I am working on the rear end of my 69 LeBaron.
I have some questions:
Do the collars which hold on the outer axle bearing come with replacement bearing or do you purchase them separately and from where? Or if I take the axles to a machine shop can they press off the bearing and collars to allow the collars to be reused? Is this a good idea? The manual says to cut off the collars and bearing races which is fine, but then I have no collars.
Does anyone know where to get the adjuster hold down clip for the rear axle bearing end play adjuster. My car did not appear to have one installed!!!!!!! Maybe someone at Midas worked on it. I could probably fabricate something which would work.
The parking brake cables on my car run down the driver's side and split under the rear seat. According to my 1969 manual this is the setup for Chryslers while Imperials run down the middle of the car and split more near the front seat. Note that my car does have a manual parking brake release, presumably added from a donor car after the vacuum release failed and someone did not want to fix it. I find it difficult to believe that the person making the change some time in the distant past would have replaced the entire cable system all the way to the rear drums but who knows. It certainly works fine.
There was a thread not long ago about what you should expect to replace on older cars. I managed to get the steel brake line on the DS side of the axle off in tact. It is rusty and will be replaced. The passenger side steel line broke at the wheel cylinder while I was removing it (note liberal application of good penetrating oil). It will be replaced. The hose to the axle needs to be replaced and I will probably replace the steel line to the master cylinder. The bearings need to be replaced and I will buy new brake hardware and shoes. I will also be replacing the wheel cylinders. To sum up, the only part which is really reuseable is the brake T on the rear axle.
The joys of old cars
Fred Joslin
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