Started on the brakes

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Well the head is still at the machine shop and the radiator is off being re-cored so I decided to see where I am with the brakes.  This  picture is of the driver’s side front wheel and hub.  That locking hub will have to go first.

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Hub is out of the way.  Under the hub was a round locking nut then a 2 1/16″ spindle nut.  I need to get a socket for that because I had a hell of a time getting them off.

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I backed the brake adjuster out all the way but the wheel still did not want to turn.  I eventually had to resort to using a puller to remove the drum.  This worked well.

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Well there is a problem.  That wire hanging down in the lower right of the picture is part of the adjusting mechanism.  That probably explains why I could not get the shoes to retract.

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The wheel bearings and drums look pretty decent.  The grease is old and hard so I will clean the bearings then repack them.  I will also clean up and measure the drums.  By the way this Jeep has 10″ brakes.  I am disappointed.  I hoped this car would have the newer 11″ brakes on it.  Not only do you get better stopping power but the parts are cheaper.  I was considering a disk brake upgrade but I am not sure it will work with the stock wheels.  I think I will stick with what I have for now, especially if I can salvage these drums.VT_20160507_162859   

The passenger side has a different locking hub on it.  Odd.  This one was more of a PITA because I could only use a socket for a couple of turns.  Then I was taking 6 bolts out with a box wrench.  In my parts box is another set of matching locking hubs.  I may switch to those soon.  On this wheel I could not get the brake adjuster to turn at all.  I might need to use my puller again.

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Or not.  This one came right off.  Because the brake shoes had fallen apart.  That also explains why this wheel would not turn.  The friction material probably stuck to the drum.  When we yanked the car out of long-term storage we probably ripped the friction material right off the shoes.  Eventually they got wedged in there and the wheel stopped turning.

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Brake line time!   This is the front brake tee fitting on the driver’s side frame rail just behind the radiator.  The brake line from the master cylinder is in great shape and came right out.  The other two were a little more stubborn.  I did not fool around and just hit them with a propane torch.  3 of the 4 fittings came loose.  The driver’s side line (the one coming out of the front of the fitting) was badly rusted and broke off at the lower end.  Both lines will be replaced anyway.

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Same drill on the rear axle.  Notice the rear tee fitting in the right picture.  That is being held on by the vent for  the axle.  Guess what I did here?

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If you guessed “broke off the fitting” then you are correct.  I am a moron sometimes.  I never thought about that vent not being very strong.  I just put a wrench on the brake line and pulled.  SNAP!  The only good news here is I was able to remove the broken off part of the vent with a screw extractor.  After some on-line surfing I think a current Jeep part (68017179AA) might be the same.

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Time to bend brake lines.  This the passenger side rear line.  It goes over the top of the differential and has some funky compound bends.  I got this one bent but it needs to be trimmed and flared.  I only got this line done because I was careless at the parts store and bought three metric brake lines instead of standard.  They were closed by the time I figured it out.  Two dumb mistakes.  Time to quit for the day.

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