Technical 1959 Chevy Truck Suspension, Axle and Brake Project

Very small installment today...

I was fully prepared to go to war with these things today. Had my war paint on and everything. After I got the first nut half a turn the darn things started spinning off by hand. Lucky, lucky and the bearings? They look nice and greased and round. I was expecting a nightmare like when I was breaking down the donor.




Donor is the nasty one on the bottom. So thank you to the previous owner who greased the heck out of my springs.

 

Another tiny update my original replacement shock mount came in and my second set of jack stands.



Now to start scraping and prepping for a little chassis paint.

 

New draglink came in and it is thicker and has a beefier web than the original. Tested for fit and size and the new one will work. I was going to clean up the old one and re-use but since there is no way to get into the ball area I decided to replace. Unfortunately there will be no way to powder coat this new one so I need to paint it.

 

I have 16" stock wheels on my '56 panel to take up some wheel well room (215/85lt16). I did have the 4.5" wide ones and converted them to 6" wide. I'm thinking of doing the springs soon so your posts will help....thanks and keep it up!.

 

Thanks 1oldtimer,
I am really glad this will help someone. Were you able to find someone to re-hoop the old wheels or did you replace with different rims?

 

There was just enough time to remove the pass side shock hanger. I am not excited by what I saw behind it. The frame has a slight thinning behind the hanger. I don’t know if it shows in the picture but it is about as thick as a fingernail.
The coffee grain looking crud is either rust or brake dust I guess?

My truck always had a wonky lean and now I have my answer... Driver side had no axle shim, pass side shock was 1/2” higher than the driver side.


I am now considering grinding out the rivets on the driver side shock hanger and drilling a hole on the bottom of the pockets so they can’t hold any crap.

 

I had two used rims made into one at a wheel shop. The Chevy wheel is pretty easy to undo at the rivets, the Ford needed to be cut out. Good news is if you wanted to use a stock 16" you can use a car one (16x4.5) for the center, the truck 16x5 3 clip are hard to find especially cheaply.

https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/they-call-me-panelman.1099578/page-3#post-12913625

 

I picked up two fully dressed front and rear axles left over from MII upgrades. Some guys are happy to sell this stuff reasonably. I still look on occasion and find reasonably priced axles. I wish I could find a shop willing to hoop me some spares.

 

Driver side shock hanger is out. Armed with my $9 titanium nitride high speed drill bits, hammer, dull chisel, a drift, and a good YouTube video. I started by making an “x” in the center of the rivet with the dull chisel. I then stepped bit by bit until 5/8” stopping just shy of the hanger. I drilled in the center of each hole through the hanger and a little past the frame stepping up bit by bit to 1/4”. I sprayed oil each time to keep the crappy bits cool. I didn’t go past 1/4” second time around to keep my holes safe.

Next I used the dull chisel to pop off the rivet heads and free the hanger.

Bunch of dirt stuck back there and on the hanger. The holes of the hanger were untouched by the drill but a little marred by the chisel nothing terrible.

Next I took the drift which had a 1/4” head and pounded out the rivets. Thankfully the frame holes were not damaged by the drill. There is about 1/16th dish in the frame behind the hanger. Though not terrible I sure am glad I popped this thing off so I can get that cleaned and sealed up.


After a cleanup with the chisel and the wire brush I can see why these things break on the frame line.



They are pitted the worst at that point. In the spirt of doing it the the right way I need to get these things cleaned up really good and fill them with some good weld

In case anyone has to deal with a similar issue or if your mounts need to be repaired... These grade 8 fasteners were at Home Depot 6 bolts, nuts and lock washers for about 10 bucks. The 3/4” long is perfect length and diameter is perfect fit for the hole. If you’re dealing with the spring hangers get the 1” long.

 

Cleaned up the spring hangers and more discoveries. The inside facing flanges on both sides are worn. There is at least 1/8” circular groove on the drivers side, 1/16” on pass side. I’m kinda on the fence with these. I may throw in a nice washer and call it good.

Have any of you who replaced your springs seen anything this bad? Anyone think I am making a mistake by not filling with a weld or replacing completely?

 

Next up get the brake lines and master out... oil has got me a long way with this deconstruction. The original clutch head bolt and square nut were holding the front line to the frame. Some Gibbs went a long way as they came out without a fight. Same with all the connections the brake pedal and the master.

Brake pedal nut broken free.


This sucker has paid for itself and then some.

A shot of the brake pedal, it presses into the lever and then tightens down.

The two larger bolts broke really easily. The smaller one holding the pedal bracket was a pain and needed an over night soak. It was partially stripped the first try.

