brake drum size ?

when measuring for brake size is the measurement the diameter from internal actual braking surface to surface or from the inside of the lip that fits over the backing plate? (69cj5)

as long as i seem to be stripping the critter down i figured i would make sure of what the po has to stop the 31x10.5 tires with.

i assume that if they are not 11" i should change over to 11's soon.

as usual, thanks

 

You measure the internal diameter of the drum, the actual braking surface.
While 11" brakes are better, the 10" ones are pretty good at stopping the vehicle (I could lock all 4 of my 10" up at anytime I chose), the reason a large chunk of the guys change brake sizes is because a huge number of these old jeeps have 9" brakes on them, now that starts to be a considerable difference. I have disk on the front now and 10" drums on the rear, I don't plan on changing the rear. Your front brakes are more than 60% of your stopping power so if you plan on putting disk on the front anytime I wouldn't bother changing the rears to 11" if you already have 10" ones.

 

I had 9" brakes on mine and braking was always a touchy thing. Normal braking (foot pressure) did not stop you very quickly and if you stomped it you could only guess which lane you would end up in. I put 11" front drums on and all problems solved.

It was the best $225.00 I have spent on my jeep yet.

 

thanks.

will the backing plates and drums from early wags work too? if i can find some at a yard locally. i am assuming that the 72-75 cjs will pretty much bolt on? how about the early wags
or if you went to rebuilt where did you go to get the kit?

or how expensive and involved to upgrade to discs? can i use them from a 98 wrangler for instance?

 

The 11" drums from a Wagoneer will bolt right up to the front or rear of an early CJ.

If you want to convert to discs, the best route is using a combination of late 70's CJ parts and Chevy 1/2 ton parts. I don't know if it's possible to use Wrangler parts, but I would bet the older CJ stuff would be much *easier*.

 

thanks flattie.