Question about front drums on 68 Fury

furyfever

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I have a 68 Fury-383 2 door hardtop with a 2 barrel carb. I took the front drums and shoes into my trusted local brake shop to get them turned the other day. I've been having nothing but trouble with these brakes...pulling/squealing/heating up. The last thing left at this point is the front shoes and drums. Everything else has been replaced. He took one look and said right away the shoe material was chinese junk and that they're no good. He'd get me good shoes with modern material/turn drums/grind shoes to fit same arc as drums. He called me the next day and said one of the drums is bad. Can't be turned...not enough meat left on it and it had a lot of run out as well. So I asked him to measure width of inside surface of drum. He said they're 3" so they're obviously 11" x 3" drums. He measured the width of the shoes and said they're are 2 3/4".

Question: Is it possible this car had 3" wide shoes on it originally and that in the last 50 years someone put 2 3/4" shoes on it? I did notice in my searching that there's 2 3/4" wide drums available too...If the drums are 3" wide shouldn't the car have 3" wide shoes as well? I can correct this now if this is what it should have. Any insight is appreciated. TY, Bob
 
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I have a 68 Fury-383 3 door hardtop with a 2 barrel carb. I took the front drums and shoes into my trusted local brake shop to get them turned the other day. I've been having nothing but trouble with these brakes...pulling/squealing/heating up. The last thing left at this point is the front shoes and drums. Everything else has been replaced. He took one look and said right away the shoe material was chinese junk and that they're no good. He'd get me good shoes with modern material/turn drums/grind shoes to fit same arc as drums. He called me the next day and said one of the drums is bad. Can't be turned...not enough meat left on it and it had a lot of run out as well. So I asked him to measure width of inside surface of drum. He said they're 3" so they're obviously 11" x 3" drums. He measured the width of the shoes and said they're are 2 3/4".

Question: Is it possible this car had 3" wide shoes on it originally and that in the last 50 years someone put 2 3/4" shoes on it? I did notice in my searching that there's 2 3/4" wide drums available too...If the drums are 3" wide shouldn't t he car have 3" wide shoes as well? I can correct this now if this is what it should have. Any insight is appreciated. TY, Bob
I have some drums from a 68 Fury if you need 1 or 2.
 
People put the wrong stuff on all the time.

Yes, you should have 3" shoes on your car.
 
Rock Auto has 11 x 3 Raybestos organic in stock $41.79 plus shipping & Wagoners for $25.79. Both look to be bonded however
 
I would think that there was an issue some years back and the wrong parts were used and then an effort was made to correct the mistake. 3 inch shoes, like 2 3/4 require the hydraulic piston to push on the center web of the shoe to ensure the pressure is equal on both the outside and inside edge of the shoe. So if the pistons are original and the piston extensions rods are not tilted in any way, one would think 2 3/4 were correct. Perhaps due to unavailabilty or cost savings, 3 inch drums were mounted which should work with a narrower shoe that centers on the piston center line. On the other hand if the wrong pistons are installed with 3 inch shoes the shoes may tilt and have more pressure on the inboard edge of the shoe and result in really wonky braking. I'd install what ever the original parts should be weather 2 3/4 or 3 inch and make sure the pistons, shoes and drums are matched.
 
If you're going to Carlisle I have front power 3" drums and newer (2014) Raybestos shoes from a 69 383. Looking at the parts books for both years, they may be the same part numbers if your car was equipped with the trailer tow package.

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Thank you for all the replies. I ordered 2 new Raybestos 3" wide drums on Wednesday and received them yesterday. Wound up being $70.00 each including tax. Not bad...I'll take them into the brake shop tomorrow and instead of asking him to reline the 2 3/4" shoes I brought in...I'll have him get some 3" shoes and reline them with the modern braking material. Hopefully this will fix my braking problems. Especially after reading Big John's reply, my guess is that the 3" drums were original and the 2 3/4" shoes were not.

And after reading Yatzee's reply, now I'll be on the lookout for the wheel cylinder pistons to line right up nicely with the notch in the shoes. Seems like I've seen issues with this in the past on previous brake jobs I've done on my rides.
 
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If the drum is drum is 4 1/2" from flange to the inside you have 3" brakes. If it is 4" flange to inside you have 2 3/4" brakes. The machined area in the drum is 3" or better on both 2 3/4 and 3"
 
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