More on the vac booster custom rebuild

[mysteryman]

I thought I would put some more of the pictures that I have taken of the proto type. I have installed 3

of the boosters on friends trucks now. They work great ! The only trouble is that the next time they need servicing will be in about 10 to 15 years from now. It is unlikely that I will still be alive then. I would highly recommend buying up some of the spare parts if you have plans of using these boosters in the years to come... some 80 years ago my great grandfather started the company that supplied most all the booster parts to the rebuilders in the USA. He sold the company about 20 years ago. He died shortly after he sold it. His daughter remained a partner with the company and stayed on running it up until about 8 years ago.

The company is still in business but had to branch out into making other products in order to stay in business. . Yes they still make booster parts. But the sales are no where near what they once were.

The booster building business is declining and A1 cardone has taken over with low cost low quality remans. You can expect about 6 months out of one of there boosters before it starts to leak.

Cardone sells there boosters so cheap that the other guys that built good ones went out of business

or stopped building the car/light truck boosters all together... Great granddads company NEVER sold retail! They still don't today. . I however am on good terms with the current owners. They allow me to buy from them what ever I want or need in reasonable quanties. . Thank god for that ! Still though I try to have a reasonable size order when I do order. Why have I gone to all this trouble you ask. ??

Well it's like this: 1) There are no more new boosters left for our trucks ! 2) In a 3 year period of time

I have had to put 5 boosters in my 92 D350 farm truck. All were Cardones . I was getting tired of having to replace the booster all the time ! 3) I figured out why they were failing. It was the midevil way they were un crimping the cans and the fact that they were re useing worn out parts... .

I learned long ago that if I want something done correctly I had better do it myself !

I did this project so that myself and my friends would have trucks that would stop correctly.

It takes me a lot of time to make the rings ect. It is not hard work. It is not complicated at all. .

It just takes time is all. I will post the video on youtube when I have it done. .

 

[mysteryman]

More booster pictures

You might have noticed that the master cylinder mount has 4 bolts instead of 2... This is exactly the same booster that our truck have. It just uses a 4 bolt master cylinder. The booster in the picture came off of a 1977 ambulance. The master cylinder had larger reservoirs a smaller 1 inch bore and a longer stroke. It was a pretty nice setup. It makes for a real fast stop ! I was lucky enough to find 40
of those master cylinders brand new in the Mopar boxes last year. The trouble was that I had to buy all 40. I have re machined a few of them so I could bolt them on 2 bolt boosters. . One other thing. I am now sleeving master cylinders for our trucks with stainless steel sleeves. I an doing this due to the fact that I can no longer buy made in USA master cylinders anymore. ATTACH]84749[/ATTACH]

 

[DVolk]

How does the ring stay in place ? wouldn't be easier to put a ring over the whole out side much like a truck maxi can ?

 

[mysteryman]

I would prefer to have used a v band clamp like a maxi has. But the booster cans would have to be stamped differently to accept a v band... I did explore doing this . But the custom v bands were too expensive and had a min. order of 500 pieces.
The ring on the back half of the can (the part that bolts to the fire wall) is not yet secured to the can in my pictures... The ring is tack welded on the back side in between the bolt holes. I will post some more pictures of the completed boosters when I have a chance. Most all my friends are in need of boosters right now. I can't build them fast enough... I have my doubts that vary many people are going to want a booster as well made as I am doing. They are vary labor intensive. . I am making the video so guys can rebuild them themselves instead of paying me to do it all. I am planing on supplying the rings and the rebuild parts. Those are the things that are not obtainable anywhere else. If a guy has a BIG lathe however. And if he knows how to run it. He could make his own rings also. I am making them out of 10. 5 inch Od X 9 inch ID DOM tubing. It comes in 10 ft lengths. . You will need a fork lift to move it. A lot of money to buy it and a BIG power hack saw or band saw to cut it. . Not things you will normally find in a home shop. But there are a few out there I am sure that do. So I am including the machine work in the video as well. The booster on our trucks is known as a Bendix duovac. . It was also used on a lot of other vehicles besides ours. The only real differences are the bolt pattern's and the pedal rods. I have bought several nos boosters for Fords and then changed the studs on the firewall side to fit the Dodge... The one part that we can not buy is the black Bakelite piston. That is the black tube that comes out of the back that the pedal rod goes into. They crack and they get scores on them that cause them to leak. I have repaired a few by turning them down an pressing a metal tube over them . It is also a rather time consuming repair . No matter though . Just be careful not to damage that tube during disassembly ! Or get another booster core from the junk yard. .
More on this subject later. MM

