Who sells the best 39-48 wheel cylinders
 

I have heard that a lot of the currently available wheel cylinders are of poor quality. Where can I purchase good ones?
Chuck

Re: Who sells the best 39-48 wheel cylinders
 

I recently got a set of wheel cylinders for our '39 LZ from NAPA, they were foreign made :( but fit and work just fine :) and, they were half the price of some of the Lincoln parts suppliers for the same foreign made parts.:)

Re: Who sells the best 39-48 wheel cylinders
 

bought a set from Auto Zone, 2 were made in Argentina, 1 from Italy and 1 from who knows where--all of them worked good and like Vic said, half the price from a supplier

Re: Who sells the best 39-48 wheel cylinders
 

I rebuilt the originals '40s with USA made parts for short money. The machine shop charges about 10- 15 each to clean & hone them. The NOS/NORS parts suppliers like Ray Helger in RI, Fred Wilner, SS Obsolete in MN, Stacy in Arlingrton TX, T&N in Weymouth MA usually have complete NORS cylinders and the parts. The parts are real simple cups & rubbers, made is USA. I converted the system to DOT 5 silicone brake fluid when I did it. No more rusted & stuck wheel cylinders. The procedure is simple and explained in a great Fordbarn post. I for one am not interested in using foreign crap in my American car if I can help it. Take a little digging, but prevents issues with repop crap which always seem to come back to bite you cause you got it cheap. What's your labor worth ?

Re: Who sells the best 39-48 wheel cylinders
 

I agree that NOS is the best way to go if you can find them.

I had trouble with a repro cylinder leak and it turned out that the fluid hole was drilled too far up the bore and caught the cup.

This is discussed here on the HAMB
http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/s...wheel+cylinder see post #20.

John

Re: Who sells the best 39-48 wheel cylinders
 

Re: Who sells the best 39-48 wheel cylinders
 

I have been satisfied with the wheel cylinders I bought from Little Dearborn in Minneapolis. They have an online catalog, prices wre reasonable, and they are great to deal with.

Re: Who sells the best 39-48 wheel cylinders
 

They tell me you can have the originals rebuilt with stainless sleeves installed. I think that is what i would do with NOS before i used them, or original wore out ones.

Re: Who sells the best 39-48 wheel cylinders
 

The real problem with new or old wheel cylinders is cars that do not get much use, compounded by the old type brake fluid that attracts water like a moth to a flame.
Dot 5, silicone, resolves these issues. If you don't trust yourself on a simple and inexpensive rebuild of original cylinders, then buy the foreign crap and pray.

Re: Who sells the best 39-48 wheel cylinders
 

This might be an option..

http://www.whitepost.com/brake.html

Or this one..

http://www.karpspb.com/sleeving.htm

Re: Who sells the best 39-48 wheel cylinders
 

I've rebuilt OEM wheel cylinders before (and I've got a bunch of used OEM cylinders just waiting' for me to take the time to rebuild them) but, it's easier to just go down to NAPA and pick up a set, foreign made or otherwise... Like I said, the off-shore cylinders I installed on our '39 LZ, from NAPA, have been just fine, no praying necessary. ;) Amen.

Re: Who sells the best 39-48 wheel cylinders
 

If you are buying rear cylinders, just make sure the feed hole is drilled at the correct angle. If the face is spot faced and dips under the surface of the casting, the angle is wrong. There was a thread on here about it.

Mart.