1953 Dodge 1/2 ton pickup

[david hill]

When back to my last place of employment today. [ Yes I'm retired] The building has 5 stalls and in there being repaired was a 1953 Dodge pickup. Was in there for brakes and electrical repairs. The brakes on the rear sported 2 wheel cyls per side. The problem seams to be getting the air bled out of the rear brakes and proper brake shoe adj. I hope one of our fellow members can provide me w/ the details on how to do this. My former boss always treated me well and I want to help him out. I don't have any shop manuals to cover this. PDF files on this would really help. Thanks.

 

[Big_John]

Poke around here for help. P15-D24.com and Pilot-house.com

 

[david hill]

Poke around here for help. P15-D24.com and Pilot-house.com

I will thanks Big John

 

[livininharrow]

wow interesting. the only way i could see doing the bleed would be a gravity feed with the top bleeder open. i would put a small hose on the top bleeder up about 6 inches. hopefully the air will come out eventually. then you can bleed in the conventional way. just my thoughts.

 

[david hill]

wow interesting. the only way i could see doing the bleed would be a gravity feed with the top bleeder open. i would put a small hose on the top bleeder up about 6 inches. hopefully the air will come out eventually. then you can bleed in the conventional way. just my thoughts.

Any input on how to adj the rear brakes

 

[Davea Lux]

Only worked on one of these, they were a major pain to bleed. Brake fluid under pressure hooked with a hose to the lower open bleeder screw. Open the upper bleeder and the pressure will fill the lower cylinder with fluid as air is forced out the upper bleeder screw. When clear fluid runs out of the upper screw, close both bleeder screws. You should then be able bleed the brake line to the affected wheel by reopening the upper bleeder screw as the brake pedal is depressed. Might take more than one try. This method is messy and time consuming but will eventually work. Hopefully somebody else found a better method.

Dave

 

[Davea Lux]

Any input on how to adj the rear brakes

The blade screw on the bottom and top of the backing plate is the adjuster, it has an adjusting cam on the other end that engages the brake shoe. Loosen the lock nut and turn the blade until the brake shoe starts to engage the brake drum, starting with the lower unit. Repeat on the upper and the brakes should then be adjusted.
With this style adjuster, one end of the shoe is fixed by the adjuster and the wheel cylinder swings the other end of the shoe into contact. The big hex nut at the center of the backing plate is also a cam adjuster, this sets the position of the top half of the brake shoe. Adjust until the shoe just starts to contact the drum.

Dave

 

[73Coupe]

Here is a link to the shop manual, in the "Pilots knowledge section" of the DPETCA website.
Scroll down to get to the 1953 B-4-B shop manual, browse other manuals and data too:

Pilot-house Truck Knowledge

or just go directly to the shop manual:

Truck Manual

Here's a photo of the rear stock brake setup. It's pretty simple. From what I remember you bleed the lower first, it's really easy.

Very important to make sure that the steel line between the cylinders will not be scraped in the least bit by the back of the rivets on the drum!!!! It must be well clear! Sometimes it can get tweaked upon tightening and end up bent outward. I almost learned this the hard way had I not inspected them in time.

Hope this helps!

 

[Davea Lux]

Any input on how to adj the rear brakes

These style brake adjusters are a throw back from the 1930's. The Dodge Brothers were among the first car companies to use hydraulic brakes. On their cars, they used double acting, slotted brake cylinders. The lower part of both brake shoes was adjusted with the cam style adjusters similar to the ones used on this pickup. The upper part of the shoe had another cam that was hooked to a spring loaded bolt that held the upper cam in place (some of the time). The wheel cylinders would then float out until they came into contact with the brake shoe. This arrangement eliminated a lot of the brake pedal travel so common on many of the early hydraulic brakes since the wheel cylinder did not have to move very much.

For some reason known only to the Dodge Brothers, they used a very different braking system on their older trucks. The trucks were mostly equipped with single acting wheel cylinders (ie one piston) that had a fairly long throw. They had one single acting slotted cylinder at the top and one at the bottom and one cam adjuster at the top and one at the bottom. They also had a center cam that adjusted the tops of the brake shoe. Photo above gives good detail. Thanks '73 Coupe.

Dave

 

[david hill]

When back to my last place of employment today. [ Yes I'm retired] The building has 5 stalls and in there being repaired was a 1953 Dodge pickup. Was in there for brakes and electrical repairs. The brakes on the rear sported 2 wheel cyls per side. The problem seams to be getting the air bled out of the rear brakes and proper brake shoe adj. I hope one of our fellow members can provide me w/ the details on how to do this. My former boss always treated me well and I want to help him out. I don't have any shop manuals to cover this. PDF files on this would really help. Thanks.

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Thanks to everyone who replied. I now have the info I need to help tame the beast. I have found we have the BEST information base around and a solid member base par excellence. A big thank you to Dave Lux, Big John, 73 Coupe, livingintheharrow, mobileparts