Brakes: Surprize found with front brakes

[Warren Webb]

Today I pulled off the L/F drum to inspect the brakes on the 3/4 ton Champ. At first I thought someone had changed them for another make. Then I went to the shop manual & found that the brake setup I have is for a 1 ton truck! It is shown in figure 24. When I looked at them at first I thought "these cant be any good-the wheel cylinder only applies to one shoe"-the forward one. The vin plate shows it as a 7E12-122 with a 7000 lb GVW which puts it as a 3/4 ton. Could have the original owner have ordered it with 1 ton brakes? Was that available? I've heard that Studebaker would do just about anything, could this be one instance?

[StudeRich]

That sounds like what is on my 7E-13 1 Ton alright, but it has '63 Brakes from the Factory, as it is a very late '62.
They are STARWHEEL ADJUSTED Bendix Type Wagner Brakes!

But my rears are 13 inch Drums with Dual Wheels, as you may remember from when we rebuilt the 289 Engine together.

With that type of "Weak" single piston Wheel Cylinder, it would take SERIOUS Rear Brakes to stop a Truck, mine has the Bendix Hydrovac.

[Studebakercenteroforegon]

No surprises here - 2E-8E models 10, 11, 12 (front & rear) and 2E-8E models 13, 14, 15 (front only) used the same brake shoes.

[Warren Webb]

That sounds like what is on my 7E-13 1 Ton alright, but it has '63 Brakes from the Factory, as it is a very late '62.
They are STARWHEEL ADJUSTED Bendix Type Wagner Brakes!

that type of "Weak" single piston Wheel Cylinder, it would take SERIOUS Rear Brakes to stop a Truck, mine has the Bendix Hydrovac.

Mine has the starwheel adjuster too. What got me was that single piston wheel cylinder. What first caught my eye was the single piston but the shoes are notched for a dual piston. This truck is a late 62 also being it has a full flow block but right now the brakes are my concern.

[Warren Webb]

Last Friday morning I dropped off my brake shoes at a relining shop in Riverside. When the owner took sight of the shoes his comment was "boy, I haven't seen these in a long time!" It's supposed to take 3-4 days for them to be done. When I questioned him on the use of the single wheel cylinder he said Ford did that too & his explanation of how it worked was the same as what I had read in the shop manual. In the meantime I ordered a new kit for the cylinders & a dual master cylinder kit from Jim Turner along with new stainless steel flex lines. I hope to have it all done by the weekend. Weather here has been comfortable" so I have to take advantage of it while it lasts!

[jclary]

If you would like an adventure in parts "surprises," try working on certain years of International Pick up trucks. The best way to own some of their vintage trucks is to own the assembly line paperwork. They were notorious for using batches of "lowest bidder" components and often switched during a production year while vehicles were traveling down the assembly line. I was once tasked with repairing a 1964 IH truck and found that at least four different steering gear boxes was used for that year. That truck also used the single cylinder front brake and the clutch was operated by a hydraulic slave cylinder.

They built some very tough vehicles, but you really had to stay on your toes to get the right parts.

[1961lark]

I can attest to that. I have 2 IH's, a 1959 3/4 ton 4x4 and a 1958 1/2 ton 2wd. I can tell you,you better have measurements and a part number when ordering parts. Like Studebaker, they would custom make your truck to your specifications. You want a truck with two cabs, one facing forward and one facing backwards? If someone asked, they might just have done it.