New brake cylinders don't fit (55 Special)

[special55]

Hey guys,

Any of you run into this?

I have new replacement rear wheel cylinders and when I went to bolt them on last night they didn't fit. The space between the "U" bracket at the top that the cylinder fits in is too narrow. I have two sets of new cylinders and both are too wide.

Here's a photo of the backing plate showning where the wheel cylinder won't fit.

As always any help is greatly appreciated.

Rich

[old-tank]

Rich

Probably the wrong cylinders. Check with NAPA...get a good counter man, not the internet.

Here are some numbers ==>NAPA or Raybestos...check Rockauto if no joy at NAPA on price or availability

WC7537 RF

WC7536 LF

WC13388 RR

WC13387 LR

Willie

[special55]

Thanks for the part numbers Willie,

The new cylinders are Tru-Torque purchased from Advanced Auto. Not sure if they have stores or not in your neck of the woods.

They atually have Raybestos, Wagner and Bendix part numbers on them. The Raybestos numbers match those in your response so I'm just thinking their manufacturing tollerances aren't that good or they try to do a "one fits many" application that isn't accurate enough.

Either way I will take a stroll on up to NAPA and take these with me to see if theirs are a bit thinner.

If not I'll just be rebuilding a couple.

Rich

[special55]

Willie,

You da man

The NAPA cylinders fit perfectly and cost less than 10 bucks each.

I'll have to return the others to Advanced Auto tomorrow and let them know they are not compatable with the part numbers they are cross referencing.

Oh well.

Thanks again,

Rich

[old-tank]

$10 is a good price...do they still have a lifetime warranty?

While the Raybestos wheel cylinders are good avoid their brake shoes.

you should not have the same fun with Raybestos that I did

[special55]

Hey Willie,

I'll have to check the paper work on the warranty. I was just happy to find a pair that fit.

I ended up having to get my rear shoes from Bob's. I couldn't find anyone local that carried the smaller width shoes for the Special model.

I hope I don't end up with the same problems you had. I just read your brake trouble thread and noticed you said "stay away from the old bonded shoes the riveted ones are ok". Mine new ones from Bob's are bonded.

I guess I'll find out in about 12 months

Thanks again for all your help,

Rich

[old-tank]

Rich

Newly bonded shoes are OK, but some very old bonded shoes that have had less than ideal storage for 50 years may detach. Try to match all your shoes material wise...check with Bob's for the front ones also. Alternately take you old shoes to a brake/clutch shop for new linings.

Willie

[Guest MV10]

While the rears are cheap, the fronts are not... I replaced all four of mine from NAPA and the fronts run about $57 each. At that price I was kind of surprised there was no core swap involved.

NAPA uses quite a few manufacturers for these. I don't remember the company names, but at first my fronts matched and my rears matched. But one of the fronts and one of the rears leaked after installation, and when I swapped them out, the new ones were different manufacturers -- so all four of mine are made by different companies.

A rebuild kit is only about $3 (new spring, bores, and cups) and works fairly well in an emergency, or if you have the time to mess with it (e.g. get the cylinder cleaned up right) and your parts aren't too badly corroded to start with. I rebuilt both of my fronts the evening after I bought the car, and the brakes went from literally non-functional to good-enough for the 950-mile drive home... but I still replaced them with new ones when I went through the rest of the brake system. At those price points it seems silly to cheap out on something as important as brakes.