After stripping lines back to the master I started comparing lines.

This is stainless steel line that is “supposed” to be exact original replacement and it wasn’t cheap but after about 20 minutes of tweaking I made it work.
Poor quality work from a “reputable” USA company .

 

Everyone I have ever seen looks identical, I think they were machined that way from the factory.

 

Thanks Swade41,
I will probably just leave them for now.

 

I am making every excuse not to have to scuff and prep...


1-1/4 x 3/16 flat stock from Home Depot

Aggressive wire wheel, some metal trimming and a review of where these suckers are weak.

Next some more wire wheel a quick blast then Mrs Lincoln will melt some metal for me. With any luck these will never break.

 

I started to clean that frame but there was too much stuff in the way on the back side. I will do what I can reach and leave the rest for when I have access. In the mean time I started working on the front to master brake line. I had to temporarily mount the bracket in and the prop valve. The instructions didn't have pictures and I had a little bit of a hard time. This is how it goes for the rest of you visual learners.


Those nuts on the left in the last picture are not needed on my truck since there are captured nuts in my frame. I just put them there so as not to lose the bolts.

I had to bend the original style replacement line to get everything right. I removed the flat bend after the rear hump. The line went straight down after the hump then got a 90 degree bend at 5" from the rear of the hump bend. I then slid the line into place on the frame. I did not like the way the line was bent on the 90 as it was a little flat in the middle. I did 4 - 45s to get the 180 to the front line outlet. Originally the line would have gone behind the bracket then tee-ed up with the master to rear line and out to a third line from tee to the rear of the master cylinder (see pictures in previous posts). Luckily I got it just about right clearing the emergency brake line, not kinking badly while still making the required turns. The hardest part was the last series to make the 180 needed to be done in place. Since exhaust, trans and e-brake cables were there it would never fit and bend and try would have been impossible.

For the sake of anyone else doing this I marked up what I did with the original brake line as a reference. The redline is how I did it. If I had an automatic trans things might have been a little different since the trans mount would not be in the way. One other thing to look forward to is that the master no longer lines up with the fill hole. I will take a page from Jay59Chevy's book and use a ford floor cover when the time comes.

 

Just some protection because the shock hangers will be fixed prepped and painted next week and things will start coming back together. I used the twisted wire wheel from HF attached to a grinder. It cleaned the rust pocket nicely.

This isn't the end, I really need to clean that frame up. For now this is good for me.

 

Not huge progress but progress anyway. Shock hangers and supports blasted/prepped for welding.


I figured that black stuff was brake dust that rusted on. It was, I should have pounded it off as it made a mess when it melted.

The metal was so thin when I went to fill weld it, it started melting out the front. I ground and prepped for the support.



All cleaned and flattened out, not a pro job but those welds penetrated for sure.

I knocked out the brake pedal and the hanger since I had access to the blaster.

 

I really don’t like paint prep, but it does look great when stuff is nice and shiny.

 

Front spring through frame hanger points degreased and threads cleaned. I made a handy tool out of an old spring hanger bolt to do the thread clean up. The frame needs to be prepped and painted before the springs go on.


Next the brake hoses were fed through the frame. The frame clip was too thick so it needed to be squashed. I mangled the adaptor and stripped one brake hose. The threads are 7/16-24 and the adaptor I was using 7/16-20.

After getting the correct adaptor the remaining hose was installed on the driver side. The adaptor is required to get the original brake block to mate up with the new brake hose. The brake block was cleaned and degreased needing new washers. The old ones should work but why chance it?

The block is no longer produced and there might be better options but this was easiest. I am using original style brake lines that fit in the block without adaptors. I used Dorman Help copper washer/gaskets as replacements. The rear mess of crusty brake lines were removed and full of black crud. It is a wonder that this truck stopped at all. At this point all of the 1/4” line has been fed through the frame awaiting permanent attachment.

That rear line is resting on the park brake line but that is temporary until the master cylinder is in. I have a feeling that may need to bending and tweaking to work.

 

Front spring hanger area prepped and painted. Brake block and brake lines connected and tightened together.

Shock hangers installed and boy was that a pain in the butt. There is minimal space to turn and wrench and nothing else will fit at the back.

Master bracket torqued down to 75lbs. Brake pedal bracket greased and installed. Brake actuator? installed and torqued down to 36lbs. See the picture for correct hardware sequence on the actuator. If you can’t tell there is a lock washer then a washer on the left side (wish the instructions had pictures).

The return spring needed to be bent so I could get it around the brake pedal bracket. It was bent back once a channel lock helped get it on.

