39-48 brake drums

[charlesea]

What is the minimum thickness of these drums be turned and still be usable?
Thanks

[V8COOPMAN]

They can not be LEGALLY turned to an inside diameter exceeding 12.060". In other words, ya can't cut 'em more than 0.060". A legitimate shop knows this, and will not turn them any more than that. DD

[George/Maine]

I think in the day I don't think they cared about that.
Those drum have lot of meat.
Today the cars don't get many miles.
What they are worried about is shoes worn down and not being adjusted and popping the wheels cylinder.

[Charlie Stephens]

Originally Posted by George/Maine

I think in the day I don't think they cared about that.
Those drum have lot of meat.
Today the cars don't get many miles.
What they are worried about is shoes worn down and not being adjusted and popping the wheels cylinder.

I agree with what you say, but what about the moral dilemma, what if you have an accident because you couldn't stop quick enough? Then there is the legal dilemma. If you had an accident because you couldn't stop quick enough the other party's lawyer would probably have your car torn apart in front of witnesses and checked to find the reason you couldn't stop quick enough. You and the shop that turned the drums would have a lot of explaining to do (and probably writing checks).

Charlie Stephens

[Automotive Stud]

Originally Posted by Charlie Stephens

I agree with what you say, but what about the moral dilemma, what if you have an accident because you couldn't stop quick enough? Then there is the legal dilemma. If you had an accident because you couldn't stop quick enough the other party's lawyer would probably have your car torn apart in front of witnesses and checked to find the reason you couldn't stop quick enough. You and the shop that turned the drums would have a lot of explaining to do (and probably writing checks).

Charlie Stephens

That seems a little far fetched. More than likely if you put the car back together and don't feel that it stops adequately you'll be inclined to search for a better set of drums on your own.

[Charlie Stephens]

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[QUOTE}I agree with what you say, but what about the moral dilemma, what if you have an accident because you couldn't stop quick enough? Then there is the legal dilemma. If you had an accident because you couldn't stop quick enough the other party's lawyer would probably have your car torn apart in front of witnesses and checked to find the reason you couldn't stop quick enough. You and the shop that turned the drums would have a lot of explaining to do (and probably writing checks).

Charlie Stephens[/QUOTE]

Originally Posted by Automotive Stud

That seems a little far fetched. More than likely if you put the car back together and don't feel that it stops adequately you'll be inclined to search for a better set of drums on your own.

Your statement is true but I always look at the worst case scenario.

Charlie Stephens

[tubman]

The worst case scenario is that the other lawyer claims you were negligent because you were running obsolete brakes (no matter what shape they were in) and were therefore liable.

[19Fordy]

Charlie is correct. You can be sure that lawyers today will examine EVERYTHING if an accident results in death or severe life changing injury. That's one reason why cars are impounded. .060 in. could change your lifestyle.

[George/Maine]

The topic is turning drums over limit. If you had a piston ring 3 1/2' and had a gap 0f .060
Now take that same ring and put it in a 3 3/4 bore the gap wouls be much larger, so its possible
to pop wheel cylinder.Today there are few with shoes to bare steel.
In all the cars i have had never turned drums.
12" drum will stop maybe even better then 9" drum.
Any coments are cars in the 1900 to 1948 most gas stations in the day did,nt have turning machine.
In the 50s the peple were not so uptight like today. So do your own thing.

[V8COOPMAN]

Originally Posted by George/Maine

The topic is turning drums over limit. If you had a piston ring 3 1/2' and had a gap 0f .060
Now take that same ring and put it in a 3 3/4 bore the gap wouls be much larger, so its possible
to pop wheel cylinder.Today there are few with shoes to bare steel.
In all the cars i have had never turned drums.
12" drum will stop maybe even better then 9" drum.
Any coments are cars in the 1900 to 1948 most gas stations in the day did,nt have turning machine.
In the 50s the peple were not so uptight like today. So do your own thing.

So, if I'm to believe your wisdom, gas stations in the first half of the 20th century didn't have the necessary maintenance equipment to satisfy the "uptight" folks of current times, and everyone with crummy brakes in the '50s just didn't give a rat's butt, and just didn't care that their vehicles couldn't stop reliably any more.....A-FRIGGEN'-MAZING! DD

[George/Maine]

Story time.
I guess you folks out west don,t know what you are doing.
Friend had brake job done in texas, and had to stop twice on his way to Maine.
The braking were failing.
He says what worng with the brakes. So i pull the drums and what they did was put the self adjusters on wrong side.So one side was backing off.
Any way do you under stand why you don,t turn drums over size.

