Hi all. I am new to this forum and hoping to get some info. I hope this isn't too much of a repeat of any previous questions. I have a 1954 Mercury M350 which is a Canadian version of Ford F350. I haven't been able to locate brake drums for this truck. What are you doing for parts? Is it better to upgrade and if so with what? The split rims and old tires will need to be upgraded as well. I have basic mechanical skills and am hoping to do most of the work myself. The truck is going to be used as summer fun toy, no working it. Thank you for any help.

Rick D

 

I can't answer your question but welcome to FTE the best Ford Truck Forum on the world wide Web! And welcome to another 350 owner. Shows us some pics of your M350, please.

 

 

Welcome to FTE. You look like you have gotten a good truck to start your project from. My son and I have started on a 55 f350 which looks very similar to your truck. We will be going with a sterling 1025 rear end to get away from the widow makers and the hard to find rear brake drums.
There are guys on here that can help you find replacement rims as well as almost every other part you may need.
When we get the rear end removed it may be a source for parts for yours if you stay stock.
Good luck and keep plugging away.

 

Thanks for info SumDayDryvr .Your truck looks good. Have you decided on front brakes /rims yet? Hopefully we can meet at a show/cruise night when trucks are done. I am in Niagara area.

 

We are going to try to use some e 250 rotors and calipers so that we can have the same 8 bolt rims front and back. Our truck will be a work truck as we are hoping to be able to get the dump bed usable as well. My son is starting to repair the front cab corners now so we can put the front clip back together and be able to move it around.
Is your truck running now?
We are near Chatham but I travel to Hamilton several times a year so hopefully we can work something out to get together.

 

Add my welcome. Wheels and brakes on these early F/M-350s are challenging if you want to stay nearly stock. There are two straight forward wheel solutions. The easiest, if you can find a set, is a swap to the optional 17.5" tubeless wheels first offered in 1956. Their were two produced by the Budd Company, #71320 having six hand holes or #79120 having three hand holes. These are technically dual wheels having 4.75" of center disc offset. They work on 1953 and 1954 single wheel F-350s because during those two years your stock widow maker 17" wheels have 5.00" of center disc offset. In 1955 Ford substituted very shallow dished wheels on their similar model. The 17.5" wheel and tire is shorter than a 17" (yes, it's a fact). Your 7.50-17s are 34" tall while an 8-17.5" tire is about 32" tall. I can explain why, but it adds a lot of words. I'll ask friends if they have sets if you are interested in that option.

The second option is to pull your widow maker centers for remount into new tube type 17" outer rims. This below old thread I believe goes into that fairly well. Ignore the title of the thread. The discussion went everywhere.

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...l#post17142300

Another of our members engineered his own conversion to later 8 lug on 6.5" pattern wheels. His user name is GB Sisson and here is an old thread with info on that.

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/9...f-350-a-7.html

Brake drums are by all indications NLA. I have real issues with Ford errors in their Chassis Catalogs on this, and have searched my cross reference materials for a solution without yet finding it. But I continue to look. Stu

 

Thank you for info Stu. I guess 1st choice will be brake conversion as everywhere I inquire drums aren't available. The rims will follow whatever I end up with for brakes.

 

Are you absolutely certain that you need drums? Shoes can be relined with thicker material to compensate for drums that are beyond spec. Stu

 

No haven't pulled wheels apart yet. Just planning ahead for any problems. Hopefully if it ever stops raining will be able to work on truck in next couple weeks.

 

Truck not running but engine does turn over by hand. I bought this truck end of last summer just in time for my son to decide to return to school. That sort of dried up restoration budget......LOL

 

Looks like your truck has a single rear tire axle??? That's what my truck has. Not sure how much your Merc and my Ford compare but I had to replace my drums because they were not able to be turned any deeper. My plan was to put new new shoes on and run it like that. I do not plan for for my truck to be a daily driver. Well I found a couple of used drums on this forum and put them on. It is documented in my build page below. If you want to keep it original it will take a little research and searching. Stu was very helpful in getting my truck on 4 solid wheels/tires and if you tuff it out i'm sure you will find what you need. Hopefully you will get some help from some of the members and a little luck and you will be on the road before you know it. Good luck with your project.

 

Thanks Dave. Your truck looks great and I will follow your thread. The Mercury is basically the same as a Ford. Little more chrome and trim. Mine has different style rims , but the rest is the same for the most part. Like you this will be a long time project. I want to learn how to do most jobs myself. My current skill level can be considered basic, but it looks like this forum will be extremely helpful
Take care
Rick

 

Unfortunately no deeply dished 19.5s were made having the 6 x 7.25" pattern. Thus only the two options I mentioned. Stu