Not sure if anyone has seen these, I hadn't, but here are repo aluminum drums
http://www.gbodyparts.com/product_in...6db9f2a46fb90c

 

Sweet. I didn't know these were being reproduced.

 

Has anyone swapped from steel to aluminum, would these be worth the cost to still have drum brakes? I've wanted a set of these but thought they had been discontinued. These are a tad pricey.

 

I swapped from steel to aluminum. Having them both in my hands I can tell you theres quiete a bit of weight difference other than that I couldn't tell you any other differences.

 

Dennis Kirban is having these made:

http://www.kirbanperformance.com/pro...T+%237716.html

Note that there is currently free shipping on them from Dennis's shop (until Oct 31st).

RBob.

 

Check a local junk yard first - GM installed SO MANY of those, they may have a set.

The 12 bolt ones I may need to pick up however!

Dennis is a great guy!

 

I'm new to the drum brake world so forgive me for asking, but at that price wouldn't it make more sense to just switch to disks? Other than the obvious weight savings, what is the benefit of aluminum over steel drums?

 

I was on quite a few sites this weekend looking for TTA parts and saw these but I didn't see them on Kirbans website. I think his is the one that's not very user friendly, for me anyway.

Aluminum dissipates heat a bit faster too. The GN guys like them for dragracing small and light plus fit in a small wheel easy..

 

At that price, its the easiest and cheapest bolt on upgrade. You get less weight and higher heat dissipation over steel drums. Unless you go with a full on light weight drag rear disc setup, you cannot beat the weight savings.

I will advocate for rear drums over rear disc brakes in most applications.

1. Its lighter weight, even with a steel drum, than disc brakes.

2. Its less expensive
*you already have it on your car. No extra fabrication time or money.
*you don't need to install a disc/dic prop valve (stock ones are hard to find). Time and money
*you don't need to fab new rear brake lines for the rear calipers. Time and money
*you don't need to fab up the emergency brake cable. Time and money.

3. Brake shoes have more friction material than brake pads.
*You can add two long shoes for even more friction material

4. Drum brakes are self energizing. Drum brakes developing a "wedging actions" when the brakes are applied.

5. For most of third gen drum applications, you can upsize the wheel cylinder from 3/4" bore to a larger 7/8" bore for more braking force.

6. A wheel cylinder used in drum brakes uses less brake fluid than calipers, you you will not have to worry about if your master cylinder bore and reservoir can handle the extra volume.

7. Parking brake function is better than disc brake parking brakes. Its built in to the drum brake system.

The #1 downside to drum brakes are that they cannot dissipates heat like a disc rotor, but unless you are road racing the car, you will not notice this with rear drums. This guy vented his drums and swears by the heat and water dissapation.

http://worldpowersystems.com/AMC/196...merican/Drums/

The #2 downside to drum brakes are they are ugly.

The #3 downside is that the drum will retain water and decreases braking performance until the water evaporates.

 

Thank you malibudave, that was very informative.

 

.

 

Thought about polishing mine but just don't have the time.

 

Are there any differences between these two? Any recommendations on which one should I buy drums from?

 

Most likely the same supplier to both places but it looks like Kirban is the one who got the ball rolling on them.

 

It feels good to be able to replace parts without having to buy on eBay / the JY and get them machined.