Can't say I wasn't warned....

[Gerald Morris]

Greetings C Body Moparians,

I had installed some crap modern brake shoes along with RayWorstos drums about 2 1/2 yrs ago, rationalizing then that "this was all there was" and I was in a hurry. I didn't like the crap material in the brake shoes I got from VatoZone, but deluded myself with notions of their warranty, which doubtless could be invoked for the **** shoes themselves, but what of the drum that got scored last Sunday when the secondary shoe, front driver side just CRUMBLED?!

The scoring from the metal shoe backing shows clearly on this drum, which I drove on 1 week ago to church, then home, where I promptly jacked the car up, pulled the drum, used MOST UNSPIRITUAL LANGUAGE, then began a frantic search for a replacement set of shoes and a quick source for a new drum. But alas! 56 yr old Chryslers no longer warrant having replacement parts in stock at the convenience auto-part stores on Sundays.....

Such BLESSINGS I accrue without knowing them at first!

I Ubered to my storage locker, got a set of rear shoes, and slapped a 2.5 inch secondary into that front assembly, figuring that the new cheap shoe would smooth the scoring down some for the few days I would be forced to use it. I've resorted to such expedients before on other all-drum rides. It worked some, though I still will have the drum turned, and store it as a spare.

The NEW drums impress me considerably more than the old stuff. I found a new brand called "Dynamic Friction Company" at Rock Auto, and checked them out. Turns out they're a NEW U.S. outfit! They balance their drums, and paint them with some decent high temperature coating, so the outside of the drum is protected from weather. Best of all: I could get a PAIR of these for slightly LESS than a SINGLE Raybestos drum under the O'Reilly brand! THAT DECIDED US HERE! I ordered some new dust caps from Rick Ehrenberg the same Monday I ordered the DFC drums, which arrived Saturday afternoon.

The NOS shoes installed easily enough, along with some new hardware I extracted from my horde to help insure a good, long-lived service for these venerable asbestos shoes. I measured the spacing of the adjuster at 0.3725" with my trusty West German Craftsman vernier calipers, and this is exactly what I'll set the passenger side to next Saturday.

After settling on that measurement, I replaced the dust cap, and took a pic of the new drum.

The test drive went MOST satisfactorily. I'll post you all if anything extraordinary happens. I think this Dynamic Friction outfit might help folks out with brake drums AND disks. Check them out here:

Dynamicfriction.com - America's Preferred Automotive Brakes Manufactuer - Home

 

[live4theking]

This is good information. It will be good to know how they work out for you.

 

[mrfury68]

Don't forget our fellow member and vendor here, Craig @ mobile parts. He has the good quality parts our old cars need. Give him a call. 516-485-1935

 

[Gerald Morris]

Don't forget our fellow member and vendor here, Craig @ mobile parts. He has the good quality parts our old cars need. Give him a call. 516-485-1935

I NEVER FORGET Craig, but have yet needed to resort to him. That's likely to soon change, as I've not seen 11x2.5" NOS shoes from anyone. I usually do fairly well picking up Old Gold on my own.... Thx for the reminder though.

 

[mobileparts]

If anyone looks at the brake drums illustrated , they say 260 mm...
++ WE ++ don't measure that way -- ++WE ++ call them 11"..... They measure them that way....
(Made by Xiang Lee.... Not even Sara Lee....)

"I have not had to resort to him yet".... Nice to know I
am number # 460 on your list.... That will endear myself to you...
Smart people like Mr.Fury68, who went out of his way to help you, consider me # 1 -- and gets EXTRA discount because of his allegiance... I appreciate Great People.....

 

[USSMOPAR]

The OP's attention to detail is nice
I would like to suggest based on decades of practical experence with drum braking systems the following: Instead of hunting down NOS brake shoes/linings you should try carbon-metallic linings. Velvetouch linings have been NS1 [unavailable] for years but this lining material works almost as well.

I have outfitted numerous cars with both types of linings over the last 40 yrs and the braking performance is fantastic and fade is non existent unless you get them cooking. Any competent brake relining company can set you up with shoes and arc them to fit the drums correctly. It use to be $45/axle set.

You should seriously consider putting these linings in, however based on the way things are on here i won't be surprised if some one comes on here and dispute the provided information based on nothing

 

[Gerald Morris]

If anyone looks at the brake drums illustrated , they say 260 mm...
++ WE ++ don't measure that way -- ++WE ++ call them 11"..... They measure them that way....
(Made by Xiang Lee.... Not even Sara Lee....)

"I have not had to resort to him yet".... Nice to know I
am number # 460 on your list.... That will endear myself to you...
Smart people like Mr.Fury68, who went out of his way to help you, consider me # 1 -- and gets EXTRA discount because of his allegiance... I appreciate Great People.....

Actually you're looking VERY LIKELY Craig. Now, do me up on some 11"x2.5" shoes, and we can start business.

 

[Gerald Morris]

The OP's attention to detail is nice
I would like to suggest based on decades of practical experence with drum braking systems the following: Instead of hunting down NOS brake shoes/linings you should try carbon-metallic linings. Velvetouch linings have been NS1 [unavailable] for years but this lining material works almost as well.

I have outfitted numerous cars with both types of linings over the last 40 yrs and the braking performance is fantastic and fade is non existent unless you get them cooking. Any competent brake relining company can set you up with shoes and arc them to fit the drums correctly. It use to be $45/axle set.

You should seriously consider putting these linings in, however based on the way things are on here i won't be surprised if some one comes on here and dispute the provided information based on nothing

I HAVE considered metalo-carbon shoes recently, and if some Wise Elf makes a set for my rear brakes available for a Righteous Price, I'll happily try them out. I like nothing better than goo9d old fashioned experiment upon which to base my hypotheses. Say I use asbestos shoe linings all around, then some hobbit drops a complete set of modern carbon-metallic shoes around, which I can then try 40k miles down the road (God willing no less!) I can then see how they stack up against each other for myself.

I'll have some concrete data for the NOS front brakes soon enough now, upon which I may then opine about the Glories of the Elder Daze. Since I like 50-something Mopars more than anything in the way of personal motor transport, I'm just apt to be prejudiced, but this too comes from my own admittedly subjective experience.

 

[Gerald Morris]

The OP's attention to detail is nice....
You should seriously consider putting these linings in, however based on the way things are on here i won't be surprised if some one comes on here and dispute the provided information based on nothing

I'm NOW more inclined than before to consider your suggestion, and thank you for it. I've been investigating the new vendor I've bought from, Dynamic Friction Company and I LIKE what I see! For one thing, they vend metallo-ceramic pads, very similar to the metallo-carbon stuff. I like NOS stuff when I can get it, but too much material clearly got concentrated into the sticky paws of narcissistic petty capitalists who will let the stuff rust to powder before making their ill gotten horde available to Working Men at anything like honest market value. Thus, the Burning Question of "What is to be Done?" arises, and new producers, especially technological innovators, merit our business FAR more than pouting thin skinned little bitchy-boys with their rusting moribund toys from yesteryear......

And DFC fits the bill as an innovator! Despite some possible signs of them doing part of their business with the Dread Yellow Red Devils / Check these guys out here:

DFC Launches New Ceramic Brake Pads | The BRAKE Report

This outfit IS bona-fide U.S. too, as can be seen here: Dino Crescentini | Co-founder of Dynamic Friction Company | The BRAKE Report