickness of the shoe in the centre of the arch and the shoe will fit the larger diameter drum properly. Shoes will never make 100% contact with the drum because of the way they pivot within the brake assembly when applied. Correcting the size increases the contact area. Also. The grinder is used to make new linings the correct size after they have been riveted to the shoes. Shawn
you are right....i have one , but not sure if i am using it correctly i see that you have now bought one...is it an ammco? do you have a manual you could copy for me?
Yup, it's an Ammco 8000 Safe-arc.. I didn't get a manual but if I can track one down I'll get a copy to you. The do crop up on ePay every now and then. Shawn
Not knowing anything about IH model designations, I can't really guess whether a 12X1.5 drum would be enough. I have 11" drums on my '54 Dodge 1/2T; don't really haul any weight with it. Works good enough for that. Might re-think it if it were a 3/4T that I hauled stuff or towed with. Hope the .02 helps. -bill
The L-110 is a heavy half short box. Only difference between the 100 and the 110 is steeper rear gears and extra capacity leafs. The leafs of course will be changed out for some lowered springs, and the rear is going to be swapped out to for a later model Dana 44 with 3.54:1 jn6047
I pulled the drums off the front of my '36 C-1 and was pleasantly surprised to find that they were self-actuating Bendix style brakes. Bonus! Double bonus, the owner before me rebuilt the brakes before putting the frame into storage so all they need is a little touch up.
Awesome news. What do you have planned with the 36? I have plans for a C1 as well, but had to put them on the back burner to get my 51 done. My friend, the original owner, passed on a while ago, and I have a need to take a drive in the old truck for him. jn6047
One more question for everyone, where can I find scoops for my drums? Tried searching the net, but no luck. Does O'Brien's have em? Thanks. jn6047
My binder has got a 360/727 shoe horned into it right now. Not my first choice for an engine but the price was right so.... The truck will be sans fenders, chopped, I took a few springs out of the front yesterday and it looks better. Eventually I plan on running a dropped Ford axle under it but right now the International front end will work. I'm hoping to have it on the road by the end of the summer but we'll see how that turns out. Right now I'm looking for some wheel cylinder kits and not having any luck finding them. Anyone knowa good source for international brake parts?
IH brake parts? Have you been to oldihc.org? I'd also try any older part store, and get out to brake spec book and match some stuff up. Or, check and see if you can swap brakes like I'm going to look at doing. I know that the K's (1940s) all the way to the 60s straight axle light pick-ups used the same kingpin and spindles. I'm not sure about the C series, but I wouldn't be too surprized. And parts are readily available from the L series (1949) and up. jn6047
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