Thread: Brake drums s3

G'day Dark,

I was just thinking of the very thing yesterday while forming a "to do list" with one of my Series IIIs. I thought to myself, "what is the bet that if I took the drums into be machined they would say they were too thin to machine!" Lucky for me they are not the first thing on the list at the moment

With the drums being out of round when the brake shoes expand while braking they would be riding on high spots and low spots. This would produce brake shuddering. Also, being out of round would make brake adjustment difficult.

New drums are still available to buy. The flow on effect is the last set of shoes might be larger than normal too so they matched the wear in the drum. So there is the possibility of new brake drums and new shoes to match.

Brakes are handy to have when you need them. If the vehicle is just a paddock basher then the priority would be different to registered on the road out in public use vehicle.

Kind Regards
Lionel

They could be badly scored/grooved or have a lip.
They have a "sixty thou" tolerance over standard size 10 inch or 11 inch, so if they are machined out to that diameter and are still badly grooved they
are regarded as scrap. Most 10 and 11 inch Land Rover drums have the maximum size cast on them, ie. 10.060" or 11.060"
Technically once machined they should then have oversize shoes that are radius ground to suit the particular drum's internal radius, but I don't know
if you can get oversize shoes made anymore. It's a long time since this town I am in had a brake shop that did all that type of work such as bonding or
riveting shoes, radius grinding, etc.
New drums and shoes are not all that expensive and "you" should never have to replace them again.
I think all the OH&S laws may have been a big contributor to brake workshops closing.

Cheers, Mick.

Thanks Gents.
Always good to seek proper advice. Two local Garages I took it into didn't fancy it ( I got the Land Rover Smile) so I took it to ABS.
Expensive , but its the brakes and this is my "daily driver".
I'll have a tinker with Darwin at some point (bush basher) but I don't trust myself with the one destined for the public highway!
I'll put a set of drums on my wishlist and I'll see what life I should expect from what I currently have when I go in and pick it up.
cheers,
D

G'day Dark,

If you want to have an idea of prices take a quick trip to eBay and type in "Series 3 land rover brake drums 109" Then look out for your engine size.

The other thing to watch out for is whether a previous owner upgraded the brakes. I have a 109 with a 2.5 diesel which the previous owner upgraded to the brakes off a 2.6 litre engine. It could be handy information to have when buying new parts.

Kind Regards
Lionel

As already mentioned drums can wear unevenly or warp and become out of round. The drum often wears most closest to the mounting face because the brake dust & debris can't get out of the drum.
There are three holes around the edge of the drum that need to be cleaned out, these help shed water & debris.

If they are grooved, new shoes take a long time to bed in and get full contact. If you think about it a grooved drum will actually have a bigger surface area and as long as the shoes fit in the grooves exactly then better braking......
Often they are still 'round' but because they have worn unevenly and/or have grooves a 'brake place' will insist they need machining. So far, touch wood, all of mine have been worn but not out of round so I've never had to have any machined but I have scraped the wear lip off so the drums go on & off the hub easier.

Beware Ebay purchases, **itpart etc. Cast iron needs to be good quality and cooled down evenly otherwise you may get problems. A good brake place can track down 'name brand' drums but they are more expensive. I've noticed with the cheaper drums that instead of having three countersunk holes to hold the drum in place they often only machine one. Should be OK, only really comes into play if a wheel comes off and you want the drum to stay in place (god forbid).
Last quote I got (trade) was $60 for LWB drums from Europe (15GBP from Paddocks but freight would make it up to close to $60).

You really need to find an 'old school' brake place but they are getting harder to find. Father-in-Law worked for Neville Pearce Brakes in Hallam but he sold the business some years ago then the new owner shut the VIC operation down. They had drums cast for vintage & veteran vehicles, repaired shoes, machined shoes to match drums, worked on vintage race vehicles etc. etc. Another old place in Dandenong closed a year or so ago.

Colin

Lionel - thanks and understood re the upgrade etc. ABS sounded like they knew what they were talking about and so I will check with them whats on there, standard or upgrade.

Colin, thanks also. I have seen $90 local and gbp15 UK - neither of which suggested a make or shipping. I will look into it further. I'm guessing I am well in the groove with Darwin as I could only get one hub off. Time to break out the drill I suspect!

cheers,
d