Carl is right on with that suggestion. I didn't have any
problem with my '50 3/4-ton. I turned the drums myself
thanks to a then time friend who got me access to a brake
drum lathe. I took just the lightest clean up cut and that
may be the reason.
I did the brakes on a friends '50, which he'd had the drums
turned by an auto machine shop and I think they took them to
the max. The first time out I really had to stand on the
brakes to get it do stop even though we had a solid pedal
right up to the top. Back at the garage, looking at the
scrub pattern on the shoes, showed that they were only
contacting on a small portion of the shoe:
http://www.pbase.com/dennygraham/image/115452306 The truck only had a few miles (maybe less than 20) before it
was torn down to the frame for the body restoration. That was
a few years back and it's nearing completion this fall.
Because of my major move to the new place, I've not had time
to work with him on the truck but I've forewarned that the
brakes are not going to be at their best till he gets some
miles on them and the shoes get lapped in.
The practice of arcing the shoes to fit the turned drums went
the way of the dinosaur with the flood of cheap off shore
drums, so rather than turn them, they were just replaced if
available in many instances. Plus the EPA came down on the
shops about the grinding dust.
dg
