Tell us how much you like the discs after buying all that stuff, plus a different proportioning valve, and attempting to make the park brake to work.
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97 Ram Cummins Drums, and Parking Brake
Passenger slave leaked a bunch of fluid soaking the inside of the drum before it left a small puddle on the ground one morning. Popped the new one in, and started ordering parts to fix everything broken. This project took Me 8 whole days and probably around the clock once.
I ran into 5 problems. First the two of the lower sliding points on the backing plate for the shoes needed to be weld filled and ground smooth. The Passenger side e brake cable end ball would fit through the parking brake return spring(needed to file it down so it was round instead of oval). I welded the edge of the new brake shoes where it rides on the backing plate because two of them were flush with the friction material. The Forman adjuster didn’t have the slot for the drivers side cable to sit in so I cut a slot a little narrower then the original one.
The parking brake return spring wraps around, and clips into the parking brake arm, but the one I might have bent a bit removing wouldn’t stay clipped, so I took some bailing wire wrapped it through the hoop under the arm around the return spring, back under the arm, and twisted the bailing wire together.I did that for both sides just for assurance.
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I ran into 5 problems. First the two of the lower sliding points on the backing plate for the shoes needed to be weld filled and ground smooth. The Passenger side e brake cable end ball would fit through the parking brake return spring(needed to file it down so it was round instead of oval). I welded the edge of the new brake shoes where it rides on the backing plate because two of them were flush with the friction material. The Forman adjuster didn’t have the slot for the drivers side cable to sit in so I cut a slot a little narrower then the original one.
The parking brake return spring wraps around, and clips into the parking brake arm, but the one I might have bent a bit removing wouldn’t stay clipped, so I took some bailing wire wrapped it through the hoop under the arm around the return spring, back under the arm, and twisted the bailing wire together.I did that for both sides just for assurance.
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I got My drums turned for $43 CAN out the door. One was out of round and took 4 hours, the other just took 2 hours. One hour for each pass. Only one place does it in town. It’s a shame you can’t, society has turned into a buy from China and toss away mentality. I would just buy the Chinese drums and get them turned 1000 miles away.Drum brakes are dumb. I know I know, they’re better, they’re still dumb. They’ll soon be a thing of the past. I’ve scoured my area for someone that will turn drums with no luck, and the Chinese shat that new drums are made of are shaped like an egg.
I recently picked up a D80 disc setup with LSD for 150 bucks. Needs a pinion seal, calipers, rotors, and e-brake equipment. I’m looking forward to getting rid of the drums.
If I was smart I would have laid down in the pissing rain, and mud, and removed the two rear e brake cables out of the truck at the junk yard, and maybe found an adjuster that wasn’t rusted to **** too. Could have saved myself $100 and the planet!
Everything cost me about $250 only because I had some left over por15 kicking around, and the shoes where $100 cheaper on Amazon. Would have been like $140 if I recycledthe cables and adjuster from another truck, but who knows they have many different lengths for the passenger side.
Cost and general PIA aside , the parking brake on the disc brake Dana 80 in my drw f350 worked pretty good. Same for the disc Sterling axles in the f250 and excursion.Tell us how much you like the discs after buying all that stuff, plus a different proportioning valve, and attempting to make the park brake to work.
Now all of those use a separate parking brake drum inside the brake disc rotor center and not the actual brake caliper like some aftermarket setups try to use
…
I don't doubt that. The Fords' parking brakes were designed from the cab to the axle. There wasn't any need to design and fabricate anything to make them work properly.Cost and general PIA aside , the parking brake on the disc brake Dana 80 in my drw f350 worked pretty good. Same for the disc Sterling axles in the f250 and excursion.
You might have to change the prop valve or the master clynd ( not sure ), there are hydraulic design differences between drums and disk calipers and have no parking brake.Drum brakes are dumb. I know I know, they’re better, they’re still dumb. They’ll soon be a thing of the past. I’ve scoured my area for someone that will turn drums with no luck, and the Chinese shat that new drums are made of are shaped like an egg.
I recently picked up a D80 disc setup with LSD for 150 bucks. Needs a pinion seal, calipers, rotors, and e-brake equipment. I’m looking forward to getting rid of the drums.
EDIT : Sorry GAmes covered this . my bad.
It’s on the list. Currently taking up a lot of room in my shed. I haven’t done a ton of research, but it was too cheap to pass up. Disc brake, lsd, d80 for 150…if anything I can recoup my money or just swap the lsd over.Tell us how much you like the discs after buying all that stuff, plus a different proportioning valve, and attempting to make the park brake to work.
The drums that I hate on my truck are currently working great. If I could find someone to turn drums this size it would take away some of my hate. I’ve spoken to everyone in a 50 mile radius of me. The ones that said they could do it ended up not being able to do it because of the size. Unreal when you talk to places that say they don’t turn them anymore, more cost efficient to buy new, wtf.
