February 2, 2006

  • Well, with the good weather I finally got a start on the Diamond T brakes. Got it jacked up and the front wheels off....



    Got the hubs off, wheel bearings in good shape, a lot easier to dismantle than I thought.... found a broken brake spring, frozen wheel cylinders, and chewed up brake shoes....



    so after a trip to Lincoln Clutch and Brake, two new wheel cylinders, new brake hoses, relined the shoes, new brake springs, and a thorough cleaning and painting.....I started reassembling things......



    looks real nice all cleaned up, quite a simple brake system, acutually...



    Had new tires installed on the rims, so reassembled the front end and set it back down on its tires. Tried to start it so I could turn it around, but the starter decided to die, so....time to pull the starter for a rebuild....



    it will go to Fred's tomorrow, new brushes and bearings, maybe a new solenoid. Drive teeth looked good. So I decided to dismantle the rear end where it sat. Got it jacked up with a bottle jack, too heavy for the floor jack. Put a heavy duty jackstand under it, got the duals off, not as bad as I thought. Also removed the spare tire from it's carrier. Ancient, almost looked like a tractor tire....



    Now to try to get the drum off. I pulled the axle and stuffed it with a rag, that came apart easily. But the drum does not want to come off the hub, I pried on it for a while, tried loosening the adjusting nut, but got nowhere. So I need to get a manual on the way this brake system is assembled, see what I can do. It is an Eaton 2 speed, used on a lot of trucks, so it shouldn't be too terribly hard to find parts for....