An Invite To All Duramax Drivers
 

I would like to invite all you Duramax drivers out there to spend some time in the Cummins areas of this board. The advantage of having a combined brands board like this is that we can learn things from each other. This won't happen if we all only follow our own brands. I already have GM rear brake parts on my truck because they work better and I know that there are many other things that we can find similar to this.

At the same time I hope your not offended if we jump into your conversations once in a while so that maybe we can share some of the Cummins strong points for you to think about or just to ask questions to keep ourselves informed. I'm here to learn new things and share what I have already learned. That is something common to all the sites out there, what makes this site special is that we are here to do it with all the brands.:c:

I have GM resar brake cylenders on my 01 Dodge and it helped the braking power by maybe 25-30%

Also some Cummins and Duramax motors have an injection pump that is the same ... CP3

I agree

"GM has good brakes" is something I haven't heard before.

Original auther unknown

This is for changing out your rear brake cylinders from ¾ ton to 1 ton cylinders. First thing you need to do is go to your local auto parts store and ask them for GM part #4637337. DO NOT tell them you want GM 1 ton cylinders for your ¾ ton Dodge. You will only confuse them. They sometimes will tell you that they have a “cheap” cylinder and a “higher quality” one. I chose the higher quality one and paid around $80.00 for the pair, but they do come with a lifetime warranty. Might as well grab a couple cans for brake cleaner while you’re at it because you’ll need it.

Go home, block the front tires and jack the rear of the truck up. Place jack stands under the axle and remove both tires. Next you will need to remove the brake drums. They usually don’t come right off. What I did was take 2 lug nuts and spun them back on the studs on each side. I started the truck, put it in reverse, got the rpm’s up and hit the brakes hard. One drum broke loose, but the other didn’t. I had to take a heavy punch between the studs and strike it with a large hammer. It broke loose finally.

Your drums will probably not slide right off. Back off the adjusters a tad and it should slide off. Spray the parts down with brake cleaner and get things cleaned off. Now is a good time to look at your brake shoes while you have the drum off too.

You will need to remove ONE spring from the shoes to allow it to spread apart so you can get the cylinder out. (See Illustration) It is only necessary to remove the “forward” spring, meaning the one facing the front of the truck. This will free up the shoe so you can remove the cylinder.

Take a 3/8 wrench and remove the brake line from the back of the cylinder. Take a 13mm wrench and remove the two bolts securing the cylinder to the housing. Remove the cylinder.

The 1 ton cylinder is noticeably larger.

You will need to reuse the metal pieces that spread the shoes. (You will see when you do it). Put the new cylinder in, tighten the bolts and install the brake line back in. Also secure any springs that you removed. Put the drum back on and adjust the brake adjusters until the just barely drag on the drum. Start the truck and bleed the air out of the system. Put your wheels back on and you’re ready to go.

I had been battling hard pedal for almost 2 years and figured it was in my master cylinder/booster. After doing this my brake pedal is soft and I have awesome brakes now.

I currently have 155k on my original brake pads, the time is getting near for new ones but for a 1 ton dually that ain't bad...:sen:

I currently have 70K on my 4th set of rear breaks

Ouch...:tttt:

Aren't they Dodge? Nuff said :tttt:lol

We must work our trucks harder, that's all.:sen:

What does work them harder mean? You have to peddle them more to get em going? :tttt: