Well, I had gotten my '71 F250 rear axle home, but been too busy to look at it much. Yesterday, I pulled the axle, to pull the drum off. the F250 had two sizes of shoes - 12.13" X 2" or 12" X 2 1/2". Well, my shoes are 3"!



The drum looks right, for an F250:



Bill (Number Dummy) and I did some roundy-round, on trying to figure out what I had. The drums measure indeed, 12" X 2 15/16", which is in line with the F250 with 2 1/2" shoes. When I opened this up, I was impressed that it had a fresh turn on the drums. Now, I'm figuring that the shoes stuck out the 1/16" (oversize), so it just APPEARS they are freshly turned. I also can see where the "step" inside the drum is polished, like the inside of the shoes was hitting it. No significant wear, but it definitely was rubbing, as evidenced by turning the side not apart yet, since I am LOOKING for the noise, I can hear the rubbing.

So, I hopefully can just get a set of 2 1/2" shoes, after clean up, paint, rebuilding the cylinders, etc, and have a decent rear end. You can see more pics, if interested, at:

Roger's Rear Axle

The fun things we get to do!!!

Thanks again, Bill - you set me on the right track...

R