Do you ever wonderwhy youdo some stupid things? I had one of those last night. I wanted to upgrade my rear wheel cylinders, so I picked up a set for a 3500 Dodge (1-1/16" bore vs. 15/16" bore on a 1500). I got the passenger side on without a problem. Then I took the wife out to dinner. Came home and had her help me bleed the brake line. Actually, I wanted to change the brake fluid, so we kept bleeding until I had clear fluid coming through. Got done, put the wheel on, dropped it off the jack stand and moved to the driver's side. Broke the wheel loose, raised it up on the jack stand, then ran into problems getting the drum off. I fooled around about 10 minutes, then decided it was time to quit for the night. It was 10:30, I was soaked with sweat, and I had to move the truck because it was blocking the garage. I put the wheel back on, gathered up my tools and set them in the garage, checked around for any missing tools, then put the light away. I fired up the truck, pulled it into drive, and the truck didn't move. The brake light wasn't on, but I checked the parking brakeanyways. Tried again and my first thought was that something happened to the tranny. Then I noticed a strange vibration and thought it felt like something was wrong with the driveline. Finally it hit me, and if you haven't guessed by now, I was still sitting on the jackstand! Hopped out, dropped it down, and the truckdrove awayperfectly.

I guess we all have those kinds of days and nights. At least this is one of those stories where I did a stupid thing, but no one got hurt. Hopefully I'll get the other wheel cylinder on tonight and see if I get a little better braking with my old girl.

 

dont feel bad buddy, i have done that too. i have also left the blocks behind my wheels. that one FREAKED me out when I was trying to back up and the car just started to raise up...
my favorite was when i had put new wheels on one of my cars and in my haste i only put 1 lug on the driver side front wheel. drove about a mile when it started makin a HORRIBLE noise. i pulled over expecting to have a flt or somthing. in stead i find my 1 lug holding on for dear life and the other studs ripping my brand new wheels apart!

 

just one of those days....im sure we've all been there in one way or another.

 

Did the same on mywife's caronce. Except I moved the jack stand out of my way but not out from under the car and then lowered the car on it and bent a lower control arm to the back tire and bent it. Made for an interesting drive down to the dealerwith one rear wheel pointing in the wrong direction. Good thing that the bill was only like $150.

 

Two rules I try to live by...
1 Don't work on vehicles when its late and you tire faster. You're bound to mess up.
1 Don't drink beer and watch infomercials. You'll end up buying something REALLY stupid!

 

Yep, I bent up the rocker panel on my Spirit doing the same thing.There's a saying, "The hurriedier I go, the behinder I get".

 

Words to live by.

 

so ah...tonight i decided i'd install my new rear wheel cylinders. all is going good ya know, i even figured out a way to get them in without removing any of the springs, go me. just starting to wrap things up & i figured it's about time to bleed the lines. so i start with the one i just finished putting in. after pushing the brakes and working the bleeder screw a few times i start to notice a little clink noise when i step on the brakes...not thinking much of it i continue to bleed the brakes.As I'm stepping on the pedal one last timei hear a loud pop and see brake fluid SPRAYING out of my newly installed wheel cylinder...yes i was looking right at the cylinder...guess what i forgot to put back on before bleeding the brakes???? THE DANG DRUM! So yeah, my newly installed wheel cylinder just exploded, blew therubber seal and piston right out...and now my brake shoes are in the maxed out position as they would be if you had your foot to the floor.

I am a genius *takes a bow*

So tomorrow I'm headed back to Advance toexchange my blown-up wheel cylinder and buy more brake fluid. In the mean time....anyone know how to make the rear brake shoes return to a rest position? It was getting really dark & i was too frustrated toexamine everythingtonight. Help is greatly appreciated, thanks

edit: looks like i should have followed WayneC's first tidbit of advice

 

Bummer, no one got hurt, but it cost you some money there, and what a mess. First, you'll have to remove the pins between the cylinder and shoes, or try to get the piston pushed back into the cylinder.Loosening the brake line or bleeder valve may help if there is still some fluidpressure left in the cylinder.Once you can remove the pressure, take a screwdriver and wiggle around at the shoes, they may be caught on something. Don't use just your fingers or the shoe may snap back under the spring pressure and then you will get hurt.

BTW, I finally got the second wheel cylinder installed. I had to back off the adjustor to get the drum off. I discovered that you have to push straight in on the lock for the star wheel to get it to release. Other vehicles that I worked on require you to lift it up, so it took a little experimenting until I discovered how this one worked.

I was a little disappointed that the new wheel cylinders didn't help as much as I thought they would. I might have to adjust the brakes a little tighter. Maybe I should have gone with the Chevy 1-ton dually wheel cylinders that was suggested in another post.

 

My driveway is on an incline. I backed my truck up to the garage door to check the rear brakes. When I jacked up the rearend the truck started rolling down the driveway, of course my first reaction is amazement, then trying to pull on the jack handle, then finally I realized I should just let the jack down! Bam, chirp, chirp. Duh![sm=outcold.gif] There wasn't even any beer involved! Until later.