1955 CJ5 brake system overhaul

im new to jeeps, but not to mechanics. my question is for my jeep. the brakes dont work, and is orignal. i have read that my braking system is only one piston design, and is dangerous if i break a line.

where is the best company to buy from?? i am looking to buy a dual master cylinder, but i have no idea what parts i need to get to make this happen. so i need: drums, pads, wheel cylinders, hard brake lines, soft break lines, e-brake cable, and what ever else yall think i need.

any help is apreicated, thanks josh

 

Herm's has a dual master cylinder kit that I bought last summer and have to install in my Jeep. This summer I upgraded to 11" brakes and replaced all the steel brake lines. It stops much better now.
I purchased most of the brake parts from Walcks.




http://www.hermtheoverdriveguy.com/index.htm
http://www.walcks4wd.com/index.html

 

I think the first step is to identify whay diam brakes you have.
This may require teardown of front and rear brakes, including wheel cylinders for cylinder ID. You could have: 9", 10'" or even 11" diameter brakes.
Once this info is known, then you can go shopping around.
There are many places that sell the brake parts you are looking for:
Krage and Walcks are just a couple; your local auto parts store as well.
www.hermtheoverdriveguy.com might have 11" brake kits, as well as the dual m/cyl conversion kit you speak of.
R-P also may have the brake kits.
If you do a search under brakes or review some of the tech articles, you may find the info you seek.
hopefully others will speak up here as well.

 

Single master cylinders are still working on most early CJ5s, mine included. Troubleshoot your setup and replace only what you need to get brakes working unless you can drop $$ towards upgrades. I rebuilt my 9" brake setup and wheeled the pee out of the jeep and only recently upgraded to 11" front and rear. Still using the single setup. Just my $.02, Haven't even got close to damaging much less breaking a line.

 

make sure your emergency brake works $.02

 

I should have stated that my 47 flatty still uses the single master cylinder
with discs and 11" rears
FYI

 

I'm still running a single circuit master cylinder in my '68 M715 and it still works fine. A conversion is forthcoming for obvious reasons. As stated above a teardown of your brakes is in order to see exactly what you have and the condition of the pads. You probebly have 9 x 1 3/4" brakes and an upgrade to 10" or even 11" would be beneficial. Also converting to hanging pedals would help as this would move the master cylinder to the fire wall and get it up where you have better access to it. If you are looking to just fix your existing brakes most parts are still available. See above ^.

 

I'm inthe middle of converting my 56 CJ5 from 9" to 11" brakes. Being a cheap fargin' bastige (to quote Moroni in the movie, Johnny Dangerously), I bought all my parts except the cylinder rebuild kits, shoes and hoses, from one junkyard or another. I love adapting parts from another vehicle rather than just paying someone high dollar for a bolt in kit. Today I scored a dual chamber brake master cyl., complete pedal assembly, hydraulic clutch setup with an external slave cylinder from a 1980 Renegade (CJ7?). The fun now starts as I try to figure out how to make it work.

tommy b

 

Great site! R) R)

tommy b

 

thanks yall, i plan on documenting my progress, what i plan on doing is re-using all drums if still turnable, pads are still thick, replace all wheel cylinders, soft and hard lines, and convert to dual master cylinder if not too much. and if i have money left over, buy some kick a** tires. i looking for the "slim, tall, and really agressive" type.i just love that look.:twisted: any ways where would be the best place to look for these type? what type has the best wear on these, id hate to spend a ton, and watch them go bald. i know some of you would disagree, but i love the humm of the tires. thanks yall

 

<install pic of animal here>

 

Something like these? That's what I'm putting on mine, 7.00x16 NDT's (non-directional tread), they also come in 6.00x16 I believe. There's also NDCC's (non-directional cross-country), but I'm not sure what the difference is. Firestone and Denman still make them, probably others too.

(thanks to Gump for the photo)

 

the more i look at those tires, the more i like them, but actually i was leaning twards the "MINI BOGGER" style... and me likey the flatty mucho
you can see my jeep on my web site, and its not animal, im naming her "lucky lucy" or luck for short cause i almost lost her to the scrapper, three days away, man o man...

 

My high school shop teacher said those NDT's were a bugger in the rain, he did a few 360's with his 3B years ago. They look cool, but I think the mini bogger style would be more practical.

Paul

 

On my '62, the PO had already upgraded to front discs and 11" rear drums, but the stop light switch was bad so I ended up replacing M/C with original type single cylinder. Also replaced the rear wheel cylinders, brake lines, hoses and added residual pressure valves (front and rear) and metering valve to the front discs. Check out http://www.piratejack.net/index.html for brake stuff - lots of good info for disc/drum conversions. Also, do a search on this site for "brake", you'll find tons of advice. Good luck!

 

Yep, heard the same thing over on the G. That's why I personally wouldn't use 'em on anything except a Parade Queen.

I've also heard that getting 'em siped at your local tire store helps a bunch though....

 

NDCC are the rounded shoulder tread. The one's in the pic are just NDTs