1948 F-1 Drums from Mid Fifty
 

Anyone else have problems with these? I'm about to give them a call.
I installed them about a week ago and have judder upon brake application and
a shake at anything better than 60 on the freeway.
I had installed new shoes and carefully cleaned the braking surface of the new drums with soap and water.

So yesterday (out of disgust) I reinstalled the "original" front drums after
cleaning and lightly scuffing their braking surface with garnet paper.
Interestingly, I now have no judder upon braking and no shake at any freeway speed.... although I only went to 80. I suspect these "originals" are the ND 4401455 Napa drums (1986 F-150 rears)....... since I just read a post on here about them yesterday. That's what they look like anyway.

Re: 1948 F-1 Drums from Mid Fifty
 

Usually that problem is solved by having the drums trued on a brake lathe. With most old car parts being made overseas, drums are cast then boxed and shipped without checking runout. It doesn't take much to cause trouble. Today, there are no brake rotors made in the US, according to a reliable trade magazine just received at our shop. For a very long time we put all rotors or drums on the brake lathe, and many do require correction.

Re: 1948 F-1 Drums from Mid Fifty
 

Interesting. I'm not familiar with the process of having to put ALL drums / rotors on the lathe prior to install...... and I'm from the brake industry (but haven't been involved since 2008).
Rhetorical question- have things gotten that bad?
I think on these particular drums you may be able to true the friction surface on the lathe but I suspect they may come up short as far as balance is concerned.

Re: 1948 F-1 Drums from Mid Fifty
 

If they are the later F-150 drums (which I use on F-1 spindles) they should be wider than the brake shoes.

Re: 1948 F-1 Drums from Mid Fifty
 

I think they are. Maybe 1/2" or so.......

Re: 1948 F-1 Drums from Mid Fifty
 

Sound about right. I don't know about now, but a year or so ago I purchased a lot of brake stuff (including the drums) for very good prices off of Rock Auto. These were NOS USA made parts. I thought it was a very good deal!

Re: 1948 F-1 Drums from Mid Fifty
 

I have found a front drum on a '72 Nova (replacement) where the entire brake surface had been machined off-center in the drum, non-concentric with the stud hole circle, making it heavy on one side. DD

Re: 1948 F-1 Drums from Mid Fifty
 

In the shops I worked in we always took a clean up cut on drums and rotors, you never know how they have been treated before you got them.

Re: 1948 F-1 Drums from Mid Fifty
 

You scored on that deal. Rock has only rears listed now. I bought the Raybestos brand from them and thought I had fronts (should have looked at the listing more carefully) and when they arrived I was surprised:eek:
Beside being rear, they are also the Raybestos "R" drums...... which I've heard
nothing conclusive on as far as quality. I'll keep them for spares and burn that bridge when (if) I get there.

Re: 1948 F-1 Drums from Mid Fifty
 

I'm a bit confused here, the rear drums are the ones you need. The rear F-150 drums are used on the front F-1 hubs (as you stated in your first post). Don't believe the front drums will work. These are the drums I use and the prices from a couple of years ago.

Re: 1948 F-1 Drums from Mid Fifty
 

The Dana 44 rear axle was used for many years and the drums for those axles went right along with them. Times change on who actually does the drum castings. The last set I purchased for one of my 51 Mercury cars were made in Canada with the Raybestos name on the box. This was about 10-years ago. They were true so no problems there. A person used to be able to tell is there was a problem when they adjusted the brake shoes at installation of a new drum. The drums were slotted for a feeler gauge so they could be checked all the way around. Not so much on the new stuff.

The F1 pickup front drum is completely different than the rear one.

Re: 1948 F-1 Drums from Mid Fifty
 

FORD BRONCO 1966-1975
FORD F-100 1960
FORD F1 1948-1952
FORD P-100 1961-1967
Please refer to catalog for application details.

As listed above, the Raybestos 2611R are the ones for the rear (that I mis-ordered from Rock Auto).
I'll keep those if I ever need them.
The ND4401455 are the ones on the truck right now.
I managed to get Mid Fifty to take back the front drums they sold me.....
All is good now.

Re: 1948 F-1 Drums from Mid Fifty
 

Ok, got ya. I assumed I was misunderstanding something! The 2677R is what I use, but it will have a larger surface area on the drum than the size of the brake shoes. This is because the are flat across the mounting surface out to the edge and not cone shaped inward like the originals. VanPelt has the front drums for a fairly decent price if you are after the original style.

Re: 1948 F-1 Drums from Mid Fifty
 

Sadly this is true, Both sets of repo Lincoln drums I bought needed to be turned to get them some what drive able (still pulsates). Turns out both came from the same manufacture through different dealers. Next time I'll try the Lincoln brake drums.