No matter how hard I tried I could not get this picture right side up.

Installed the brake pedal and a fresh new pad.

Starting to look like a suspension belongs again.

 

Quick review in case anyone is using original style brake lines. All 4 hoses will be 3/16-24 then you will need (2) 7/16-24 to 3/16-24 adaptors to connect the original brake block on the driver side and the brake line on the passenger side to the hoses. Next the lines both connect through the 7/16-24 fittings on the brake block. The line then routes to the combination valve where you need another 7/16-24 to 3/16-24 adaptor to get the line screwed in to the front port

To the rear the 7/16-24 line connects to the rear of the combination valve. The line runs to the differential where it connects to a rubber hose (ACDelco 18j3815 or Raybestos BH4497). The line will fit into hose and the hose will fit into the distribution block. The distribution block then reduces to 3/16-24 and the original rear lines fit right in. Those rear lines need a loop put into the ends to allow for the hoses to go from the line connection to the calipers. The lines will also connect directly to the hoses. The original lines have front hoses that are 1/4 and the rear that are 3/8.

 

Good move on the shock mounts. They should be either flat on the backside or have a drain. I'm going to have to do the hanger bushings soon, it clunks from side to side when I turn corners semi quickly.

 

I was thinking it was a little overkill with the support being thicker than the mount but those suckers won’t break now!
I think I saw bushings in the Dorman Help! Section when I was looking for crush washers

 

I was a little overzealous and attempted to do a second coat in the Front-Front spring mount area last night. I really wanted to get those Super Slides in today. When I went back today the second coat was all crinkled... don’t paint with an open garage door when it is 30 outside. It hasn’t been a problem because I normally have a heater running in there but it was literally 5 seconds on each side and I didn’t think I needed it. Lesson learned!

Everything I can’t get to after the rebuild was painted twice. My replacement brake line and adaptor came in for the passenger side so I installed them. Next I attempted to install my Super Slides. The Front-Rear hangers needed to be filed down to allow the leafs to enter. There was that worn area I wish I would have checked before I painted. The area is going to be covered in grease so no chance of rusting anyway. I also had to clean the threads before I could get the new bolt in. After that they slid right in. Front-Fronts went in without much excitement. I also spent a few minutes adding in the shock hanger bolts.


Maybe tomorrow morning I can roll the axle under there...

 

Progress is progress. I resemble that painting when it was too cold thing.

 

Great build thread just read through the whole thing, I’m about to do just about the same to my ‘66 GMC C10, great read and very interesting reading keep up the good work


Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

Don’t we all !!

 

Thank you! I noticed your thread, I read through looking forward to your progress. Did you get wheels figured out yet? Our rear diffs are the same size if yours is original. I don’t know if your wheel wells are the same on the back but...
My rims are originals that were hooped to 7” front and 8” rear using original back spacing on 235/75R15 wheels. My front wheels just clear the tie rod ends by about 1/2” and my rear wheels have about 1/2” clearance on either side. Though I have not had the truck on the ground with the super slides and that wheel size may have to change.

***Edit to wheel size****

 

BIG picture day...

Apologies for upside down and sideways shots. The pictures are all right side up when posting but the app likes to mess with them.

****If anyone knows the torque numbers to be incorrect or unsafe PLEASE let me know. There are all sorts of crazy numbers every where on the internet.****

Last night I gently rolled the new suspension under those springs.

This morning I torqued my front-rear spring pin bolts to 80lbs ft, the nuts to 65lbs ft. Front shackles got torqued to 30lbs ft. I then lifted the new axle to meet the springs and assembled. I torqued the U-bolts to 30lbs ft on both sides. From there I incremented 20lbs at a time up to 110lbs ft in a criss cross pattern.

That little shim above the lower shock hanger is the sway bar mount. Brake hoses need to be turned about 1/2 a turn on both sides to make a natural bend to meet the calipers. I didn’t grease anything or install the drag link. I wanted to mount the wheels and see how she sat. I had an original wheel on the passenger side before. I had to break it down and mount the tire on the new rim because the old rim was hitting the caliper by a lot


Then I went ahead and mounted them up.




I torqued the lugs in a cross cross pattern to 70lbs ft. There is still a decent amount of room between the wheel and the pitman arm. If you go back to middle of page 2 I tried getting the same shots.





You can definitely see how much she dropped now looking at the bump stop. She now has a rake and semi full wheel wells.


Last I need to prep, paint and install the drag link. Wait a few days measure and buy the new shocks. Then bench bleed/install the master cylinder, combination valve, properly connect all the lines and give them all a good bleed... then a shakedown run.

 

Nice documentation.