Attempting to cross reference brake booster

[Boglin]

I am thinking a universal booster from eBay might do the trick. I measured a stock booster and it is 8 inches wide.

Here is an 8 inch wide booster from eBay.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/8-DUAL-UNIVE...41b9a1&vxp=mtr

The mounting holes seem to be the same distance as ours. I'm not sure about the master cylinder though. From what I have seen, the bolt pattern for the master cylinder seems to be the same on many boosters. Perhaps master cylinders mounts are the same across many different platforms.

One thing I like about the universal booster I found is the rod going into the booster seems to accept a screw on type of rod. This would make it super easy to purchase an adjustable rod to connect to the thing.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Summit-Brake...6e72e7&vxp=mtr

I currently have a 30 year old booster on my car and a rebuild one from Hervey sitting on the shelf. I'm set for a while but I am very curious about experimenting with this setup. I'm just not so sure I want to do it today though.

Steve, did this end here, or did you eventually find a cross ref for the booster?

[stevedmc]

Steve, did this end here, or did you eventually find a cross ref for the booster?

It ended there. I ended up paying Hervey to honor his warranty and I bought a used one from Toby Peterson at the same time. The used one is on my car and the rebuilt one from Hervey is sitting on the shelf.

[Boglin]

So it turns out Autozone will rebuild the brake booster w/ a lifetime warranty for $244. Yes, this is a little expensive, but I've enjoyed Autozone's lifetime warranty in the past for various parts, so to me it is worth it.

A-1 Cardone is actually doing the rebuild. Turnaround time is 3 - 5 business days.

[stevedmc]

You've got to be kidding me. Did you have to give them the make and model of your car are are they just doing this as a custom part? Thats a good deal for lifetime warranty.

[Boglin]

I called up A-1 Cardone, and the customer service rep entered the year/make/model and determined that they could rebuild the booster. There may be other parts that they can rebuild. I believe that they are one of the largest rebuilders nationwide.

[NightFlyer]

You've got to be kidding me. Did you have to give them the make and model of your car are are they just doing this as a custom part? Thats a good deal for lifetime warranty.

Didn't your Hervey rebuild come with a lifetime warranty

[P. J. Grady Inc.]

I called up A-1 Cardone, and the customer service rep entered the year/make/model and determined that they could rebuild the booster. There may be other parts that they can rebuild. I believe that they are one of the largest rebuilders nationwide.

A customer brought me a A-1 Cardone rebuilt brake master cylinder about 10 years ago to install on his car. It started leaking as soon as I finished bleeding it! Unless they've gotten a lot better on quality control and inspection/testing I would not trust anything they rebuild...especially a brake booster. You'd be better off with a used original booster or go NOS as the failure rate is very low historically speaking. The booster is a bit of a pain to install and a lifetime warranty is worthless if you have to remove it every few years.
Rob

[Boglin]

A customer brought me a A-1 Cardone rebuilt brake master cylinder about 10 years ago to install on his car. It started leaking as soon as I finished bleeding it! Unless they've gotten a lot better on quality control and inspection/testing I would not trust anything they rebuild...especially a brake booster. You'd be better off with a used original booster or go NOS as the failure rate is very low historically speaking. The booster is a bit of a pain to install and a lifetime warranty is worthless if you have to remove it every few years.
Rob

This will be my 3rd booster, and I know that Steve has also had at least one failure. 35-year-old rubber is what it is. Some would have said the current booster I have is fine; it does work, but you hear it audibly hissing at idle. The hissing stops when I press the brake.

I agree that it is a pain to install. Have you designed a booster bracket that's more clutch-master-friendly? I may cut all of the studs off except for 1 and then weld nuts to it so that I tighten it down from inside the car. Otherwise, you *almost* need to pull the clutch master to install it. I got mine out by bending it. What a PITA!

[stevedmc]

This will be my 3rd booster, and I know that Steve has also had at least one failure. 35-year-old rubber is what it is. Some would have said the current booster I have is fine; it does work, but you hear it audibly hissing at idle. The hissing stops when I press the brake.

I agree that it is a pain to install. Have you designed a booster bracket that's more clutch-master-friendly? I may cut all of the studs off except for 1 and then weld nuts to it so that I tighten it down from inside the car. Otherwise, you *almost* need to pull the clutch master to install it. I got mine out by bending it. What a PITA!

My car's original booster (as far as I know) failed four or five years ago. I sent it to Hervey to have it rebuilt since I didn't believe in NOS rubber components. My rebuilt Hervey unit failed less than a year after I got it back from him.

I sent it back to Hervey as he had a 5 year warranty. He made up some crap and said brake fluid leaked into it and caused it to fail. That's funny because my brake system has never leaked. After much bickering, he decided to hold my booster hostage until I paid him to rebuild it again.

I ended up paying him to rebuild it since I didn't want him to keep my booster, and I bought a used one from Toby Peterson. The used one is currently installed on my car and the Hervey rebuild is sitting in my closest. I'm sure the wife will find it and eventually throw it away along with my $200 worth of r134a.

Brake boosters do fail and I guess Hervey's rebuilds are about the same as Autozone/cardone. At least Autozone honors their warranty.

[Rich_NYS]

What's so hard about rebuilding them? I have mine out & you guys have me considering a rebuild, but isn't it something I can do myself?