Rear Brake Size

[Go Fly]

I am ready to install rear brakes on a 68 Superbee project. Unfortunately I tossed the old rear brake drums however, have the shoes and are 2 inches wide. The rear is a 2881489. Any guess on size? 10 or 11?

 

[Fran Blacker]

Measure diameter of your backing plates. Should give you an idea.

 

[Jax_1975_Dart]

If I were a gambling man, I’d say you are looking at 11” rear drums but, ALWAYS measure first. Backing plate is a good indicator. The bottom to top diameter of those 2” wide shoes should also measure the size you are looking for.

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve gotten 10”, when it turned out to be 11” or vice verse. I’ve learned now to never order off Rockauto until I’ve measured - twice.

 

[Go Fly]

Great advice and thanks. I have been stung ordering from Rock Auto, and with heavy items. They are not shy on shipping costs

 

[Go Fly]

Measured the backing plate however my old shoes are only 2” wide. Everything I am finding are 2 1/2”. With the old shoes side by side measuring top to bottom checks out at 11 inches.

Any other checking I need to do and can I just run 2 1/2” ?

 

[Jax_1975_Dart]

Is everything stock OEM on your rear axle? The only reason I ask is because I’ve encountered some rear ends where the backing plate, cylinders and shoes weren’t stock OEM and took me several parts orders to figure out that the rear drum setup was not stock.

Hopefully, someone more knowledgeable can chime in here but, that 1/4” difference doesn’t sound right and the replacement shoes should be precisely a match width-wise.

 

[Go Fly]

Thanks Jax, it’s not the original rear end but was in the project when I started. It’s a diff housing casting number of 2881489 I think used in 1969 to 1974?

 

[Fran Blacker]

Thanks Jax, it’s not the original rear end but was in the project when I started. It’s a diff housing casting number of 2881489 I think used in 1969 to 1974?

@mobileparts this member sells brake shoes, the old asbestos ones, the good ones.

 

[Fran Blacker]

Picture of an 11" drum with the measurement where lip of backing plate runs in groove. 11 7/8"s Make a U in the center a piece of 15" long cardboard to fit around axle to get an exact measurement of diameter of bp.

 

[wyrmrider]

We often put C body 11" and 2.5 wide brakes on B-E bodies back before rear discs from Imperials were available
mostly for towing or mountains
so do check

 

[Go Fly]

Looks like they may be C Body. A 73 Furry 3 has the 2 and 2 1/2 inch option at 11 inch. If my backing plates are from a C body can I purchase the 2 1/2 wide shoes and drums, and run with the backing plates I have?

Is there anyway to positively identify the backing plate?

 

[wyrmrider]

All I can say is to try the 2 and 2 1/2 shoes
the backing plates are different esp the length of support the shoe end nests in
IDK if all the hardware is different to and the e-brake cable
I always tried keep all that stuff together (knowing me LOL)

 

[Jax_1975_Dart]

Pic of the backing plate might help narrow things down.

This is just a personal anecdote but, I was recently restoring a ‘68 GTX that had a rectangular shaped hole (in the backing plate) for the rear wheel cylinder... Turned out the previous owner changed out one side of the rear assembly and used parts from the interchanged vehicle. Long story short, I bought the correct year backing plate, mounted it on and put the OEM oval shaped (no longer a rectangle) cylinder + correct drum + correct year/model shoes etc.. Knowing what make/mode setup you’re dealing with makes a world of difference and might be the cheaper approach versus ordering parts and hoping they work with your unknown setup.

Correct year model/make Used backing plate was around $50 + shipping from a helpful member on from this board.

Or Something like this eBay listing: https://www.ebay.com/itm/153470795471

 

[Fran Blacker]

Take straight edge measure from face axle to where shoe ride on backing plate. Shoes will be narrower than measurements . My guess 3/8".