66 C20 HO52 rear end questions - The 1947 - Present Chevrolet & GMC Truck Message Board Network

earl84 · 10-12-2012, 07:40 PM

Long time, very intense lurker on this amazing board, first time poster. So many great guys and girls on here and so much knowledge and the way it is freely shared is awesome.
I finally took the plunge and bought a project truck. It is a semi-decent condition 66 C20 fleetside long bed truck with a smooth running 350, not sure of the transmission, but it's a 4 speed with granny low. The brakes are not working at all. I just got it home today on the tow truck and started looking at a few things. I should have got some pictures, dang it. Now it's cleaned up on the outside, inside tomorrow. Hoping to catch the mouse I saw tonight, I set a few traps.
Master cylinder is completely dry, so maybe that's all it is, but thought it would make sense to look at all 4 wheels. Pulled the front drums and it looks like the wheel cylinders are shot on both sides, lots of dried up fluid mess in there. Wanted to pull the back and take a look also, but not real sure on how difficult it is to pull the axles back there. Seems sort of straight forward, just remove the 8 outer bolts and pull the axles out. I have never done this before, so I guess the first question (after all this rambling) is what do I need to watch out for? Do I just slide the axles out, take off the nut holding on the hub and then get to the brakes? Then repair the brakes and slide it all back in? Is anything in the differential gonna fall apart? Do I need to make sure it goes back in exactly the same position or just sorta push and turn until it slides into place?
I am kind of thinking of just buying all new drums, wheel cylinders, hardware kit, rubber lines, using the old steel lines, and while I am at it doing the splitting of the lines using a new master cylinder with front and rear ports as written up by ChiefRocka using a 67 C10 master cylinder and new lines. It's amazing how inexpensive this stuff is.
My thought with the truck is to just get it on the road and enjoy it for a little while and then start modifying it a little into a Home Depot hauler.
Can anyone help me with the axle questions? Any thoughts on the brake parts replacement?

10-12-2012, 07:40 PM	#1
earl84 Registered User Join Date: Aug 2011 Location: Montrose, CO Posts: 972	66 C20 HO52 rear end questions Long time, very intense lurker on this amazing board, first time poster. So many great guys and girls on here and so much knowledge and the way it is freely shared is awesome. I finally took the plunge and bought a project truck. It is a semi-decent condition 66 C20 fleetside long bed truck with a smooth running 350, not sure of the transmission, but it's a 4 speed with granny low. The brakes are not working at all. I just got it home today on the tow truck and started looking at a few things. I should have got some pictures, dang it. Now it's cleaned up on the outside, inside tomorrow. Hoping to catch the mouse I saw tonight, I set a few traps. Master cylinder is completely dry, so maybe that's all it is, but thought it would make sense to look at all 4 wheels. Pulled the front drums and it looks like the wheel cylinders are shot on both sides, lots of dried up fluid mess in there. Wanted to pull the back and take a look also, but not real sure on how difficult it is to pull the axles back there. Seems sort of straight forward, just remove the 8 outer bolts and pull the axles out. I have never done this before, so I guess the first question (after all this rambling) is what do I need to watch out for? Do I just slide the axles out, take off the nut holding on the hub and then get to the brakes? Then repair the brakes and slide it all back in? Is anything in the differential gonna fall apart? Do I need to make sure it goes back in exactly the same position or just sorta push and turn until it slides into place? I am kind of thinking of just buying all new drums, wheel cylinders, hardware kit, rubber lines, using the old steel lines, and while I am at it doing the splitting of the lines using a new master cylinder with front and rear ports as written up by ChiefRocka using a 67 C10 master cylinder and new lines. It's amazing how inexpensive this stuff is. My thought with the truck is to just get it on the road and enjoy it for a little while and then start modifying it a little into a Home Depot hauler. Can anyone help me with the axle questions? Any thoughts on the brake parts replacement?



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