C
Charlie '64
Guest
Just a reminder to those of us with '63 & 64's with drum brakes. I have periodically checked the rubber hoses on my brake system and have even had them inspected by a shop as recently as a few weeks ago and they have seemed to be in good shape. The car started pulling during braking a few days ago and I decided to do a complete brake job, the first since I bought the car and decided to replace everything I could so I'd know what I had. While the linings were still in good shape and everything looked dry, I still decided better to go with new. I replaced the front wheel cylinders today and installed new rubber hoses. I was surprised to find some real serious cracks in the old hoses just above the metal connectors at the wheel end of the hoses, on the inside next to the backing plate. It's an area that's hard to see but the hoses stress there as they make the bend to line up with the brake line. I can't imagine these hoses were going to last much longer!! Obviously, my cursory inspections were not good enough, so just a reminder to look 'em over closely and often. A hose failure with these single system brakes is an immediate loss of braking and not a desireable occurance. Thanks to John Z and a few others who have addressed this issue in other threads and made me aware of this problem with these brake systems.
