Do the drums have to be on to correctly bleed your drum brakes

 

Guessing yes, otherwise pushing the brake petal could blow out the cylinders.

 

I asked cuz I was gonna get drum turned & bleed brakes , & pick up drum later .........Now I will wait ......THANK-YOU MUCHLY

 

I would think you could gravity or vacuum bleed while the drums are off, but nothing where you have to push the brake pedal.

 

A rear drum has to be replaced I may can get a free used one , if not I will buy one . The front brake shoes are 3 inches wide . Rears are 2-1/4" or so , not 3"
Will a 3inch drum work ok on the back ? Also will car drums work ok ?

 

Doubt car drums will work, as the axle bolts are spaced differently.

 

I would think that a 3" drum would hit the rear backing plate before it is fully in place

 

You can bleed the brakes this week, adjust them next week, put new drums on and adjust them again next month ... you can even put new shoes on next year. Bleeding only gets any air out of the lines. It is not an adjustment. Once bled, as long as you do not pump the master cylinder rdy but keep plenty fluid in it, they'll stay bled. No and No.
I, not long ago, bought new 11x2.25 rear drums for my '77, at Advance Auto, they weren't too bad $$$, work well too.

 

I found 3" rear shoes listed @ Carpenters but no drums I will call them & ask if they no what drums fit the shoes.........
I am financially handicapped so I will wait to buy a NEW rear drum & use my old ones I found a front drum today that has a miniscule ring in the surface of the drum where a spring , & the adjuster came loose and did the damage. Shoes are new looking almost so I hope they will be ok to use on the slightly scored drum !!!
The back drum has much worse gouges in the drum surface .
I replaced all hardware & shoes so will they be ok with a almost 1/8, gouged ring & another small ring in the drum
Was told the gouges were to bad to turn the rear rim so will the NEW shoes be safe running on the gouged surfaces ???

 

I really need an answer & suggestions to my last post on this thread about the damage to the drums , is it unsafe to use these drums with minor damage to the drum lining ?
What is considered unsafe damage to the linings ???

 

First thing brakes are no place to go cheap as it could cause them not to work and that can lead to killing someone.

It sound like you are trying to mix and match to get this back together?
If the truck came with 11" x 2-1/2" shoes & drums then that is what has to go back on no matter what it runs $$$ to make it so.

As for the grooves, where the shoes contact the drum has to be smooth with no gouges or they will not work right and that goes back to the first line I posted.
Also note drums can only be turned so far before they get to thin and cant be used anymore. This is stamped on the drums.
If replacing a drum "I" would replace both on the same axle or you can have issues of un-even braking.

Again brakes are no place to go cheap!
Dave ----

 

I realized all you stated FuzzFace2 . This is why I wanted an answer
My logic behind my post was this truck is my only transportation . Money is practicality gone because I have had a lung infection for over 2 months & lost my job because of it
I drove the truck and brakes appeared to work fine until they overheated because of old fluid . During the process of bleeding the brakes I did a brake inspection & found 3 of my brakes were not working or broke during my few test drives
Front brakes did not have the steel cables that attached to shoes . Adjuster wheel was laying on bottom of drum , and I think a small spring was broken . Rear drums had a broken spring or 2 and a frozen adjuster wheel I may have missed a detail or two but basically accurate . The brakes worked but I did have to pump them but that was because of the bad fluid I think .
The drum linings do not appear to me to be obviously destroyed , the scarring & 1 small gouge do seem very , very minimal . I know to be completely safe I was going to replace drums soon , Until then I think I may can drive around town & maybe a quick trip out if very careful . If you think my reasoning is completely wrong let me know .
Since my brakes worked with all this damage I thought after replacing all shoes & all hardware & new fluid I MAY be ok to just drive this truck on VERY short trips or SLOW long trips.......... until I go back to work , & then buy new 3inch drums for both back wheels . Carpenters sells 3 inch rear shoes for a 1971 F100 , but no drums so there must be safe
3 " drums somewhere or they would not sell them .
You suggestion of unbalanced stopping power I did not think of . I wanted to add 3 inch drums in the future so I thought of maybe buying 1 now . 3 inch drums must stop better than 2-1/4" is why I want to change . Now I will add the same changes to both sides at the same time as you suggested

 

After countless installs of all 4 drums hardware , I still have a couple of problems . Main one at the moment is the rear bakes adjuster spring does not seem to be the correct one !!!
Are the front & back hardware the same ? They look the same . Only thing I can think of is I used the front springs on the rear , or they are the wrong springs !!!
Spring connection hooks do not seem to be turned right so they do not install as firm as I would like , and if I reverse the direction of spring it looks to be almost right
I will try to post a pic soon..........I have no cell phone & I do not feel like getting my camera at the moment because I feel a little angry & tired.........

 

THE SHORT BLUE SPRINGS look exactly like the ones I am having a terrible time getting to install correctly !!!
My kit is just like this one except I have some wavy washers........
Unless I am trying to use the wrong holes , to me the hooks should be facing the same direction & they appear to face the same direction in the service manual ,
I will look again for about the 10th time........

 

Reading further up thread yes, 3" (or larger) drums for front and always recommended to replace in pairs. 75% of braking is done by front, hence larger surface area. Drums are expensive, check local junkyards? You seemed to be asking if drums could get by without turning or replacing. If drums not too grooved yes, replacing only shoes an not drum will wear shoes a little quicker, maybe feel a vibration in peddle, again not recommended (but safe). I did it in my younger days for lack of funds. If I understand you correct, you want to install 3" drums on rear as well. Almost like 'big is better'. My opinion, dont install larger drums on rear. Its not necessary. Your problem with springs could be sometimes you have to push and turn? They make a tool for ease. Also the star adjuster does need to be aligned correct. Check YT someone probably did same year brake job close to your style. There is a right and left side to many brake components though. The spring that hooks on the front on left side, hooks to back on right. Don't forget, you're light years ahead of others because you're interested enough to learn. I hope anything I said can help even a little
PS* For future, NEVER do two brakes at same time! One at a time so you have other as a reference. (I know you said one side was half taken apart)