Help with completing mechanical certification, brakes and struts

[DieselDetroit]

Hello GMT400ers

I'd like to start by saying thanks for all the help many of you have provided me in my past questions. My truck has undergone a lot of work in the last month, and I am almost at a certify-able standpoint

I need to replace my rear shoes, passenger e-brake cable, and struts

I'm fairly mechanically inclined but am wondering if there are any hidden tricks? For example, and this is a little off topic, but I am looking for pointers like "you will need to remove your axle for this job" and whatnot, although I know it's not a requirement for what I am doing, I am just hoping to prepare myself for any special circumstances.

1) I do have a Haynes manual, but it has two different brake setups (duo-servo and something else), not sure how to determine which applies to me? I was also hoping to find the correct brake size? I have a light duty, 6 lug, 14B SF Rear end, diesel.

2) As far as struts go, I am not sure if i need a compressor for them, or if I can just unbolt and rebolt the new ones on. Seems simple enough.

3) The e-brake cable I feel should not be too difficult, possibly just route it back and disconnect everything I need to. I will do this when my brakes are all apart to ease the process


I am not very familiar with drum brakes and how they are adjusted. These are things I will rely on my manual. Also, if anyone can think of Any special tools? I have done drum brakes before with screwdrivers, pliers and other tools without using specialized separators.


Thanks!


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[polar]

Alright bear with me on this long post. It will help you a lot im pretty sure

To do rear shoes:
-Jack rear of the truck up
-Put something in front of the front wheels
-Take tires/rims off
-pry off rear drum
-replace the hardware and shoes one side at a time so you can use the other side as a reference
-I would replace wheel cylinders while you are at it, unless you dont want to bleed the brakes
-There is a little adjuster that is accessible from behind the rear dust cover that you tighten until there is a little drag when spinning the axle
-Put wheel back on

To do e-brake:
-take old cable out
-replace it
-adjust it(i dont know how to do that)

To do struts: if refering to shocks up front
-remove wheel
-jack it up
-undo bolts on bottom
-undo weird bolt top, you might need a special tool for it unless you can rig something up
-do the reverse to install

 

[DieselDetroit]

Thanks for the response, the struts are for the rear

I am wanting ti do the bare minimum as it is for a safety, so I am avoiding the wheel cylinders. will do one at a time, for shoes,

So to get this right, there is an adjustment for the eBrake and the brakes aswell?


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[great white]

Struts? You mean shocks right? Gmt400's don't have struts. For shocks, it just unbolt em and bolt on new ones.

There is no adjustment for a ebrake per se. The adjustment is part of the star adjuster inside the drum brake. Basically, you turn them until there is just the slightest brake drag. As in, you can hear it, not feel it. Some adjust it looser. Meh, to each their own.

The only other adjustment is a adjuster but on the intermediate cable. I just put a bit of tension in the cable and test it. More if it needs more hokding , less if its too tight. Really, it doesn't do much more than set your pedal travel.

Removing the e brake cable from the backing plate can be a bear. Some guys chop and hack at them. I just slip a box end wrench over the spring clips to compress them and the cable just drops out of its hole. You'll see what I mean when its apart.

When doing the brakes, only do one side at a time. That way you can reference the side not apart for how springs and clips are installed.

Make sure you be the leading and trailing shoes correct. One is short and one is long. Long goes to the rear.

Dual servo have two wheel cylinders per brake. Yours does not have two wheel cylinders per brake.



Good luck.

 

[98slv]

X2 about what Great White said. The park brake cable is where you'll have any issues, they make a special tool to remove them from the backing plate, but you could get away with a box end wrench. Connecting the cable to the arm is pretty close to impossible...

If you're having braking issues, I would do it all the first time. Drain your different fluid, remove axles and do wheel seals, replace your wheel cylinders, then you'll have to bleed your brakes and get the old water downed brake fluid out. This way you'll know you're good to go and it'll help you with your certification by making yourself do more work...


Good luck!

 

[great white]

X2 about what Great White said. The park brake cable is where you'll have any issues, they make a special tool to remove them from the backing plate, but you could get away with a box end wrench. Connecting the cable to the arm is pretty close to impossible...

If you're having braking issues, I would do it all the first time. Drain your different fluid, remove axles and do wheel seals, replace your wheel cylinders, then you'll have to bleed your brakes and get the old water downed brake fluid out. This way you'll know you're good to go and it'll help you with your certification by making yourself do more work...


Good luck!

Keep that master cylinder full if you intend to bled the brakes to change the fluid.

Air in the RABS/4WAL has been known to make grown men cry trying to get it out if they don't have access to a TECH II scanner to cycle the valves....

 

[thunderstruck]

Air in the RABS/4WAL has been known to make grown men cry trying to get it out if they don't have access to a TECH II scanner to cycle the valves....

RAGE!!

 

[DieselDetroit]

So a little update. I tried unfreezing my e brake cable with some penetrating fluid but no luck. It looks like it got kinked halfway and just seized up

I did change my shocks out. Wow that was a pain in the butt, the two 13mm bolts holding the top on under the box were a nightmare. I probably spent 1 hour on those bolts. I was fighting the bolt against the nut, rust and corrosion. The big bolt at the bottom was a sinch tho!

Will finish the job tomorrow. Pretty much a new rear end after all of this, including my frame work (if any of you saw my other thread)


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[eric.s.t]

You should have just cut the bolts off and put new ones in ... lol The brake line, looks like you might need a new one. I don't think their that pricey or even hard to replaced!

 

[DieselDetroit]

Not enough clearance to cut the bolt, and I don't have a spare

Plus, my 4" diameter grinder disc has shrunk to maybe 0.5" haha so I'm scared of it right now


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