‘59 Sprite Front Drum brakes

[Ed59]

I just replaced my front driver’s side wheel bearings with a Tapered bearing set. I also replaced brake shoes and new drum.

When I assembled the new drum onto the wheel it has a lot of friction. I can barely turn the drum/hub. I have the two adjusters backed off to the minimum.

The brake cylinders are working well and are at the most open state.

When I install the new hub there is too much friction. I ended up putting the old drum back on and it worked perfectly.

Do the new drums need to be turned down to a certain dimension?

Does anyone have any tips on this?
Thank you
Ed

 

[BobHaskell]

I just replaced my front driver’s side wheel bearings with a Tapered bearing set. I also replaced brake shoes and new drum.

When I assembled the new drum onto the wheel it has a lot of friction. I can barely turn the drum/hub. I have the two adjusters backed off to the minimum.

The brake cylinders are working well and are at the most open state.

When I install the new hub there is too much friction. I ended up putting the old drum back on and it worked perfectly.

Do the new drums need to be turned down to a certain dimension?

Does anyone have any tips on this?
Thank you
Ed

Assuming that the new drum was manufactured correctly and the inside diameter is correct, one would sand/grind the brake shoes to match the drum. Here's a video on youtube that shows it's done.

I've had to do this for the rear brakes on our 3000 - with the original drums. The shoes had too much material.

 

[Ed59]

Thank you very much. This looks exactly like what is needed. I will take the drum off and inspect it for arcing issue and try to find a local shop that can do this work. In this video I learned there is more to the process of bedding the brake shoes for the first time. The host mentioned running the car and cycling the brakes and letting them cool down a number of time to “bed” them properly. I’ll have to see about the best way to do this. Thanks again