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Are there any sources for new drums for our trucks? I'm done doing that initial drive of the new truck to shake out where I have to go to make it reliable. While it is down for the new wire harness, I need to tackle the brakes.
What I've got are poor to dangerous. The right front doesn't appear to work at all. The others that do create and inch and a half pulsation in the pedal when the out of roundness syncs itself up.
I plan to just get all the components together before hand to save downtime. My luck in the past with saving drums has been poor. They are usually at their service limits or more when I get them. Will check, pack and service all bearings, seals and joints while I'm in there.

The usual sources could have usable takeoffs or NOS, but they will be scarce. The problem with the drums is they are already well into the end of their life on many of our trucks. Lots of guys go discs on front to improve braking and maybe get a couple of usable drums as spares. I'm old school and have resisted the change so far. If you plan to drive any amount, its worth considering. There was some recent discussion on here regarding brakes and as usual, Charles from M-Series had some good advice. Search will help you find it.

Jess

M101 series trailers used the same drum and were used only for parking, you might have better luck finding a good nearly new set removed from a trailer that is being scrapped than a getting a almost worn out set from a truck.

I'm approaching the same point. Trying to keep the original drum brakes in service is going to be a challenge, especially for those of us who tow an M101 or M101A1 trailer (without surge brakes). As a practical matter, for trucks that are used regularly or off road, we're likely to have no choice but to eventually go to discs, at least on the front axle, since the supply of usable drums is diminishing.

I have an M101A1 trailer (the M101A2 and M101A3 trailers have a different axle and the drums are not usable on the M37), so I have some relatively unworn drums, but even then, they won't last forever. And frankly, they don't work as well as discs, even when all of the parts are in good condition.

The disc brake conversion from M Series Rebuild looks promising.

I wish I had good news to report, however I don't. I have not seen a new drum in years. I expect we have over a hundred used take-offs stacked out on a deuce and a half bed; while fine for trailer use; I bet there isn't 10 in the bunch that would be decent to reuse on a truck. We pick through them when we need one, pickings have really gotten thin. Most of what we have will likely be scrapped at some point.

The myth about good drums on trailers; well you can't prove that by me. I've looked at many; 99.5% have been turned way past the max diameter. You can get by with that on a trailer since it has only a park brake; but I can't say I have ever seen 1 from a trailer that is fit to run on a truck. My reason for saying this is simple; there are vendors out there that actually pedal trailer drums saying they are good for truck use; I have not seen where that is true, EVER, so if you are in the market for trailer drums; I do have advice concerning that; don't buy them unless you can inspect and measure up for thickness and out-of-round. If you choose to ignore good advice, the next best advice I can offer is you better know who you are getting them from is a reputable source, as the likelihood you will get burned on your trailer drum purchase is pretty high.

Hi Guys,

I've seen oversized brake shoes for sale for the M37, to deal with the lack of good rotors available.........is that not an option? Are the rotors structurally compromised if they get past their max wear limit?

regards,
bob

So what would it take to get either new drums made or old ones "restored"? I have to believe it can be done because there are a whole lot of old, very valuable cars out there that are still running and going to big time shows that are all 100% stock or reproduced parts.

Someone has to be able (and willing) to cast new parts to spec.

the problem with oversized drums is they overheat way too fast. over size shoes might make the pedal feel good but you will get serious brake fade at higher speeds. IF you know anyone who does spray welding they can be restored that way but I cant find anyone in the NW that does is. its a process used to repair industrial bearings surfaces and such and the leap into the automoitive world hasn't happened at least around here. VPW sells good machined drums with hubs for 150 each. not bad if still in spec. These drums brakes work great when everything is right. they also don't disappear when the shoes get wet like servo drum brakes do. drive through water and hard to stop only once. the servo types take many many stops to dry out.

w30bob wrote:Hi Guys,

I've seen oversized brake shoes for sale for the M37, to deal with the lack of good rotors available.........is that not an option? Are the rotors structurally compromised if they get past their max wear limit?

regards,
bob

In deed they are; they can crack and will warp with a couple of hard applications. Warped drums are no good.

52 M-42 wrote:So what would it take to get either new drums made or old ones "restored"? I have to believe it can be done because there are a whole lot of old, very valuable cars out there that are still running and going to big time shows that are all 100% stock or reproduced parts.

Someone has to be able (and willing) to cast new parts to spec.

Simple answer, a lot of cash. If you want to talk about reproducing 10,000, cost will be reasonable. Ask someone to repro 50, cost will be off the charts, no one is interested in reproducing simply because the demand is nothing in their eyes. Not worth the set up and tooling cost that would be involved.

Kaegi wrote:the problem with oversized drums is they overheat way too fast. over size shoes might make the pedal feel good but you will get serious brake fade at higher speeds. IF you know anyone who does spray welding they can be restored that way but I cant find anyone in the NW that does is. its a process used to repair industrial bearings surfaces and such and the leap into the automoitive world hasn't happened at least around here. VPW sells good machined drums with hubs for 150 each. not bad if still in spec. These drums brakes work great when everything is right. they also don't disappear when the shoes get wet like servo drum brakes do. drive through water and hard to stop only once. the servo types take many many stops to dry out.

Good turned drums, I hear you. I'll offer this advice concerning that claim; you better not write a check unless you can measure them up yourself to verify. M37 drums are relatively thin when new; even if they are not turned past the specs in the manual, they are very thin and will warp easily. Now I already know that there are many out there who are sure they know better than me, so you can take the advice for what it's worth. Been there, done that, turned drums are not worth fooling with.

Buy a Disc Brake Kit, Problem solved.....
Charles can help you out with this

MM

I have to agree. I'm a bit old school and like my M37s in original condition, but given the difficulty with worn drums, and setup issues, a disc conversion makes sense for any truck you drive at all. Once you get to the stage of worn out bits, a modern conversion is in order. Charles is right on about the thin drums. I have access to a very competent local shop and their opinion was that time had run out for a number of drums I thought were still usable. They made nice bases for my grinders... Spray welding and resurfacing is done for lots of stuff, like crawler rollers, sprockets and other wear parts but when I checked with a shop that does this locally, they refused to consider brake drums and felt it would be a waste of my money. Once the drums are done, a disc conversion is both cost effective and practical. Runs and Stops is #1 for my old junk.

Jess

I have never found good drums to warp easily but I don't live in the desert either. the NW is mild.

I figure there are those that feel the reason I've made the comments that I have concerning drums is an effort on our part to sell disc kits. That certainly is not the case; we produced disc kits for the trucks we build, because of the difficult to impossible drum brake issues. We can't send out trucks with a 75 MPH top end capability with an inferior braking system. We have some disc kits we can sell to anyone wishing to convert; but that's where it stops. Just letting everyone know that premium quality USA manufactured disc kits are available again.

We have added boosters to many a drum system over a period of years; and actually a power boosted drum system works really well. Drums are the only issue, quality rebuild components are readily available except for drums. I wish there were quality reproduction drums out there just like everyone else, but I'm also wise enough to know that it is highly improbable that we will ever see that happen.