[19Fordy]

Illogical thinking will not correct an abviously bad decision.

[russcc]

The wheel cylinder over extension argument doesn't make sense, as there has always been shim stock available for or use between the shoe and friction material. If you need some, let me know, and I will direct to you to the source.

[Kube]

Originally Posted by Charlie Stephens

I agree with what you say, but what about the moral dilemma, what if you have an accident because you couldn't stop quick enough? Then there is the legal dilemma. If you had an accident because you couldn't stop quick enough the other party's lawyer would probably have your car torn apart in front of witnesses and checked to find the reason you couldn't stop quick enough. You and the shop that turned the drums would have a lot of explaining to do (and probably writing checks).

Charlie Stephens

You are on the correct path here. Many of you guys may recall when you could buy "cheap" brake pads - that was back in the early 1980's. Then you might also recall that all of a sudden you could no longer buy anything less than what the manufacture recommended.
Why?
Because a family was killed in Illinois back then and as it turned out - "cheap" pads had failed and the driver was unable to stop.

[JM 35 Sedan]

The bottom line is having good brakes on any vehicle should be top priority. Don't cut corners on cost. Instead of spending money on fancy accessories and other bling to make your car look cool, put that money where it matters most..

[fordwife]

An old timer once said: don't look for bargains in fire extinguishers, parachutes, and brake parts.

[Drbrown]

Side note: Where ever I go to get my NYS car inspection done every year they are suppose to check the brakes. Never saw an inspector remove a drum but they always approve it and put the sticker on. They don't want to spend the time for the dictated $21.00 fee. I never put more than a 1000m on a year, car came with new shoes, so I'm personally okay with it for now. It in good condition, would seem an annual Inspection Certificate could help negate any legal questions.

[PeterC]

Originally Posted by JM 35 Sedan

The bottom line is having good brakes on any vehicle should be top priority. Don't cut corners on cost. Instead of spending money on fancy accessories and other bling to make your car look cool, put that money where it matters most..

Agreed John - when I first got my 35 Coupe the brakes were marginal at best - needed to drive it prior to rebuild and found myself on a down hill headed for a busy intersection. It did manage to stop ok on level but boy ... with that grade it was “down hill” from there ... even though I was driving carefully at low speed that Coupe was not responding to the need ... I gave all I had literally standing on that brake pedal and also pulled the emergency brake hade full .... it was like I was suggesting slowing down - while I did creep through the red light luck was with me and nothing bad happened - will never forget that sickening feeling of little proper stopping power and the Coupe was immediately retired for restoration. Happy to report that both 35 and 39 Coupes stop on a dime with superior pedal feel and braking action ... great piece of mind for sure.

[Kube]

Originally Posted by George/Maine

Story time.
I guess you folks out west don,t know what you are doing.
Friend had brake job done in texas, and had to stop twice on his way to Maine.
The braking were failing.
He says what worng with the brakes. So i pull the drums and what they did was put the self adjusters on wrong side.So one side was backing off.
Any way do you under stand why you don,t turn drums over size.

Huh?

[blucar]

What is not acceptable now in the way of brake and suspension repairs was the norm in the early '60's, and before.
I worked in several service stations during my early teens. I had taken three years of Auto Shop in high school, receiving a certificate from IFHS for having completed the course. The only auto repair shop that I worked at during my teens that asked for certification of my ability, was the local Chevy garage and Standard Oil, Inc.
We did not have a drum turning machine in the school shop, nor did I ever see a brake machine in any of the service stations I worked at. If the drums on a vehicle needed to be turned, they were sent out to a machine shop. We did repair wheel cylinders, honing them out with a wheel cylinder hone. It was not a common practice to replace wheel cylinders with new ones.
In 1960-61, my '36 Ford needed some brake work. I pulled the drums, which were '41's at the time, they were badly scored so I took them to a local machine shop to have them tuned. When I got the drums back I was told that they would not clean up at 12.060 so they had to turn them out to 12.090, which would require shimming the shoes. Since the shoes had been relined with riveted shoes, shimming was not a problem.
In 1962 I decided I did not like the '39-41 brakes that I had put on the car in '52, I also did not like the '41 wheels so I converted the brakes to '42-48 with '39 drums, which allowed me to use my stock '36 wheels.
I never had a problem with the shimmed brake shoes while they were on my car. I sold them to a friend of mine about tens years ago, he wanted brakes for a rat rod he was building.