48 CJ2A Repairs

[aggie4life]

So I finally got my family's old Jeep in Lockhart with me. I figured I might as well post a project thread. It runs and drive so that's not a major issue. My first job will be brakes. The brakes practically don't exist. You have to put the pedal all the way down and then push to get any braking.





The First two pictures are of current state. Ill throw in some older pictures for good measure

[colman]

you will need a hub puller tool to get the rear drums off. I have one in houston you can borrow if you make it down here. at 290 and 610

[aggie4life]

you will need a hub puller tool to get the rear drums off. I have one in houston you can borrow if you make it down here. at 290 and 610

Thanks for the offer. I am going to see if I can source one a bit closer. If not ill be in contact.

[Sharpe]

Pretty cool. I have a 50 M38A1 that's probably in the least ****ty condition out of everything I own. Are you looking to just fix the stock brakes or upgrayedd to disks?

[aggie4life]

Pretty cool. I have a 50 M38A1 that's probably in the least ****ty condition out of everything I own. Are you looking to just fix the stock brakes or upgrayedd to disks?

I just want to fix the stock brakes. Eventually I would like to do a full restoration, but that's not in the cards right now. Guess this a good time to give a small update.

I got the front hub taken off

Now I need to purchase a spindle nut socket and the front should come apart.




For the rear I also need to purchase a socket my largest is 1 1/4 and I think this is 1 7/16.

I just ordered a hub puller off amazon. It was the cheapest I could find. I figure it was just a good tool to have in the future if I ever want to get into the axle.

[85cj7]

Use a chisel for the front bearing nut. Place the chisel on the outer left edge of the nut and give it a few good whacks with a hammer to get it spinning. Once it is loose it with unspin by hand. You can also tighten the nut this way. There really isn't a need to torque the nut to spec.


Can you use a crescent wrench on the rear hub nut? I assume that it is a threaded two-piece shaft as well? I think these things have some crazy torque put towards them so an impact and socket may be in order.....or a large breaker bar.

[aggie4life]

I knew that I needed to take a look at my air setup, because my 1/2 craftsman impact would not spin off lug nuts, but now I need to. I cant get the damn rear axle shaft nut off. Torque spec is 150 FT/LBS. I have tried breaker bar with the handle for my floor jack and i got nothing. I have a 8 gallon compressor and a 3/8 air hose, but the line is really cheap. I sometimes hear air leaking from the quick connections on compressor. I am going to pick up all new quick connects and a 1/2 hose tomorrow after work.

Also the front socket that I ordered from amazon was supposed to be here today, but the package got damaged in transit. Amazon has ordered a replacement and gave me 1 day shipping. The hub puller is still supposed to be here today.

[Sharpe]

If you're replacing your quick connectors anyway, order all new Milton connectors. They sell them on Amazon and they are far and away better quality than you get at Lowes or HD. I had the same issue with hoses leaking from the connectors until I swapped them all out, now I don't have a single leak.

[Sparling]

+1 for what Sharpe said, I use Milton qc fittings. You also might look to see what pressure your compressor is regulated at and bump it up some. I've run my impact at some pretty high pressures at my brothers house to make up for ****ty hose and leaks.

[aggie4life]

Driver Side


Passenger Side


I got some fittings at the local True Value(I didn't want to wait for shipping), the leaks stopped, but impact would still not bust them lose. So back to breaker bar and cheater pipe. I sprayed the nuts down with Carb Cleaner(its all i had) yesterday Guess it worked. It was still a pain in the ass, but I can proudly say I didn't bust my knuckles.

On another note: I hope the typing response into the forum is better now that i fixed some bugs.

[aggie4life]

SUCCESS

Driver Side Rear


Driver Side Front


Passenger Side Front


Passenger Side Rear


What I notice is PSF has NO braking material left.
Not sure why the rear bearing stayed in place for PSF, but not DSF.
I think I am going to replace all the shoes, might do the wheel cylinder as well.
Does any one else see something I need to take care off?

[bcolman]

make sure to repack your bearings while you have it apart

[85cj7]

Clean the roller bearings really well and check for signs of pitting on the rollers and races. If they look good then re-pack them with wheel grease, if they look pitted at all, replace them. You might also want to replace all the drum hardware including the springs and hold down pins. I know fighting old rusty springs and bent pins sucks and a complete replacement kit should be pretty cheap.

[Seth]

Yeah, do more now while you have it apart. Penetrating lube and heat will be your friend on old rusty stuff. Drums ok? Turn?

Cool rig!

Im not positive they are better, but if you shop by bwaring number, you can usually get new us (timken, etc) usa bearings.

Also, im a milton man too, but dixon makes good stuff too.

[aggie4life]

Just want to give an update.

I have everything back together now. Just need to adjust the shoes within the drums. I replaced the following
Brake shoes
Wheel cylinders
Most of the hard and soft lines
Master cylinder
All adjuster pins
All Springs
Rear drums and hubs.
I also put in new shocks. They were well worn. Also I hated that they were blue.

Left Rear

Left Front

Right Front

Right Rear


I repacked all the front bearings. All surfaces looked good. The rear are apparently a pain to get out and I needed to get it rolling again since I am moving in march. So I left the rear bearings in.

Left Rear

Left Front

Right Front

This picture looks dark, But its about as clean as the other side.
Right Rear


I had to replace the rear drums and hubs because the both hubs were bent and pushing out the studs requires some special process.
More info about that can be found on page 11 http://www.caloundracity.asn.au/Jeep...rakes101_1.pdf. The studs hold the hub and drum together.

I also had to cut down my 19mm offset wrench to get between the lower brakeshoe adjuster and the lower king pin bolts.




Overall I am pretty happy with the work. Next project will be replacement springs. The ones that are on it now are flat and stiff as a rock. I don't expect it to ride nice but anything would be better. I have an extra Master Cylinder and some lugs reverse threaded lugs with spines that were to short. If anyone wants them ill be willing to part with them pretty cheaply.