Drums all around

[alsant]

Been along time since I've did drum brakes shouldn't be a problem anyone have any tips on making it go smoother. Doing all four and replacing each cylinder ,

 

[ChargerRTguy]

I did mine not long ago. Like you replaced each wheel cylinder, put all new springs and since my booster was shot and not the orignal, replaced it and a new master cylinder. I also flushed the lines out of old fluid before bleeding them. It seems to work great.

 

[D575]

I remember in high school I had a A body with drums. I now have a 68 roadrunner that had drums. They are very dangerous with any amount of horsepower. it becomes an adventure every time you take the car out. the pitching and wandering just isn't acceptable in today's traffic. I wouldn't recommend driving any old school Mopar without switching to disc. brakes.

I had a low 13 A body in 1970 and shutting down with drum brakes was scary.

 

[alsant]

Kids in college have to upgrade to 15s don't have the cash now !

 

[RustyRatRod]

Yup. Simple. Do one axle, one side at the time. That way you will have a model to go by in case you forget where hardware goes.

 

[Dennis H]

Off topic but I have 11" drums all four on the Coronet. 500 hp. I got the www.praisedynobrake.com brakes in a box. With the improved shoe material and stronger springs, the brakes are more than adequate. Nice feel and they stop. I don't do more than three hard hot stops in a row to heat them up.

 

[HT413]

Learn from my mistake. Buy the $5 rebuild kits for your original wheel cylinders, I bought 2 wheel cylinders from Rock Auto and they both leaked badly. IMO, if the cylinders are not packed in a hermitically sealed bag and heavily lubed in brake fluid, just return to sender. (My chinesium parts from Rock Auto were just tossed in a cardboard box and all the seals dryrotted.) NAPA saved me, plus they had a big MADE IN USA cast right into the body. If the cylinders are already out, t takes longer to open the package than it does to rebuild them.

 

[67 coronet]

if you dont have a service manuel to reference,take a pic of the brakes before you dissasemble them.can avoid confusion during assembly.also,make sure the two spots on the backing plates(where the shoes touch)are smooth and dab a small amount of antiseize on them for good brake operation.even a cheep drum brake spring tool can make the job a ton easyer as well.just a few tips i could think of.

 

[WileE]

Learn from my mistake. Buy the $5 rebuild kits for your original wheel cylinders, I bought 2 wheel cylinders from Rock Auto and they both leaked badly. IMO, if the cylinders are not packed in a hermitically sealed bag and heavily lubed in brake fluid, just return to sender. (My chinesium parts from Rock Auto were just tossed in a cardboard box and all the seals dryrotted.) NAPA saved me, plus they had a big MADE IN USA cast right into the body. If the cylinders are already out, t takes longer to open the package than it does to rebuild them.

Yes, what he says ! Do your original cylinders over before you get garbage replacements ! And, as stated, flush all the old fluid out & bleed correctly. Check your rubber hoses as well... if any are questionable, replace them, I cannot stress enough.

 

[Cranky]

I find it kinda funny that so many bad mouth drum brakes. Yeah, disc brakes are better but with the right stuff, drums will also work very well and if I can make a 3300 lb road runner stop after a 10.60 @ 126 pass on a track with a short shut down, then anyone can make a street car stop with them too.

 

[WP29440SE]

I find it kinda funny that so many bad mouth drum brakes. Yeah, disc brakes are better but with the right stuff, drums will also work very well and if I can make a 3300 lb road runner stop after a 10.60 @ 126 pass on a track with a short shut down, then anyone can make a street car stop with them too.

i know man , really. i have had drums on so many i cant count . ive never had a problem stopping them cars. when they are adjusted correctly they work just fine.

 

[eric383]

X2 Cranky. Drum brakes here too! Like Rusty said do one side at a time so you can look at the other side in case you forget where the parts go. As you take the springs off try to lay them on the floor as they came off. Clean and lube the backing plate where the shoes contact them. Replace the hardware with quality stuff and X2 on the cheap wheel cylinders. I did a Corolla a while back and the bleeder screw leaked on one of the new wheel cylinders. Chinese junk.

