cast iron brake drums

J

jim t utah

Junior Member
any suggestions on where to purchase cast iron brake drums with new hubs installed. any venders at the national meet in Puyallup that would have them. are all drums made in the usa the same. thanx jim t
 
jim t utah said:
any suggestions on where to purchase cast iron brake drums with new hubs installed. any venders at the national meet in Puyallup that would have them. are all drums made in the usa the same. thanx jim t
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I just purchased two front drums with hubs installed from TAM's in W. Boylston MA. I've not yet received them, but pricing ($275) was better than Bratton's, MACs and Snyder's ($300+)
 
jim t utah said:
any suggestions on where to purchase cast iron brake drums with new hubs installed. any venders at the national meet in Puyallup that would have them. are all drums made in the usa the same. thanx jim t
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Mel Gross drums are not USA made but Bratton's and others are, hence the price differential.
Do a search here for lots of discussion on this topic:

Any one using Mel Gross Drums now and any comments - The Ford Barn
www.fordbarn.com › ... › General Discussion › Model A (1928-31)
Jan 1, 2011 - 20 posts - ‎12 authors
I installed Mel Gross drums on my 29 Todor last spring and have had ... Instead of Gross drums buy American made drums cast in America on American soil. ... You still have a chance to obtain good safe brake drums, for an ...
 
Like many of you on the Barn, I have bad experiences using imported parts on my Model A. However, import parts can be high quality. I would not hesitate to use brake parts sold by Randy Gross. He an his dad have been supplying parts for Model A,s for a long time and have a very good reputation.
 
CT AV8 said:
Mel Gross drums are not USA made but Bratton's and others are, hence the price differential.
Do a search here for lots of discussion on this topic:

Any one using Mel Gross Drums now and any comments - The Ford Barn
www.fordbarn.com › ... › General Discussion › Model A (1928-31)
Jan 1, 2011 - 20 posts - ‎12 authors
I installed Mel Gross drums on my 29 Todor last spring and have had ... Instead of Gross drums buy American made drums cast in America on American soil. ... You still have a chance to obtain good safe brake drums, for an ...
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Huh??? Randy told me himself the drums were made at the factory he worked for in California. Oh wait I forgot, California is a foreign country :rolleyes:

dusty
 
I purchased two sets of cast iron drums from Bert's in Denver. Very satisfied and also had them put on hubs.
 
This is a long shot but you can get lucky at a swap meet . In the latter part of 1931 Ford brought out a cast iron (maybe steel) one piece front brake drum . This is the spoked style same as model B but 11" dia not 12" . I have bought several sets at swap meets in USA but they are more common here in UK .They are often overlooked as at first glance look like model B so take your tape measure with you !!! . English drums have the part number on the back but the USA ones do not .

John on really lovely hot sunny morning Suffolk County England
 
I got four cast iron drums from Snyder's. I live an hour away and gave them my old drums to remove the hubs and press them in the new ones. What a difference cast iron drums make!
 
I bought my cast iron drums with hubs from Mikes Affordable. On the same order I also purchased bearings and seals. Mike had the bearings packed and installed with the new seals at no extra charge. All I had to do was install them, that was three thousand miles ago and not a problem.

Chet
 
29Cabriolet said:
How so?
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I live on a hill and with stamped drums, I wondered if there would be enough brake left at the bottom. I could feel the pedal travel as the drums heated. At one point I thought about putting the bands over the drums, but it seemed more like a band-aid than a fix.
 
I installed bands on my stamped steel front drums, had them trued up on a brake drum lathe installed the original style woven lining front and rear. Steel drums on front cast drums on rear woven lining and wonderful mechanical brakes.

Chet
 
To all that are threaded to this topic.

I never said that our drums were made in the U.S.A. I said that I work for one of the largest aftermarket brake drum and rotor suppliers in the U.S. and that the drums we sell are from the same source as the ones that I sell personally. We sell annually millions of pieces to accounts such as Carquest, Parts Plus, etc.... I buy the Model A drums from the company I work for and have complete control over their quality. No one else buys the Model A drums from my source. If people are that concerned, then please give some of my customers a call. Try Les Andrews, John LaVoy, Larry Blair "Loco Larry - The Tin Shed", Bill Hansen, Arizona Model A, Jim Nichols, Joe Davis at Aries Restoration, Ed James, etc ......... I have been selling these drums for close to ten years now, and we do not have any issues with them. I can send anybody the articles that we written up in the "Model A Times" publication about their quality. Just send to me an email requesting the articles. Thanks Randy Gross melmodela@aol.com 714-292-8660
 
If the steel drums are in reasonable condition, Bands are a less expensive way to go . I have bands on the front steel drums of two of my model A's and they seem to work as well as the cast iron drums .
 
I'm not sure where I purchased my cast iron drums from, but when a friend was swedging the wheel studs in, one drum shattered. That doesn't give one a great deal of confidence? I guess it's possible that he applied too much pressure?
Cheers,
Keith
 
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