35 Rear Brakes

LeroyM

Senior Member
I'm trying to figure out what I need to get hydraulic brakes on a 35 rear. I removed the drums, hubs and backing plates yesterday from the 35 rear I got last weekend. The drums, hubs and brakes look to be in good shape. If I was to get hydraulic backing plates could I use the same 35 drums and hubs?
 
Are the brake shoes the same width?

You can use '35 rear drums with hydraulic brakes, they have the same shoe width. The '35 front drums will not work with hydraulic brakes. The '35 rear drums are a one year only drum designed for the '35 Ford and Kelsey wire wheels. They have raised spots that support the hubs on the wire wheels. If you install early Ford wire wheels on '40-'48 drums you will need spacer rings to support the hubs so they do not bend when you tighten down the lug nuts. I'm not sure if the '40-'48 rims will fit the '35 drums?
 
Thanks for the info. Now the later drums 40-48, are the front and back drums the same? Can I put the rear drums up front?
 
You can use '35 rear drums with hydraulic brakes, they have the same shoe width. The '35 front drums will not work with hydraulic brakes. The '35 rear drums are a one year only drum designed for the '35 Ford and Kelsey wire wheels. They have raised spots that support the hubs on the wire wheels. If you install early Ford wire wheels on '40-'48 drums you will need spacer rings to support the hubs so they do not bend when you tighten down the lug nuts. I'm not sure if the '40-'48 rims will fit the '35 drums?

The 1935 rear hubs have a higher mounting surface on the inside of the lug circle than on the outside. To use disc wheels, it is necessary to machine the 5 "stands" so they are the same height as
the surface on the outside of the lug circle. In the old days, there were plates available to raise the outside surface to be the same as
the inside surface, but the lug studs would then be too short and not
provide enough threads for proper lugnut installation.
 
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