my 50 convertible: 1954 front hubs/drums/backing plates. 1956 chevrolet rear end. I am wondering if there is a later model chevrolet self adjusting brake setup that will fit on my current backing plates. no name mentioned 62 corvette for the front, for self adjusting... I know my 51-54 front wheel drums are the same as 55-67(?) rear... any interchange info will be a great help, I am getting ready to make a parts store run to buy f/r cylinders/shoes/kits/ and drums... I would like self adjusting, but not entirely necessary..
Everything for the self adjusters hangs off the shoes and top backing plate anchor stud, so if the shoes have the right size hole for the buttons that go through them and the right stud, they can be put on. Look at the earliest year for self adjusters on an 11" shoe and you may be a winner. Bob
mid-late 60s chevy trucks used 11" x 2" brakes and had self adjusters. I put them on my late 50s trucks, work fine.
Not to highjack your thread, but I was actually wondering what was the first year for standard production self-adjusting brakes?
from a response I got on ct, it looks like the first year was 62 -corvette, 63 passenger cars, for gm. my 63 chev truck does not have self adjusters, my 65 does.
Self adjusting brakes? Just use want you have and learn how to adjust them. You will become a better wrench for doing it yourself and end up finding and attending to other parts that may need serviced. Like wheel bearings, lube job, leaking wheel cylinders and the like.
The problem is that there isn't a lot of extra travel available in some of the 50's Chevy master cylinders, and unless you adjust the brakes every 1000 miles they get dangerous. The Huck brakes on my '50 truck are downright scary when out of adjustment. I know you are supposed to be under there greasing everything that often too, but it is a messy job to adjust the brakes every 1000 miles. If I had a 2 post lift and room in my garage to do it I wouldn't mind, but having to do it in the rain in the driveway isn't fun.
I used to be amazed at how many cars I had in for brake work and the sef adjusters were gone, they were changed over to manual adjusters. If I saw one I saw 100 of these up into the late '70 cars. Bob
I put self adjusters on my '50 Chevy. I have a '56 chevy rearand '54 front backing plates. I got the springs and adusters from Classic Chevy in Tittusville, Fl. They are for '55 to '57 Chevy's but Chevy used the same brakes from '51 to the '70s. I think I had to enlarge holes in the shoes and cut adjusting holes in the backing plates. But it's nice not having to adjust brakes.
The brake adjuster kit for 65-72 DRUM brake 1/2 ton Chevy pickups will work fine.There will be a left and right kit but it is they are the same for the front or rear. You will have to make an access hole in the correct place in the Backing Plate for the star wheels. All the drum brake shoes for the Front and Rear are the same for 51-72 1/2 pick-up. 51-54 Front on Passenger car and 51-64 Rear on passenger car are also the same shoe.
wow! that s some good info for me paul.. I have quite a few 65-66 trucks laying around. ..and thanks for the other replys guys.
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