‘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

 

[Pat MM]

I got to do this very thing on the back of my Bugeye in 1988 on the way to a Sprite 30th anniversary event in Santa Cruz. I had swapped shoes and one side was a bit tight but I didn’t want to put the worn out old shoes back on and at my brother’s house near Boulder Creek, we were too busy painting the car into the wee hours of that morning to remember the brake issue. We had driven the wonderfully twisty Highway 9 and I started smelling brakes. I pulled into an old cemetery and used a cement curb to abrade away some shoe material while my fiancé calmly sat and heckled me. It was fine for the rest of the trip! Lesson learned about all nighters and the ensuing brain fog…