BRAKES V
The reassembly of the shoes and WCs went OK. Here’s an interesting note. I bought the rear WCs from NAPA; one made in USA, the other in China. Guess which one had a casting interference with the hole in the backplate (it wasn’t China). A little grinding and all was well. The brake line was a challenge to fabricate, but I took my time and got it the first time. I made a short-handled brake line wrench to get to the fitting mounted inside the axle bracket due to restricted swing room (I’m working under the truck with everything in place except the spare tire). I found the keys to success (for novices like me) to make good brake lines are: practice a lot, be very patient, make lots of trial fits, and get the fittings aligned as accurately as possible so you don’t have to force anything when you screw them together.
I pressure tested the system now and again by pushing the brake pedal down and holding it in place with a clamp. A few minor snug-ups of fittings here and there was all I needed to get it leak free. The tee fitting at the front stayed dry (and still is as of this writing) so maybe the fitting was not secure to begin with or the source of the leak was elswhere (from above, perhaps).
The bearing cups looked worn, they were concave. Other than their shape, they looked fine. I ran a lot of new gear oil through the bearings in the hub rather than clean them, good enough for now. I decided to later replace the bearings at the same time as the drums and do it all at once. A future wheel hub project, basically (add to The List).