My 1983 Continental Mark VI!

[VicCrownVic]

As long as someone hasn't swapped it, you should have 10". Police and wagons had 11".

[Tiggie]

Wagons and most tow package sedans also got the 11" drums.

Someone on here had an odd duck regular sedan with them. And I had a tow package sedan without.

I'd pull a wheel and check if I were you.

[mercurygm88]

I'm never doing drum brakes again! To hell with that shit. I've never even seen drum brakes other than in photos, the first side took me four and a half hours of videos, phone calls, and trial and error to figure out. The second side took an hour but it was still no fun. I did at least replace all the hardware and self adjusters. The wheel cylinders and the drums themselves were fine, the passenger side basically disintegrated when I pulled the drum off. I'd say that was my problem. The drivers side was in pretty good shape.

[Mainemantom]

Well at least you did not give up and got the job done. That is how to learn.

[mercurygm88]

Honestly the worst part was keeping the parking brake lever that goes between the two shoes in place. Once I got that lined up everything went pretty smooth.

[sly]

Honestly the worst part was keeping the parking brake lever that goes between the two shoes in place. Once I got that lined up everything went pretty smooth.

Legit. Can vouch.

[DerekTheGreat]

I think the trick to that is adjusting the starwheel out a good bit. I don't recall having to touch drummies on a box, but I have on a '92 F150. Redid the whole system from the backing plates forward. Funny, I love drum brakes. I usually leave one side together as I rehab the other.

[jaywish]

They are generally a PITA plus I am getting a bit old to pound off the drums that are rusted in place. Also I know some folks swear by self adjusters, i sometimes swear at them. I know big deal, jack up the car and adjust the rear brakes periodically it is just like fetching water from the well.

[sly]

I do really like my all disc brake vehicles. The parking brake that's essentially a drum brake I can deal with. Those are usually less troublesome than full on drum brakes.

[mercurygm88]

Actually the drums slid right off. And even though this thing is rust free even underneath the passenger side hardware and shoes basically disintegrated in my hands. The driver side held together a little too well.

I did the front pads the next day just so I would know everything was good plus it only took like an hour. The pads were like new but the pad material was riveted to the backing plates. I’ve never seen brake pads like that before.

[Mainemantom]

That is all I buy are the riveted brake linings/pads for drum or disc brakes. Maybe now bonded linings/pads have better "glue" but many years ago they didn't. If a pad or lining came loose, it would mess things up badly. More attention is needed with riveted linings/pads wear due to rivets. Don't want rivets scoring the drums or rotors.

[DerekTheGreat]

Actually the drums slid right off...

They were out of adjustment then.

When done right and on there for awhile, the shoes tend to wear a little groove in the drum. This makes getting the drums off a bit of a challenge. Luckily, Ford gave us an access slot for adjustment, which you can also use to back the shoes off. This is of course if the stuff isn't rusted together.

[mercurygm88]

That is all I buy are the riveted brake linings/pads for drum or disc brakes. Maybe now bonded linings/pads have better "glue" but many years ago they didn't. If a pad or lining came loose, it would mess things up badly. More attention is needed with riveted linings/pads wear due to rivets. Don't want rivets scoring the drums or rotors.

I’ve only been working on cars for about 15 years now and I have never seen riveted pads before just shoes. We don’t even sell them at work nor can we order them. My manager has been in the business for 25 years and said he’s never seen them either. In fact I can’t find anyone who’s seen riveted pads except online. The internet seems to concur that at one point people at least believed they were superior to bonded pads, but I’ve yet to find a single report of bonded pads coming off the backing plate.

[mercurygm88]

They were out of adjustment then.

When done right and on there for awhile, the shoes tend to wear a little groove in the drum. This makes getting the drums off a bit of a challenge. Luckily, Ford gave us an access slot for adjustment, which you can also use to back the shoes off. This is of course if the stuff isn't rusted together.

Drums are weird and I don’t trust them. That being said they were working awfully good for being out of adjustment. That is until about 100 miles before I changed then when the internals of the passenger side drum disassembled themselves/disintegrated. When I first installed the new pads and hardware I didn’t have them adjusted right and you could certainly tell. I went back and correctly adjusted them last night and my braking has greatly improved.

[DerekTheGreat]

I’ve only been working on cars for about 15 years now and I have never seen riveted pads before just shoes. We don’t even sell them at work nor can we order them. My manager has been in the business for 25 years and said he’s never seen them either. In fact I can’t find anyone who’s seen riveted pads except online. The internet seems to concur that at one point people at least believed they were superior to bonded pads, but I’ve yet to find a single report of bonded pads coming off the backing plate.

My '69 Plymouth had drums on all four corners. If I remember right, every pad was bonded to the shoe and each one was detached. Guess they've got a shelf life. I do get a little leery when I get handed bonded shoes, but I've installed them before. I've also installed riveted shoes, which I trust a bit more. But yeah, decreased life as you've now got a rivet eating valuable pad real estate. I'm not THAT old, but I suspect your manager hasn't put much time in with a wrench while not behind the counter.

Drums are weird and I don’t trust them. That being said they were working awfully good for being out of adjustment. That is until about 100 miles before I changed then when the internals of the passenger side drum disassembled themselves/disintegrated. When I first installed the new pads and hardware I didn’t have them adjusted right and you could certainly tell. I went back and correctly adjusted them last night and my braking has greatly improved.

Unless the starwheel suddenly rusted apart, I question how well they were working since you were able to slide the drums right off. When they're right, you should have minimal pedal travel and yeah, noticeably good brakes, or better brakes if you adjusted ones that were out of adjustment.

They're only weird because they're new to you and a better alternative exists. For decades and even still today, they are a good choice for many applications.
My first experience with drum brakes on a daily driver was with my 1994 Grand Am. Needed front brakes, so I pad slapped it. About ten thousand miles later, needed brakes again, so I ripped the rears apart. Found the problem, rears weren't doing squat- drums slid right off and were rusty where the shoes should have been making contact. Once fixed, wow that thing stopped great. Seeing as it was my first car, WTF did I know about brakes and general expectations of stopping power?