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Took one drum off my 14bff and look what I found

franco802

1/2 ton status
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San Diego, CA
Glad I didn't just slap on this 14bff and try it on the road like some people said they would. I would of been up **** creek if I tried to drive with these.
What would make these brakes turn like this?? This is the first time I work on a 14bff. Hub seals??

14bff003.jpg
 
Yep hub seal is letting gear oil leak into the brakes. The cost of rebuilding that you might as well go disc it is almost the same price. I should have done that while mine was apart but I "did not have the money" and after I bought all of the stuff for the drums I had just as much in them as I would if I had gone disc.

Ira
 
franco802 said:
Glad I didn't just slap on this 14bff and try it on the road like some people said they would. I would of been up **** creek if I tried to drive with these.
What would make these brakes turn like this?? This is the first time I work on a 14bff. Hub seals??

14bff003.jpg

Or a lack of hub seals. :D
 
sandawgk5 said:
Yep hub seal is letting gear oil leak into the brakes. The cost of rebuilding that you might as well go disc it is almost the same price. I should have done that while mine was apart but I "did not have the money" and after I bought all of the stuff for the drums I had just as much in them as I would if I had gone disc.

Ira

Only reason i want to keep the drums is I don't want to have problems with the brakes. I hear some people don't have pedal, good stopping power, etc.. after converting to discs. Then there is the parking brake issue.
 
franco802 said:
Only reason i want to keep the drums is I don't want to have problems with the brakes. I hear some people don't have pedal, good stopping power, etc.. after converting to discs. Then there is the parking brake issue.

Looks like you don't have good stopping power even BEFORE converting to discs. :eek1:
 
On the spindle, the 2nd tier in, where the black smear is. Is that all oil/grease or is the surface burnt?:confused:
 
I don't have good braking power with them, so I'm seriously considering a disc swap for mine. There are some disc swaps that are set up for an E-Brake also. Just a thought. Until then, I have a 1 ton master that I'm going to install and see if that helps.

Did your seal give out, or is there a groove worn in the seal surface? When I bought mine, both sides had grooves worn in them.:eek1: I bought a set of spedi-sleeves from Napa to install on it. My dad and I built a tool to install it due to the length of the surface that we had to drive it over. If there is a groove and you have to do this, make sure you use a sealant (such as the orange silicone stuff) or it will leak again and you'll have to start over. It's been three years now and no leaks :saweet: :saweet:
 
BKinzey said:
On the spindle, the 2nd tier in, where the black smear is. Is that all oil/grease or is the surface burnt?:confused:

Nothing touches that surface, so it has to be just greasy mess.
 
I had one like that. New hub seal, brake shoes, brake cylinder (just in case) and turned the drums. Plus two cans of brake parts cleaner per side.
Works great now and great e-brake.

It was messy, but under $300 if I recall.
 
Goose said:
I had one like that. New hub seal, brake shoes, brake cylinder (just in case) and turned the drums. Plus two cans of brake parts cleaner per side.
Works great now and great e-brake.

It was messy, but under $300 if I recall.

It should be way under $300 and a heck of a lot less than a disc brake swap. Seal is about $5
Shoes (for a pair) $50
Turn drum .... well, with all that lube on it, it's probably fine! But not a bad idea. $20
Wheel cylinder, which has nothgto d withthat leak, but still not bad idea since you're in there $20

We have several trucks at work with the 14 Bolt Full Floating and Dana 70 axles. This is quite common. We keep a spare set of shoes and seals at the shop (same for 14 and 70). I've found that making sure you haven't overfilled the axle with gear lube helps prevent this.

Eric M.
 
Making sure your axle vent isn't plugged is a good idea, too.
 
I just finished my 14-bolt disk brake conversion and they work perfectly! Best money I ever spent, all in all with new rotors, calipers, brackets, SS brake lines and hardware cost around $400. My baby stops on a DIME! DO IT!
 
One of mine was like that, but it wasnt gear oil. One of the wheel cylinders was leaking and mixing with the brake dust.
 
go discs, they work great, save weight, what would you rather change later, a 50lb drum or a 3lb rotor...
 
My 14bFF on my '97 looked like that. I replaced the seal, it wrecked the new shoes within 2000miles. I replaced again, same deal. Finally I used one of those reddi-sleeves, and that worked like a charm.
Not saying you should reddi-sleeve it straight off, but if the spindle looks chewed, you might want to consider it. Also if you do it once, and it still leaks, even if the spindle looks perfect (like mine did), it may need sleeved.
 
73k5blazer said:
My 14bFF on my '97 looked like that. I replaced the seal, it wrecked the new shoes within 2000miles. I replaced again, same deal. Finally I used one of those reddi-sleeves, and that worked like a charm.
Not saying you should reddi-sleeve it straight off, but if the spindle looks chewed, you might want to consider it. Also if you do it once, and it still leaks, even if the spindle looks perfect (like mine did), it may need sleeved.

Good advise. I should look into those. Where do you get Reddi-Sleeves?

Thanks,

Eric M.
 
Nothing is fried on the spindles. Just grease everywhere.

Does anyone have the part numbers for the seals i will need to put this back together?
 
I'd just douse the thing in brake cleaner , replace the wear items and seals , and go wheeling .

No sense in buying hard parts when its wearable parts that went bad .
 
Eric M. said:
It should be way under $300 and a heck of a lot less than a disc brake swap. Seal is about $5
Shoes (for a pair) $50
Turn drum .... well, with all that lube on it, it's probably fine! But not a bad idea. $20
Wheel cylinder, which has nothgto d withthat leak, but still not bad idea since you're in there $20

We have several trucks at work with the 14 Bolt Full Floating and Dana 70 axles. This is quite common. We keep a spare set of shoes and seals at the shop (same for 14 and 70). I've found that making sure you haven't overfilled the axle with gear lube helps prevent this.

Eric M.

I agree ,

i rebuilt the hubs on my 14bff with new seals, pads, drums turned,
and bearings for about $ 160
 
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