Posted by Mark on May 11, 1999 at 10:59:20:
Today, when I dropped of my drums for refacing, I checked on the "parts kits" I had bought last year (sometimes I'm a little slow at getting around to these projects, a concept that is completely foreign to the rest of you folks, I'm sure). It seems that although my truck is considered by some to be a 1965 model (e.g., the VIN decoder on the 61-71 Dodge Truck Page indicates so; and, it was purchased in the latter months of 1964; and, it has a NP435 transmission, which supposedly became available with the 1965 model year), as far as the folks at Raybestos are concerned, my truck is a 1964. The kits I bought (i.e., H2538 (Left) and H2539 (Right) adjusters for self-adjusting brakes; and, H7139, which has all the springs, pins and two (2) backing plate access hole covers) are for 1965 (and later) trucks, with self-adjusting brakes.
Now for the problem: My supplier says that there are no kits available any longer for the pre-1965 brake configurations.
For all I know, the parts in the kit I bought may be applicable, but I hate to cut open the bag just to find out that they are not. Does anyone out there know where one can obtain kits for the older brake systems? HELP!
One other thing. Is it possible to "convert" my brakes to "self adusting", using the parts in the kit? Or, would I need a different backing plate, shoes, etc? I'm not sure I want to convert them, as someone out there in cyberland opined the other day that Dodge's "early" self adjusting brakes were not of particularly good design. Besides, for all the driving I do, jacking the truck up periodically and adjusting them manually is not much of a chore . . . hell, it helps cement the bond between "man and machine".
v/r Mark