C-20 Front brakes.

[Andy4639]

I tried finding the info on these and read all my manuals and in the end it was a matter of just getting my hands dirty!

The manuals are very vag and have like 10 different brakes they mention and nothing pacific about any of them!

FRONT BRAKES:

Anyway here is what I found out.
Taking a C-20 front brake hub off is just like taking a C-10 rotor off just a lot heavier!

You start by jacking the truck up and placing jack stands under it. Then take the center hub nut cover off it has a hex on it so just use a big set of channel locks mine wasn't even tight.
Then take the cotter key out of the castle nut and take the nut loose.
I didn't take it all the way off just in case I had to hammer the drum off which I didn't!
I then moved to the brake line. I took the rubber hose loose where it connects to the back side of the wheel cylinder and the hard line both. Much easier to take it off like this.
Ok then pulled the hub assembly all off. Brake shoes springs everything I took off.
Then took the 2-3/8 bolts loose that hold the wheel cyliner on the backing plate. It's a tight fit but it do able.
I then took a part the wheel cylinders and cleaned them all up good. I took some sand paper to the inside real lightly just to make them shiny again. Did the same to both of the push pins and plugs inside the cylinders. I bought the rebuild kits and reinstalled everything. I cleaned all the backing plate off good and put some anti sieze on the raised spots on it for the brake shoes to slide better.
Put everything back together and set the drag on the shoes with the star wheel so the hub assembly just does slide on.

[Andy4639]

As stated in the first post my hub slide right off so I didn't have to use a puller are hammer! I was very excited about that.
I decided to make it easier for me to remove the brake hose from both ends but if you want you can leave it connected to the W/C and it will come out with it.

The brake springs looked ok but the one spring that holds the star wheel keeper in place felt loose but after re assembly it felt fine. The hardest part for me was taking the wheel cylinder loose.

[Andy4639]

I took several pictures of the spring arrangement so I had any problems going back I would have a picture of it. No problem at all on the reinstalling part.

The wheel cylinder was a mess. There was grease and all kinds of junk inside of it. I took sand paper and lightly ran through it to clean it up good and a pick through the brake fluid holes to clean them out good also. I bought the rebuild kits and reinstalled them. You can see the difference in the parts before and after cleaning them.

[Andy4639]

Cleaning them up took some time but I hope it was worth it. I have to do the drivers side next weekend and then the rears. I was wanting new ones but nobody had them and Tuesday was the soonest I could get them. I couldn't leave the garage door up til Tuesday!

[Orange67]

Hi Andy, just curious- what year vehicle is this on? I looked but maybe I missed it. The reason I ask is I don't remember having to remove the hub to service my front brakes on my 67 C20, BUT it has been quite a few years, lol! Would they be different for different years? Really nice write up, btw! Great to have pics to reference.

[Andy4639]

You can see the difference in the parts after I cleaned them up good with a brush and some emory cloth. Then I cleaned the backing plate and relubed it so the shoes would slide better.
Put every thing back together and tightened the hub assembly. That's it. Hope it helps some you out who need to do this.

[Andy4639]

I went ahead and did the drivers side too! I got it all torn down and cleaned up. Will install tomorrow.
The wheel cylinders are 1-1/8 bore.