 

[Homstead]

Im with you Cranky! My buddie with a 64 dodge ran into the low 10s with drum brakes and the single pot master cylinder for years. I thought the M/C was a little risky but he never had a problem with it. He went to disks on all four corners once he put the Hemi in. Something about going off the big end that worried him! Lol

 

[Moparsmitty]

I find it kinda funny that so many bad mouth drum brakes. Yeah, disc brakes are better but with the right stuff, drums will also work very well and if I can make a 3300 lb road runner stop after a 10.60 @ 126 pass on a track with a short shut down, then anyone can make a street car stop with them too.

Right on Cranky! My 64 Belvedere has the big (11") drums all the way around. I replaced the shoes, wheel cylinders, and all the hardware with NAPA parts. Had the drums turned at the local machine shop, flushed and bled the entire system, cleaned and re-packed the bearings, re-assembled everything and adjusted the shoes.
After a little break in period, I got out on our little country road and did a couple of full bore panic stops. Nice and straight with no pulling or fade. I've got absolutely nothing against discs and if you want to spend the $ and do the conversion, great. But there's nothing wrong with drum brakes if they are in good condition. I'm a little old fashioned, so when I slam on my brakes I want smoke and skid marks. I'm getting that with my drum brakes just fine.
One thing I forgot to mention is that doing the rear brakes on a pre 65 car can be a lot more of an adventure trying to get the drums/hubs off of the tapered axles. It has been well documented in other threads.

 

[RustyRatRod]

Somethin else a lot of people never think about. Drum brakes are WAY lighter than disc brakes, too. IMHO, drums are the perfect thing for a drag car that runs no faster than what you're talking about. Although you have to hammer on them to stop, it's only for a SHORT time and there's zero chance for any fade. I'm leaving the drums on my 65 Coronet. All I'm gonna do is upgrade to a dual reservoir master cylinder.

I find it kinda funny that so many bad mouth drum brakes. Yeah, disc brakes are better but with the right stuff, drums will also work very well and if I can make a 3300 lb road runner stop after a 10.60 @ 126 pass on a track with a short shut down, then anyone can make a street car stop with them too.

 

[Cranky]

The old Houston track had maybe an 1/8 mile shut off which was more than plenty for me but I could make the first turn off if needed. I found out by trying it and that's where I really had to hammer the brakes. That old track only had that first turnoff and the end but I at least knew I could do it and without fading them out.

 

[Photon440]

All those high speed Nascar racers ran drum brakes during the big block '60's, too. Big drums, but still drums.

 

[scotts74birds]

I've had drum brakes too. And they can stop a car fast. ONCE. After any kind of multiple heavy applications, they fade fast! They retain heat very well.

 

[nm9stheham]

I've had drum brakes too. And they can stop a car fast. ONCE. After any kind of multiple heavy applications, they fade fast! They retain heat very well.

They can do more than one hard stop but not as many as dics; you're right, drums retain heat a lot more. And for all you guys.....seriously....if you have have ever driven drum brakes through deep water and gotten any water inside the drum you will find out how bad they can be. Having said all that, I will keep the orignal drums on my 62 Dart; I just know to be careful around deep water. But for safety, it will get a dual MC ASAP.

 

[1969 Dodge Coronet]

Drums will work if properly set up. I had drums on all of my cars until I bought my first new car in 1977, a Plymouth Arrow (Mitsibishi) which had front discs. If you can afford to convert to disc brakes, it's a worthwhile upgrade but it really isn't necessary. As others have said, watch out for crappy Chinese made junk. It's better to rebuild your old ones than to use poorly made foreign ones that leak and will fail. Some companies even offer resleeving service for your original cylinders if yours are pitted beyond what would clean up with honing. White Post in Virginia offers this service; there are others I have no doubt.

http://www.whitepost.com/brake.html