Stag rear brake drums

[Luigi]

Hi All,
I have a question about the brake drums, I have recently been cleaning up and painting all the running gear for my stag, so that once the body has been completed, I have all the bits ready to go on,, nice and clean and protected,
I have started cleaning up the brake drums today and found the inside to be rusty and rough to the touch, if I wire brush them and rub some sand paper around, they become smooth but not nice and shiny, the question is do they need to be polished and smooth, or just smooth and let the brake shoes shine them once fitted? Or is it better to just replace them?. IMG_0867.jpg IMG_0868.jpg
many thanks
Luigi

[DJT]

My experience with new replacements was not good. I have the refitted the originals.

[jbuckl]

Hi All,
I have a question about the brake drums, I have recently been cleaning up and painting all the running gear for my stag, so that once the body has been completed, I have all the bits ready to go on,, nice and clean and protected,
I have started cleaning up the brake drums today and found the inside to be rusty and rough to the touch, if I wire brush them and rub some sand paper around, they become smooth but not nice and shiny, the question is do they need to be polished and smooth, or just smooth and let the brake shoes shine them once fitted? Or is it better to just replace them?. IMG_0867.jpg IMG_0868.jpg
many thanks
Luigi

The friction surface appears to be pitted when zoomed in.

Any more detail pictures available?

Have skimmed a few stag drums, usually just to remove wear lips, not pitting.

[Luigi]

Hi jbuckl,

thanks for your reply, will take some closer pictures for you tomorrow, just need to know if these drums can be reused or not really….
DJT has said he had problems with new ones,

luigi

[DJT]

The new ones I purchased a few years ago to try and resolve a vibration from the rear have too much material around the rim as indicated in the photo. This catches on the brake shoes as the drum rotates and it can be heard/felt when brakes are being used. If you have access to a lathe, I am sure this can be removed. They are on my shelf here in Exeter if you want them.

I have just checked and I bought them from a well-known supplier in the NW in 2018 and have done 20,000 miles. When I brought the problem to the attention of the suppliers I got the usual 'never had a problem and they are the best available' response. The vibration was down to the undersized wheel nuts from the same supplier. OE wheel nuts cured the vibration, but I didn't get around to refitting the original drums until this year.

IMG_0429.jpg

[Luigi]

Hi DJT,

thanks very much for your reply, I will take some better pictures today and post later, maybe from there we can decide what is the best to do, it’s a shame that once these products are purchased from a supplier they really don’t want to know if things go wrong,

luigi

[Luigi]

Hi All
As promised a few more photos of my drums, they do look a little pitted as was mentioned, but feel very smooth, it’s almost like a staining, this is the best I can get them with a wire brush and some wet and dry…
IMG_0871.jpg IMG_0869.jpg

many thanks
luigi

[MandM]

someone has already had a go at the outside lip on the drum, but may not have done the inside ridge, if they were mine i would add a small chamfer to the shoes edge that meets the inside edge of the drum, the first edge on the shoe you see and try them

[Luigi]

someone has already had a go at the outside lip on the drum, but may not have done the inside ridge, if they were mine i would add a small chamfer to the shoes edge that meets the inside edge of the drum, the first edge on the shoe you see and try them

Thanks MandM,
I will do that.. and take it from there
luigi

[jbuckl]

Yes, the close ups show that someone has tried removing the lip with a hand held grinder probably.

With the current info to hand, I’d be skimming a pair of original drums…

there’s a large likelihood there’s another lip at the bottom of the friction surface too.

additionally…

I’d be checking the wheel runout at the tyre.

Bolt wheels on with 2 slave conical nuts to a low torque.

Next fit the 2 real nuts & tighten.

replace the conical nuts.

this should centre the wheels at least.

the original alloys do not self centre

undersized nuts allow large wheel runout. ( so to speak)

[Luigi]

Yes, the close ups show that someone has tried removing the lip with a hand held grinder probably.

With the current info to hand, I’d be skimming a pair of original drums…

there’s a large likelihood there’s another lip at the bottom of the friction surface too.

additionally…

I’d be checking the wheel runout at the tyre.

Bolt wheels on with 2 slave conical nuts to a low torque.

Next fit the 2 real nuts & tighten.

replace the conical nuts.

this should centre the wheels at least.

the original alloys do not self centre

undersized nuts allow large wheel runout. ( so to speak)

Hi jbuckl, thanks for the info and reply, do you suspect that these drums are not original?? And that I should be on the lookout for originals to skim?
All advice very much appreciated,
luigi