C50 or C60 brakes ?
 

Ok, so I've started looking at a C50 or C60 to use as more of a hauler and gooseneck puller. My question is what do you all use for brakes? I'm looking for a late '60's to early '70's truck, and I see most (maybe all?) have what looks like a single cylinder master. Is it as easy(?) as swapping a dual master cylinder? If so, from what?
Also, disc brakes front didn't come on them from the factory then did they?

Re: C50 or C60 brakes ?
 

single master to feed the booster / duel master under the driver side cab on the frame was a lot of them .

never seen factory disk in the vintage you want .

and read up on CDL requirements for truck & trailer gvw totals . lots of states now cracking down on this stuff .

Re: C50 or C60 brakes ?
 

1967 and prior will have a a single master/booster on the firewall with 1 line feeding all 4 wheels.

68 to ~1980 will have 2 master cylinders, 1 on the firewall and 1 under the floor like sweetk30 said. Each master feeds 2 wheels.

Sometime in the early 80s, they started using the Delco-Moraine hydroboost. It bolts to the firewall like a traditional hydroboost and has dual outlets on the master cylinder.

According to the Rock Auto catalog, 1983 was the first year for disc brakes.

Most if not all c50 have juice brakes.

Most but not all c60 have air brakes

The 4 bolt pattern on my 1967 c50 firewall was the same as the bolt pattern on the hydroboost off a 2007 c5500 and a 2003 3500. It's safe to assume that any gm hydroboost will bolt to another firewall/truck from the 60s till at least 2011.

Re: C50 or C60 brakes ?
 

Thanks guys! exactly what I was looking for! So I'll probably be looking at '68 and newer c50s, just to have the brake setup I'm wanting. It should be possible to adapt '83 and up disc setup onto earlier ones?

and read up on CDL requirements for truck & trailer gvw totals . lots of states now cracking down on this stuff .[/QUOTE]

Yup. My regular drivers license allows combinations of up to 26000 gvwr. so I should be alright.

Re: C50 or C60 brakes ?
 

No reason to discount the 67 because you'll more than likely have to replace the entire brake system in any truck you buy. 80-90% of these old trucks for sale all say the same thing in the ad:

"runs good but no brakes"

Lol

Re: C50 or C60 brakes ?
 

Ya, trudat!

Also those same years had a C40 supposedly, which I've never heard of, nor seen.

Re: C50 or C60 brakes ?
 

A c40 is still a ton-and-a-half rated truck and will come with 20"(or the rare factory 22.5") rims. They are kinda rare but should do the job just as well.

I have ran my truck(1967 C50) with a revamped single cylinder brake system and have had other issues but nothing in the way of all-out failure.

The genuine need for disks is not really an issue from what I can tell, lotsa guys used these things very hard for many years without them, and the disk brake conversion fad seems to be more of a muscle car thing that founds it's way into the big truck world.

Re: C50 or C60 brakes ?
 

Yeah, medium truck drum brakes are more than adequate for hauling a gooseneck. The weak point is the old hydraulic and booster components.

I pulled a log trailer with no brakes hooked up (military air/hydraulic), and never had any problems stopping except one ridiculously steep forest road that I had to haul out of. My outfit was barely able to even get up there empty, alternately kicking rocks and grabbing all the way up that grade. Coming down loaded, it took everything I could do standing on the brakes to keep from over-revving the engine in granny low! Stopping was out of the question for about a half mile but fortunately I never met any hunters coming up the road.

Also pulled a 50' MH across the mountains. I did have the electric brakes all hooked up but I don't think they worked much if any. I just idled down the pass in second gear.

I think the medium duty disc brakes came about because of school buses. There were some tragic accidents where apparently inexperienced drivers let a bus get into neutral going down hill, instead of starting down from the top in the correct gear and just leaving the dang thing alone :(

Re: C50 or C60 brakes ?
 

I wouldn't rule out air brakes. My truck tried to squash me like a bug on the inside of the windshield when I was going through that learning curve.
I don't know your state law. Where I live if it's for personal use no cdl is required, no cdl needed for air brakes either. The second you start making money with it you're in violation of that law though.

Re: C50 or C60 brakes ?
 

Yeah, ya know, I grew up in farm country. Never paid much attention to the brake systems on any trucks, until they failed. But all those old overloaded trucks never seemed to have a problem stopping. Just be aware!

Re: C50 or C60 brakes ?
 

People knew how to drive back then.

Re: C50 or C60 brakes ?
 

Yeah, no joke!

Re: C50 or C60 brakes ?
 

My buddy has a 1966 C50 Flat Bed / Rack body, 283ci, and his entire braking system was lost is super storm sandy here in NJ. He cannot locate any brake parts to rebuild the system except shoes. He has booster under cab like most seemingly. He needs pretty much new everything. Lines are easy, but where can we buy brake parts for this truck?

Any help is appreciated.
Thanks!!