11" Drum brake upgrade questions

[DerekTheGreat]

I believe my rear brakes are approaching the end of their useful life. I hear that high pitched squealing sound when backing out of the garage and thought I read somewhere that said drum brakes are designed to make the sound in reverse only.

Anywho, I can't remember the details exactly but I heard the police & tow package cars got bigger drummies. Since I'll be there, is it a direct swap? Can I just buy a new backing plate, the bigger shoes, hardware kit, drums & wheel cylinders or will I need to adjust or make new brake lines too? Can you remove the backing plates without having to remove the axle shafts? I've already had a trac-lok put in it so I will not be going with a disc brake conversion.

Thanks fellas, as always I appreciate the comments & opinions.

[dd345]

Direct bolt on, have to pull the axles out to get the backing plates on. Brake lines are the same, you need the longer parking brake cables from the 11inch car. Best upgrade to our cars next to a rear bar. 11 inch brakes were on all station wagons also.

[DerekTheGreat]

Cool, thanks for the quick response!

Hmm, means that I'm not doing the swap meself. I've never pulled axles and don't really want the mess or smell. Can you still buy the parking brake cable? I highly doubt any of the ones I could scavenge would be in working condition. I will probably end up just keeping the stockers...

[gadget73]

Its about the same work as a rear disc swap honestly, and the parts are less available.

[jaywish]

Disks are generally less trouble in the long run. My experience and opinion anyway. You do not need to worry about the adjustment working or not with disks. Certainly easier to keep an eye on lining wear. The downside of the panther rear disks is the Drum Ebrake in the hat.

my 89 wagon did not have the 11" drums, just the standard ones.

[Salty Dog]

woah, wait... I didn't think about that. How do you hook up the new e-brake when you go rear disc?

[mcninetyone]

I put a disk brake rear in mine, hooking up the e-brake was easy.
It hooked up the same way and in the same place the drum brake rear did.

[DerekTheGreat]

Well I've already dumped money into the LSD so swapping the entire rear end out really isn't what I want to do. Don't want the longer axle shafts. Is there a kit you buy for a conversion or just cannibalize a car from a yard for the parts to do discs? I've never had a problem with drum brakes honestly. I adjust them maybe once or twice a year and they work just fine...

[dd345]

my 89 wagon did not have the 11" drums, just the standard ones.

Weird, every wagon in the junk yard I have seen has had them. I wonder if the parking brake cables rusted away, and they just went to 10inch. Or someone put a whole used rear end in.

[Kodachrome Wolf]

my 89 wagon did not have the 11" drums, just the standard ones.

Weird, every wagon in the junk yard I have seen has had them. I wonder if the parking brake cables rusted away, and they just went to 10inch. Or someone put a whole used rear end in.

+1. All the regular Box sedans I've seen have the 10" drums. The wagons and police cars have the 11" drums from what I've seen.

[jaywish]

I bought my car from the original owner in 2000. I doubt he had the rear swapped at 82K miles but you never know.

[jaywish]

IIRC axles do not need to be changed to swap to disks.

[Tiggie]

I'd stick to the ten inchers. They are wider than the skinny 11's so you aren't much friction area over the 10's.

On the rear end swap for the wagon with 10's: warranty swaps can happen very early in vehicle life. A family member ended up with a 3.91's and a traction lok because the dealership didn't have 3.50's in stock and he needed the truck that day. That was 1969. I wouldn't put it past an 80's Ford dealership to just swap rear ends from an in stock car. Or maybe the factory assembly line screwed up and grabbed the wrong axle, or was low on stock of the 11in brakes.

[His Royal Ghostliness]

IIRC axles do not need to be changed to swap to disks.

That would be correct. It's just pull shafts, unbolt drum backing plates, bolt on the disc caliper carrier brackets, slide shafts back in, done. Obviously replacing the housing ends bearings and seals at that time would be an opportunity foolish to miss, especially on a high-mileage axle. Don't fawk with the center section (diff and stuff) any more than pulling the cross shaft out so the axle shafts can be pushed in to release the C-clips - but that would be happening anyways to switch backing plates from one size to the other.

[His Royal Ghostliness]

Or maybe the factory assembly line screwed up and grabbed the wrong axle, or was low on stock of the 11in brakes.

Given that the station wagon in question is the last production year with the narrow housing, I wouldn't be surprised if that's what happened. One hell of a liability tho, seeing how the brakes are an important factor when assigning gross and towing weight ratings - if that car was ever in a serious accident and it was determined it was not overloaded but simply could not stop on time, the insurance company would have a field day with Ford when they found out the rear brakes are undersized compared to what they're supposed to be... Ah well, water under the bridge at this point.