How does the ring stay in place ? wouldn't be easier to put a ring over the whole out side much like a truck maxi can ?

 

[HHhuntitall]

Again, a man of many talents... . Let us know when the video is up... .

 

[Ncostello]

The rings hold the two can halves together tightly? Could a person clamp or hold the halves together snugly and tig weld them together, around the circumference, in a few places, to hold? Then cut the welds later with a dremel if you have to take it back apart for some reason?

 

[WILSON PATCHELL]

MYSTERYMAN, HOW CAN I GET IN TOUCH WITH YOU ABOUT A REBUILT KIT FOR MY POWER BOOSTER . WHAT IS THE COST FOR A REBUILT ONE ? I PLOW SNOW WITH MY 91 W250 AND I AM ALWAYS ON THE BRAKES . PLEASE EMAIL ME AT -- email address removed --

 

[mysteryman]

No welding it back together. You will melt the diaphragms directly below the crimp. Besides that . The whole point
is to be able to take the booster apart and put it back without damaging the booster cans. . The reason I did it with the rings and bolts is so anyone could rebuild it over and over again. The boosters are no longer available ! The rebuilders are ruining the cans by ripping them apart. We are running out of cores that can be rebuilt

The rings hold the two can halves together tightly? Could a person clamp or hold the halves together snugly and tig weld them together, around the circumference, in a few places, to hold? Then cut the welds later with a dremel if you have to take it back apart for some reason?

 

[Ncostello]

I wasn't sure about tack welding. I've never been inside one to know what's behind the metal in those areas.



Maybe this is crazy... but in the future when supplies are very low and we still need boosters... are there any from other more modern vehicles that could be adapted or machined to work properly? Master cylinder and all? Such as something off a newer Dodge truck? Or a GM vehicle? Just a thought.

 

[mysteryman]

I could make nearly any booster fit our trucks if I chose to. But the fact of the matter is that if you have one of my bolt together boosters. You will never have to replace it. Just keep rebuilding it. The booster cans don't wear. Just the rubber parts. So lets say you bought 2 sets of diaphragms . (they normally last 15-20 years) and then lets say you bought 4 sets of the small rubber seals and parts (small parts are cheap and last 15 years) that would make 60 years of service before you ran out of parts. How much driving do you think you will be doing 60 years from now ? How many years do you think you will live ? I find that most of the guys that own these trucks are 40 and older . 40 + 60 = 90 Most men don't statistically don't live much past mid 70's . So if you buy the above mentioned quantities of parts there will be enough left that your grandchildren can be rebuilding boosters after your gone. In conclusion: With my booster and some extra parts you will have a good working booster for the rest of your life. Problem solved !

I wasn't sure about tack welding. I've never been inside one to know what's behind the metal in those areas.



Maybe this is crazy... but in the future when supplies are very low and we still need boosters... are there any from other more modern vehicles that could be adapted or machined to work properly? Master cylinder and all? Such as something off a newer Dodge truck? Or a GM vehicle? Just a thought.

 

[tobaccogrower]

whatever happned to the video? I rebuilt all my brakes, bled the system several times with speed bleeders and still have very little pedal. I'm guessing my booster took a dump. truck stops ok but I'm worried the time is near I go right through the intersection and die/ kill someone!

 

[DVolk]

Im not totally convinced the hydroboost systems are a bad idea to go to just getting parts from a gen 2 truck