A few questions about 11" drum brakes....I did research

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A few questions about 11" drum brakes....I did research

Post by 97CargoCrawler »

So I'm gonna upgrade to 11" in the rear and I have a few questions...

I'm basing my parts search on a 1996 Chevy Caprice.

I see the drums are 4" wide in most of the descriptions but the hardware often says for "11 X 2in". Are there thinner drums available? I didn't see any.

I was doing a little research in old posts and I saw that somebody had difficulty with the wheel cylinder pistons falling out because there was some sort of pin missing that goes into the ends of the cylinder. Does those pins come with a new set of cylinders or do you have to buy them separately? I did not see anything like that for sale by themselves or in a rebuild kit. I'm not going to the JY to look either.

I also saw there was some debate over the 7/8" bore and 1" bore cylinders. Does it matter?

I was going to buy all brand name parts from Rock Auto but as it turns out they want $75 for shipping because they need to ship from multiple locations. If I buy the crappy "Brake Best" brand from O'Reilly it's actually cheaper and shipping looks to be free. Is it worth buying Raybestos and Wagner hardware? I would imagine it's all made pretty much the same. I will be buying top brand shoes but the nuts, bolts and levers can be cheapo right?

I already ordered the backing plates....those were very expensive. Like $85 shipped. The rest of this crap is only like $200. So it's not too bad if the results are good. I'm adding a lot of weight to my van and slapping on huge tires soon so I want more stopping power. I'm also gonna do the 3500 calipers in front too. I need to research that a bit more to see if I already have them. I upgraded calipers when I put on the spindles but I don't remember what I bought.

Does anyone have a good photo of the internals? I need to be sure I order everything I need.

Thanks!

:cheers:
1997 SAFARI 2WD CARGO
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1Gary
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Re: A few questions about 11" drum brakes....I did research

Post by 1Gary »

You know who has all the answers??. It's Skip.He has it on his chase balloon van.PM him.
1979 Malibu drag race only car
1999 Sonoma 4.3 5 speed-Rufus
1989 Astro-Ole Yellar cancelled-still selling off parts
1985 Astro-shop van R.I.P. my friend
1994 Astro LT RWD W4.3 rod knock RIP
1982 Winnebago single rear wheel-Chevy 350 Scraped 1/28/13-broken dreams......


Rochester,NY

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Re: A few questions about 11" drum brakes....I did research

Post by 97CargoCrawler »

I thought you did it too? I was reading posts on the old IKON board and I thought I saw you ranting and raving about it...no?

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Re: A few questions about 11" drum brakes....I did research

Post by 97CargoCrawler »

OK

I have sourced everything but #18 the parking brake lever. I found #19 the pins and #9 which I didn't even know about until I saw this breakdown. So now I'm searching for #18....

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Re: A few questions about 11" drum brakes....I did research

Post by 97CargoCrawler »

Hmmm...this #18 parking brake lever is elusive. I have found it on multiple sites as available for the 9.5" brakes but no listing for 11". The one website I trust (GMPartsGiant) does not make a distinction for that part as to which size. Everything else they list has a distinction. This leads me to believe that part is interchangeable? Damn. I wish I knew since it's like $20 a pop.

It also looks like there are several types of backing plates. Some have the shoe guide pin built in and others have it as a separate part. I guess I'll have to wait and see what plate I get.

I went through this same crap when I did my spindles and upgraded to 1500 series parts. Trying to find backing plates and building it up from scratch. Fewer parts with disc brakes though.

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Re: A few questions about 11" drum brakes....I did research

Post by 97CargoCrawler »

^%$%$#$#$! ](*,) ](*,) ](*,) ](*,)

The place I got the backing plates ordered from sends me an email saying oh sorry those are discontinued. However, we found them at GM Vintage parts and oh by the way the cost has now doubled. They were selling them for $32 each and upped it to $71. I looked 'em up at Vintage and they want $65. I cancelled the old order and placed a new one at Vintage. Now this is getting expensive.

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Re: A few questions about 11" drum brakes....I did research

Post by astroturf »

Do they have Junk Yards in Cali?

Thanks, Jim
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Re: A few questions about 11" drum brakes....I did research

Post by Smiliesafari »

You're going to be a lot better off if you go to a salvage yard to get everything. Here in central Fl. you can buy a complete rearend for around $150. There's a bizzilion old Caprices out there. And yes, the drums will be 11"x2". The other option is full size Buicks. Roadmasters to be exact. You might also look at full size Oldsmobiles and Cadillacs. On the matter of wheel cylinder size Buick Roadmaster station wagons used 1" cylinders and sedans used 7/8" cylinders. Because of the weight of my van I chose the 1" cylinders. If you do a search you should find a post that I made listing all of the parts and numbers. Good luck.
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Re: A few questions about 11" drum brakes....I did research

Post by 97CargoCrawler »

Junk yards, Yes but I'm lazy. They also charge a fortune for junk. Mostly though, I'm lazy. I'd rather spend some $$$ and have it delivered to my door instead of spending days trying to find something. I have so many projects going on that I don't have any time to waste poking around hoping I get lucky. Looking online at work....well that's not too bad. Besides, if I go to the JY I'll end up spending more anyway and then have to find a place to cram all those unnecessary parts I picked up along the way. :D

I looked at all the old threads and used many of those part numbers. I found everything I need except for the parking brake lever. Tracking that down now.

I think this is the proper reference # for the lever:

AC Delco #179-670

And they aint cheap.

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Re: A few questions about 11" drum brakes....I did research

Post by 97CargoCrawler »

Will I be able to use 15" wheels after the upgrade or do I need 16+?
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Re: A few questions about 11" drum brakes....I did research

Post by Smiliesafari »

I have Cragar Soft Eights, 15-8. They work fine.
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Re: A few questions about 11" drum brakes....I did research

Post by 97CargoCrawler »

Cool, Thanks! I'm wheel shopping right now and I just wanted to be sure.
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Re: A few questions about 11" drum brakes....I did research

Post by 1Gary »

You can shop junk yard parts on line in this link:

www.car-part.com
1979 Malibu drag race only car
1999 Sonoma 4.3 5 speed-Rufus
1989 Astro-Ole Yellar cancelled-still selling off parts
1985 Astro-shop van R.I.P. my friend
1994 Astro LT RWD W4.3 rod knock RIP
1982 Winnebago single rear wheel-Chevy 350 Scraped 1/28/13-broken dreams......


Rochester,NY

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Re: A few questions about 11" drum brakes....I did research

Post by 97CargoCrawler »

I have 80lbs worth of new 11" brake parts on the way! I still need to source one more parking brake lever. Those seem quite rare as I was only able to find one new one. I may have found something else that will work but they have both left and right and I'm not sure yet what side my backing plates are going to be.

As soon as I have everything together I will post a detailed parts list. I have had a hard time getting info on this upgrade. Just a lot of people saying they have done it but no pix and little part number info. I can tell you that if you want all new parts, you're looking at about $400. Reading posts from a few years back it looks like the cost was about $200 then.

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Re: A few questions about 11" drum brakes....I did research

Post by 97CargoCrawler »

Got a large package tonight with goodies:

Image

I'm still waiting on the pins that go in the wheel cylinders, one more strut and lever kit for the parking brake and #9 in the breakdown. Provided everything is for the correct side I should be good to go. This stuff is going to sit for months though until I'm ready to overhaul my entire axle. I will build it at some point to make sure I have everything I need. Would hate to find I'm missing some non-existent part in the middle of the job.

I will post more photos and part numbers as soon as I have a complete kit. Perhaps sometime next week.

These drums are HUGE! They measure 14" across!
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