Posted by Clint Dixon [74.206.63.42] on Friday, May 10, 2013 at 20:50:59 :
After reading the posts on brake cylinders, where Kaegi mentioned using steel pistons where available instead of aluminum ones, I searched through all my old wheel cylinders. I have kept practically every wheel cylinder I have ever removed from a WDX-WM300 model Power-Wagon since 1980.
The good news is that I found 8 very old wheel cylinders with the correct two-piece bleeder screws, and they look like they can be shined up and saved. The bad news is that each of these cylinders had aluminum pistons. I also found several old Wagner cylinders - again with aluminum pistons. I expected better from a name brand. All of these have the pistons frozen in the bores with gobs of electrolysis corrosion having eaten away at the aluminum. They look like they are growing cauliflower.
I found only two cylinders with steel pistons and they look like they can be saved (the pistons - not the cylinders). These particular cylinders have no markings on them. I am hoping that one of my two trucks still has two more of these cylinders as I am currently starting a brake overhaul on both trucks and I am getting tired of the seemingly annual job of replacing at least one cylinder that has corroded beyond use. I would like to use steel.
I have bought brake cylinders from three different suppliers over the years and now have no idea of where the ones with the steel pistons came from. I have usually bought only one or two at a time.
Has anyone recently bought new cylinders and found that they had steel pistons? From whom?
Junior
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