1952 CJ-3A in Rhode Island

[Kirkski]

Man, I flat missed your update from October.  The frame looks great.

Thanks Tim, it did come out great, there were no cracks or Bubba repairs anywhere I could find.

Kirk

[Kirkski]

I have a tire I believe is original, I don't need it I wonder if it is of any value to anyone?

[Kirkski]

 All,

 Concerning the rear brake assembly, when I removed my backing plate on the right side of my jeep the Grease protector was not installed with the gasket correctly. Basically the hole in the bottom of the axle was covered by the gasket.

 My assumption is that the holes in the gasket, shims and the bottom of the Grease protector should all line up?

 Is this to allow any grease overage to come out of the hole?

 Won't this potentially allow water and particulate into the brake area?

 Thanks in advance
 Kirk

[Ryan_M]

The holes should all line up. Use Permatex 2 or similar between the layers of the gaskets and grease protector and you should be good to go.

[Kirkski]

Thank you Ryan, I appreciate your response.

[Kirkski]

Used is used, thankful for Walcks

[Kirkski]

Making some nice progress, thankful for the use of a lift. For 60 plus years old things look pretty clean all and all

[athawk11]

Shiny!

I don't know if this is helpful or not, but I thought I could offer a suggestion.  I use a very small dab of grease at the lower eccentrics and the two fingers that hold the center of the brake shoes in position.  These are potential squeak and seize points.  Also, just a bit on the elevated part of the backing plate where the shoes make contact. 

Maybe I'm just a nut, but I hate squeaks.

Tim

[athawk11]

Kirkski,

One other thing I noticed...� The small shoe should be toward the rear of the Willys on all four wheels.

Tim

[Kirkski]

Tim,

Thanks for that! Always taught the other way... Oh we'll, guess I'm pulling some wheels off. Also thanks for the info on the eccentrics, I'll make sure to do that as well!

Kirk

[athawk11]

Hi Kirk,
I should clarify.  In most cases on older vehicles that use a long and short shoe, the large shoe will end up on the rear.  A Willys brake system is a bit of an od duck. The Willys design is different because of the stationary lower eccentrics.  There are quite a few good discussions on the Internet discussing this topic.  Some give you detailed explanations as to why they are designed this way.  They are a bit wordy, so if you're interested, I'll encourage you to dig in. 

I also must admit that I learned this after doing mine all wrong on my first Willys brake job.  I was really excited (sarcasm) when I was forced to pull the back drums again.

Tim

[Kirkski]

Well that makes me feel better and not too much like an idiot 

 After you told me I did do some research on the web and see exactly what you were talking about. At least I found out now and not when I try to drive the thing.

 This thing sure doe give me a lot of opportunities for pause  :-/

[Kirkski]

 Is it recommended to put any lubrication at all on the front axles, specifically within the spindle and end cap area? I don't really see any reason too, but the caps were full of old grease

[athawk11]

I coated my axles with a small amount of grease, but just to keep rust away.  I don't see why it would need to be packed in there.
I had a fair amount of grease in my spindles too, but I think it sort of flowed in there from the knuckle prior to cleaning it out and filling it with CV joint lube. 

Tim

[BMIC]

The PO of my 3A had a thing for greasing the axles as well...