willysmjeeps.com

I have a 53 m38a1 ,I had replaced all the 4 wheel cylinders and brake shoes on all wheels . But know I am confused because according to the manual the small shoe goes on the rear and the longer on the front .I guess mine were put on reverse . What would be the difference they seem to work fine .

Servo type brakes will put the long shoe in the back because as the short shoe engages the drum it helps push the bigger shoe even tighter against the drum since this type brake has the bottom end of it's shoes not anchored but floating.

The Willys NON-servo type brake puts the long shoe on the front since when it contacts the drum the top is able to be moved even tighter towards the drum by the rotational effect.

If you have the shoes backwards then correcting them will result in slight improvement in performance. Make sure you have the original 53 brakes. In the late 60's M38A1 and CJ5's went to the servo type brakes.


This is the Non-servo brake.

O.K thanks Wes , I did put the original military brake shoes on my m38 but I was not sure if I should go to the extra work to correct the shoes or not.Thanks again, Lake