Need some info on the Huck type brake to Bendix brakes on the front axle of a 50 Chevy PU.I know many have done it,it's a bolt on with the right factory parts. Who has done it and do spindles and hubs need to swapped out to 51 and later? Thanks
I am parting out a '49 3/4 ton, a 51 & 53 1/2 ton chevy pickups and will not be using the OEM ch***is/ brake parts, so let me know if I can help.
With the car, you swap backing plates, hubs and drums... I'd be surprised if it was any different for the trucks, just find a donor with the Bendix brakes and go.
I rebuilt the brakes on my 47, ***uming they are Huck, and locating wheel cyliders were not hard at all. Actually auto zone had them on the shelf. I had the shoes rebonded, and got new springs from Jim carter. I got rear wheel cylinders and a master cylinder rebuild kit from napa. I have not searched out brake drums or rubber lines, but my brake system is all new.
You shouldn't have to change the hubs or spindles. Drill out the top two spindle holes to 1/2" and install backing plate and brake parts as they came off donor truck. I've done the Bendix upgrade on 3/4 and 1 ton axles and it's the same deal. They didn't put Bendix brakes on those trucks 'til '53 though.
This truck has no front backing plates but does have the original hubs with no drums.It has a 60's 6 lug rear axle. Being the back has Bendix type brakes,it's best to use the same type in the front. Huck brakes work fine but require more pressure than Bendix to stop.Mixing the two types leads to lock up problems ,that I know from personal experience.And 51-72 ish 1/2 ton brake parts and drums are easy to find and not expensive.
I have a complete set of bendix brakes from a 52 in the shed that were going on my 37 but went to disc brakes instead..
Jeff,PM sent................ It appears the front changeover requires 51-59 backing plates and brake parts,hubs and drums and probably brake hoses.Drill two holes in plates and steering spindle and arm from 7/16 to 1/2 inch.
No technical advice here, but I learned about the differences between both brake systems first hand.... I got bendix brakes on my 52 truck and huck brakes on my 48 coupe. Both stock setups with 6 lugs and stock wheel cylinders and master. Before swapping the coupe's huck for bendix brakes, I thought I see how it goes. And since I had 13 years of daily driving experience with the truck and both weigh 3000 lbs., I would find out quickly what I should do. Well, it was an easy decision, since both do stop at the same breaking distance from the same speed. Both brake system's shoes and drums are the same size, after all. Only difference is putting a little more pressure on the pedal with the huck brakes, but nothing to cry about. The huck brakes also have a higher ratio diameter between master and wheel cylinders, to compensate for the lack of wedge effect of the bendix. Another thing I found out from personal experience and confirmed by an old timer who used to specialize on break system repairs decades ago, was that bendix breaks have a tendency to make grooves into the front drums much earlier than huck brakes. I installed new drums on the bendix brakes in 2004 and already a few years later I started getting grooves on the front and the truck would pull slightly to one side because of the uneven wear on both sides. My coupe's huck brakes still have no grooves with new drums after almost twice as many years, using the same manufacturer and material for the brake shoes. So I'm quiet happy with what I got and save myself the trouble.
I have a '52 3/4 ton long bed like the one pictured as your avatar. I'm converting to Bendix from Huck. I've done the front brakes already. The rear brakes have turned into a fresh hell. The backing plates are off a '54 (I think). Everything went together well, except the drums don't fit. The drums specified are too wide, 4.3 ". I tried the front drums and they are too narrow at 3.25 " What I need would be about 3.75 inches. What am I missing here? I think 1 ton front brakes were used on the 3/4 as rear.......but those drums are still 4.3" wide. Any help from someone who has been down this road would be appreciated.
Did you look in the parts book, to see what parts they used on the different years and models? http://chevy.oldcarmanualproject.com/parts/1929_54/index.htm it's kind of tricky to use...first go to the Illustrations pages to find the Group number of the part you want, then go to that Group, and look up the part numbers by application. The models are listed near the beginning of the book, I think, so you can figure out what the letters mean.
All if the info in the thread is on 1/2 ton. Answering a thread last posted on 8 years ago is always risky as some of the folks who posted on it haven't been on the board for years. Studying a bit shows that 52 still had Huck brakes on 3/4 tons and larger and the 53 changed to Bendix across the line.
long ago an old Rod & Custom mag had an article on converting frt brakes on an AD truck to 53-4 chevy car. gaining Bendix brakes and 5 lug wheels. i had copies of the article but can't find them. maybe this will jog someones memory as to the issue.
Must have misread that 52 as a 53 last night. Chevs of the 40's sight confirms that 52 3/4 had huck brakes and that they changed to bendix in 53. I'm going to have to quit reading these things after midnight. Several sources show the same drums will fit/work on 3/4 tons Checking the Filling Station site that is usually pretty accurate says that the same rear drum actually will fit from 47 to 70 3/4 tons with 12 inch brakes. https://www.parts123.com/parts123/y...~S5S50OPYUR71481717451e~Z5Z5Z5~Z5Z5Z50000014x That drum looks exactly like this drum NAPA lists for the 54 3/4 ton. https://www.napaonline.com/en/p/NDA4401061?searchCategory=c3.s4&searchIndex=Universal The drum from O'Reillys shows the same specs https://www.oreillyauto.com/detail/...um/2009dgs/2546189/1954/chevrolet/truck?pos=0 Are the drum bottoming out on the backing plates before they seat on the hub or ?
Yes. I think the problem may be that the backing plate I got, although it fits an HO52 axle, it doesn't have the recess of about 1"inch, that the '53-59 might have. This plate fits but is only recessed about 1/4 inch. The drum you described "bottomed out" with about Ann inch to go. See the pictures. (Huck backing plate) I'm going back to the junkyard guys to see if they can get the correct backing plate. (If anyone here has them let me know!!
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