I just had my brake drums measured and the fronts come in at 12.095 (!) and the rears were machined (without my knowledge obviously) all the way to 12.110 (!!!). Needless to say, the car is off the road until I find a new set of drums and have them shipped out to me pronto. I'll accept 12.060 as a maximum (12.080 is the factory maximum).
i have a nice pair of front ones i've been getting $250 on evilbay for them though what are you looking to spend on a front pair and do we ship them through a container or how do i get them to you cost of usps is way to much for the amount you will want to even pay for the drums i might have a set of rears as well, i'll look you would have to tell me how to ship them to you weight of 2 front drums together is 56 lbs. to 59 lbs let me know Greg
Fantastic news Greg! Do you have I.D. measurements for the drums? I'll get you to pack them individually and send them as four individual boxes - if that's not too much work. USPS is the most reliable, I use this page ( http://ircalc.usps.gov/default.asp?Mode=Intl_Single&CID=10013 ) I'll wait for the rear drum measurements before making a decision but it sounds good so far. Being so heavy I might have to wait the 4 to 6 week delivery time. Though I might have you just fly them out here and hang the expense. It's only money right?
Bill.......when you get some good drums, contrary to what any good brakeman will tell you, DON'T have them machined! If they're rusty beadblast them....or use emery cloth to clean them up. As long as they are not grooved, light scoring won't hurt anything. I was lucky to find a good set 10 years ago that is only about .030 or .040 over all the way around. I have used them through 3 sets of front shoes and 1 on the rear so far without any problems from not machining them. The worst thing you can do is have someone turn these drums....they are so large that a lot of material needs to be removed in order to clean up. And the less material left on the drum means less metal to absorb the heat......sometimes they will be fine when you first put them on, but when you heat them up they will warp b/c they're too thin and then they will pulsate. Good luck....I hope you can find a good set for your car! :beer
Which is exactly how mine feel now. When I took the drums off I found tha the material on the shoes was also cracked and glazed. I had a brake guy come around and measure them which is when we discovered the extent of the problem. If I could get a 12.060 set or less, I'll take your advice and only ever clean them with emery which is advice I wished I'd known before. Actually, I may have unearthed a set of front drums in Sydney. I'm currently waiting on an inside measurement to see if they're suitable.
I'll also give you guys a tip on measuring the ID of the drums.....since they're conveniently 12", you can use a 12'' machinists scale (which should be exactly 12") and a feeler guage to measure. The amount of the gap at the end of the scale is the amount of oversize......anything more than .060" is too much. This method is not precise, but close enough for the purpose. :Smarty:
ok i have a good set of front for sure i did not get the backs off yet dads day all weekend for me and we went on a road trip ; - ) anyways i checked into shipping as well the fronts weigh in at 28 and the other at 31 plus a pound for the cardboard i put down shipping on the fronts through usps would be $52 to $54 US to get to you and it states 4-6 weeks the rears , when i get them off i will measure them as well and weigh them for shipping Greg
Excellent. Looking forward to those measurements as soon as you're able. Shipping sounds about right. The Australian fronts I can get are good enough as it works out (12.040) but I still need a good set of rears.
Greg, I bought the fronts just to get me back on the road but they ended up measuring at 12.065 so I would still like to buy a good set of drums that are only one oversize (12.030?). Measuring is best done with a special brake drum measuring dial indicator with spherical ends. Any brake shop should be able to measure them. I still need a good set of rear drums as well.
went to a few brake places and they didn't want to bother with me went to the local fleet farm and menards and i am still looking for a calipur that goes big enough to measure these drums will keep at it there has to be someone around with a caliper to sell me that big Greg
I checked the ones I have. They measure 12 inches exactly, appear to have never been turned. They do need to be turned, but will clean up with a normal turning. The fronts are alum , the rears are cast iron. Let me know if you are interested . Jim Burek
