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I starting to put the beast together. I am doing the frame and drive train in black, would the brake drums be black too? I wonder if it is worth it to paint them at all or should I use high temp black BBQ grill paint?

Remember, mine is an AF truck so it will be blue everywhere else.

Also, were the running boards black or blue??

Running boards should be painted the same color as the body (in you case, Strata Blue). Not sure about the brake drums, most all of the ones that I have seen have either still been in red primer or had some body color paint on them (looked more like overspray...).

I'm not an expert, but logically speaking the axles and all parts attached less the rims would be the same color so in this case they would be chassy black. Then after the truck got into the units and were touched up repainted etc they would have gotten overspray on them from the holes in the rims so they most likely would have OD or SB on them at that time.

I'll probably primer them and use the chassy black. I guess the paint won't effect the heat radiation from the drums?

Thanks guys!

The paint won't affect the cooling capability of the drums. The AF, however painted anything that would (or could) be visible the same color as the body...i.e. Strata blue. They were painted while on the hubs. That way, your hubs, rims, and wheel stud ends all matched. They didn't want black sticking out like a sore thumb on the visible surfaces. It would have gotten an IG write-up for sure!

I have to agree with Lifer...As I'm tearing my down to the frame the frame is Strata Blue. The hubs, axles etc are all blue.

Paint it blue and forget about it....

EEK, I painted the rear ones black. I'll buy a couple of rattle cans of enamel Strata and paint over them so I won't have to strip them.

I think the most difficult part for me has been getting the planning done for the painting.

FWIW, I once owned a fairly original truck that had red primer drums. The axles on that one were black but the rest of the truck was OD. Maybe they were replaced at some point, I don't know.

My current truck has OD axles but again, the brake drums are in red primer. I think it's sort of strange that most everything else on both trucks is finish painted but those drums were simply left primed.

My drums had red primer as well as remnants of green, yellow and strata blue. My truck has been all over.

The rear differential case is peeling blue.