Odd size brake replacement suggestions

[rambleonrose]

Getting our old Class C up and running again, and I've hit a brick wall with brake replacement.

It's a Chevy C30 van body, 16.5 rims. One of the back brakes is seized. We've called pretty much everywhere around, and no one wants to touch it because parts would be so hard to find (odd size, apparently....)

Has anyone bought their own parts and taken it to a shop before with any luck?

Also, any recommendations for searching for these?

[Grit_dog]

rambleonrose wrote:


This wouldn't surprise me. It's spring, and everyone is getting their rig ready to go.

I would consider whole wheels if the price were right. A quick search online for my sizes showed 115-130 per tire, x6. Not sure if I'm missing any info besides the numbers, like loading or anything, but that's the preliminary search. I've only worked on regular cars/trucks, so this is new turf for me.

Did they say the tires or brakes were "odd" sized?
Tires, pretty much anything you get will be a 8-10 ply load E tire.

Doing the brakes, most of us jack up a side and do one at a time.
If you got a bottle jack and a jack stand or wood blocks you can get it done.
If you run into trouble, there's old Chevy forums with guys that are still running these old rigs daily and have every piece memorized.

Presuming it's 14bolt FF axle, you'll have to remove the axle shaft and retainer nut to get the drums off. And if the shoes are in adjustment and there's any lip worn on the drum, you'll have to back off the brake adjusters to get the drums off. It's kinda heavy work, but not super technical. Plus I'm sure there's 10 YouTube videos on doing it, lol.
Probably the wheel cylinder is froze up. they are about $30 a piece. Shoes are about $30-40/pair and new adjusters and spring kits will be around $20 a wheel. If replacing the wheel cyl, flush fluid through until clean, like you're bleeding the brakes then remove the old wheel cylinders.
Good luck getting it back on the road, bud.

[lwbfl]

I'm confused why they consider that an odd size anyway. There are literally two choices in brake shoes. Both are normal stock at my local auto parts stores. The tires are not hard to find, heck both Wal-Mart stores near me have some in stock. I think they are just being lazy at those shops. You really can just use a floor jack, I took mine one at a time to the tire shop when I replaced them all.

[rambleonrose]

Grit dog wrote:
And I've taken my own parts to a shop before, no problem. Sometimes a shop will request I get the part "I want." Generally not stock parts though.
Sounds like the shop doesn't want your business either because they are full up or because they don't want a "project."
Which, IMO is a fair stance to take, if not hurting for work. When working on an old vehicle that someone isn't maybe prepared to spend alot of money on (getting an old van "up and running" vs rebuilding or restoring a classic vehicle), the shop sees it as a risk if they determine that a vehicle that isn't worth much, suddenly needs more work than the owner is willing to pay for given the value of the vehicle.
If you can be very clear in your communication and expectations, maybe have to put some money down on the work if the shop sees it as risky, you may be able to get the work done.

But I've gotten parts for and done brake work on 2 different 70s Chevy trucks in recent months.

This wouldn't surprise me. It's spring, and everyone is getting their rig ready to go.

I would consider whole wheels if the price were right. A quick search online for my sizes showed 115-130 per tire, x6. Not sure if I'm missing any info besides the numbers, like loading or anything, but that's the preliminary search. I've only worked on regular cars/trucks, so this is new turf for me.

[rambleonrose]

lwbfl wrote:

rambleonrose wrote:
Getting our old Class C up and running again, and I've hit a brick wall with brake replacement.

It's a Chevy C30 van body, 16.5 rims. One of the back brakes is seized. We've called pretty much everywhere around, and no one wants to touch it because parts would be so hard to find (odd size, apparently....)

Has anyone bought their own parts and taken it to a shop before with any luck?

Also, any recommendations for searching for these?

That's the best way to make sure you get the right replacement parts, take the old ones with you. People take the parts to their shop all the time, but it isn't any cheaper. I deliver parts from the store to the shop, they get a discount and charge you more than we do for the part. I had the same chassis, you'll be surprised how simple it is to fix yourself (but everything is heavy).

I'm not even 100% sure which ones to get. It's not like I can throw her up on a lift and pull off the tire. It would be infinitely easier if I could, and if I could, I'd just do my own brakes.


And I did call three different places, and got the same response (which, I'll add, I've gotten at auto repair places as well....) if their suppliers don't stock it, they can't get it. Yeah, sounds like a crock of **** to me, too, but if that's their policy, there's not much I can do about it.

As for the tires, two of the places said it would be easypeasy. If I were to get them myself, just a quick search looked fairly promising as well.

As this is a vehicle I've not worked on a lot (unlike my jeep, Beetle, etc) I feel like I'm flying a little blind when it comes to replacement parts. And being the ?th owner, there's definitely no manual of any kind.

Thanks for the input, though, I'm going to do some researching online, and maybe come back with a few Qs.

[Jarlaxle]

Rear brakes interchange on these vans from 1974-1996, and HD pickups use the same brakes, 1974-2000. Any part store should have shoes in stock.

[BurbMan]

What year is the MH?

[lwbfl]

rambleonrose wrote:
Getting our old Class C up and running again, and I've hit a brick wall with brake replacement.

It's a Chevy C30 van body, 16.5 rims. One of the back brakes is seized. We've called pretty much everywhere around, and no one wants to touch it because parts would be so hard to find (odd size, apparently....)

Has anyone bought their own parts and taken it to a shop before with any luck?

Also, any recommendations for searching for these?

That's the best way to make sure you get the right replacement parts, take the old ones with you. People take the parts to their shop all the time, but it isn't any cheaper. I deliver parts from the store to the shop, they get a discount and charge you more than we do for the part. I had the same chassis, you'll be surprised how simple it is to fix yourself (but everything is heavy).

[Grit_dog]

And I've taken my own parts to a shop before, no problem. Sometimes a shop will request I get the part "I want." Generally not stock parts though.
Sounds like the shop doesn't want your business either because they are full up or because they don't want a "project."
Which, IMO is a fair stance to take, if not hurting for work. When working on an old vehicle that someone isn't maybe prepared to spend alot of money on (getting an old van "up and running" vs rebuilding or restoring a classic vehicle), the shop sees it as a risk if they determine that a vehicle that isn't worth much, suddenly needs more work than the owner is willing to pay for given the value of the vehicle.
If you can be very clear in your communication and expectations, maybe have to put some money down on the work if the shop sees it as risky, you may be able to get the work done.

But I've gotten parts for and done brake work on 2 different 70s Chevy trucks in recent months.

[Grit_dog]

It's not that your shops cannot find the parts, they apparently just don't want to work on it.
Parts are readily available. 16.5" tires, not so much, or more accurately, they are more expensive than 16s and much less selection and availability.
If you need tires, I'd look for a newer set of dually takeoffs in 16" or 17" rims. They're very plentiful and reasonably priced.

[klutchdust]

Rock Auto. If anyone has what you need they should.