If they are working great why are you wanting to turn them or replace them? I was somewhere in the 800,000 mile range before I had to even remove my drums, much less replace them. I only had to because a wheel seal started leaking and I had to replace the shoes. The drums were replaced as well, " just because."The drums that I hate on my truck are currently working great. If I could find someone to turn drums this size it would take away some of my hate.
I want to turn them because I think they’re slightly out of round. I replaced everything a year ago and it’s a pain in the arse compared to discs. I get the advantages of drum brakes, but for me, I’d rather have disc. Again, there are many other things and research that come before this project.If they are working great why are you wanting to turn them or replace them? I was somewhere in the 800,000 mile range before I had to even remove my drums, much less replace them. I only had to because a wheel seal started leaking and I had to replace the shoes. The drums were replaced as well, " just because."
I just replaced rear brakes on my jeep last night and it took me longer to remove and reinstall the wheels than it did to r/r the brakes.
food channel LOLI’ll keep My drums. Every semi truck I’ve ever driven has them, and for good reason. They prevent dirt, and water from constantly bombarding the brakes. I’ve seen so many problems with rear discs it’s not even funny. When it comes to EV’s I’ll never get rid of My 12 valve, but the 2007 Honda CRV will go to some poor *** if I can make enough money, Ill get a RAV4 Prime.
This is what gives Me ultimate power and control through the week plus sugar free rockstar, decaf Swiss coffee, and Organic green tea from southern Japan. I call it the sausage, and egg Mcgrease! Olive oil in the pan to thaw and cook the sausages covered on low, and a jalapeño mayo from Costco. Made with good old cancerous canola oil. View attachment 975340
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For My next dose of healing My back pain other then stretching, and walking is to eat protein and vegetables. That’s about 2 weeks worth of coffee creamer. 😁 View attachment 975358
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I am driving a 2018 Freightliner disc all the way around. They are great! Our newer trailers have them. They work great. Stopping distances are shorter.Drums on a semi are slightly different than our hydraulic drums.
I have 2 Buick Lesabres. '97 with drum in the rear. A 2005 with 4 wheel disc. The 2005 seems mushy.
Gen1's like the GM wheel cylinders too from what I heard. Have to lightly bend the brake line because they have a slight angle to them.
Our fire trucks have discs and they stop great. I use to race cars in my non married, non kids days and they all had disc, they stopped on a dime. I wouldn’t think for a split second to put drums in either category.I am driving a 2018 Freightliner disc all the way around. They are great! Our newer trailers have them. They work great. Stopping distances are shorter.
I have 2 Buick Lesabres. '97 with drum in the rear. A 2005 with 4 wheel disc. The 2005 seems mushy.
Gen1's like the GM wheel cylinders too from what I heard. Have to lightly bend the brake line because they have a slight angle to them.
like @Antonm said, if zero resistance is what your looking for, drums might be the way to go. That and EV’s are low maintenance, car manufacturers might look at drums as getting more money from the consumer.
There are two advantages to disc brakes, neither of which is they stop the vehicle better. They cool quicker so you won't get brake fade as quickly and they are less liable to get contaminated by grease or water. For the record, the tires stop the vehicle, not the brakes. No traction, no stopping.
Less inspection and adjustments. In terms of replacement, pads are cheaper than shoes. Disc manage heat better, more consistent braking.There are two advantages to disc brakes, neither of which is they stop the vehicle better. They cool quicker so you won't get brake fade as quickly and they are less liable to get contaminated by grease or water. For the record, the tires stop the vehicle, not the brakes. No traction, no stopping.
In this conversation (rear), drum brakes are the better option. Both brakes have pros and cons. No one is putting drums on the front of anything.
I’m sure you’re exhaust brake has helped your pads last as long as they have.
Might be hard to get a socket into the valley of that bracket with them flipped, or if the nut has a flange on one side (hard to tell from the pic) it may hit the sides of the bracket before hitting bottom.Great and through job on the brakes.
Unrelated question, is the lower bracket for your air bag mounts upside down? Like shouldn't the flat side of the red circled brackets below be touching the springs and not the raised edges?
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I replaced the rear drums om my 93 3500 with some cheap ones from the internet. They were machined so out of round they were unusable. Ended up with some Bendix ones from Napa that were perfect. Drum brakes work fine if in good condition.I got My drums turned for $43 CAN out the door. One was out of round and took 4 hours, the other just took 2 hours. One hour for each pass. Only one place does it in town. It’s a shame you can’t, society has turned into a buy from China and toss away mentality. I would just buy the Chinese drums and get them turned 1000 miles away.
If I was smart I would have laid down in the pissing rain, and mud, and removed the two rear e brake cables out of the truck at the junk yard, and maybe found an adjuster that wasn’t rusted to **** too. Could have saved myself $100 and the planet!
Everything cost me about $250 only because I had some left over por15 kicking around, and the shoes where $100 cheaper on Amazon. Would have been like $140 if I recycledthe cables and adjuster from another truck, but who knows they have many different lengths for the passenger side.
21 - 35 of 35 Posts
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