Lockheed 11x3 front brakes are making me crazy!

[Tincture77]

Hi all. My '73 t'all 1110 2wd (fa-1 front axle) has the rare 11x3 lockheed front drum system. When I bought this rig last August it did not stop well, so I started in on overhauling the braking system. I put on new drums (raybestos 2336), new front hoses (raybestos bh4000), and new front wheel cylinders (dorman w37316). I had the shoes religned locally since they are unavailable and used the same return spings since they also are unavailable. Making a rookie mistake on the 1st install (having only worked on british sports car drum brakes), I didn't have the drums pressed onto the hub. This caused the brakes to grab on the lip of the drum and rather harshly lock up the brakes. After this ruined (warped) the drum lug mounting holes, I had new studs pressed into the hubs, and new drums pressed onto the hubs. This seemed to remedy the problem, that is until the brakes heat up (ie city driving). Then they act as before grabbing on the front drivers side wheel and making a metal on metal screeching sound. After removing the drum/hub for inspection, I found an area of shining metal on the outer edge of the drivers side rear shoe (front brakes) where it seemed as if it was contacting the lip of the drum again. After grinding away a few milimeters of this metal and reinstaling everything it improved the squeaking, but now the grabing is intermitent (even when the brakes are hot, and when I back off the front left adjuster). What the h is causing this? Yes the "keystone" arrow is pointed to the front, and yes the linings are properly arced to the new drum, and no the shoes are not "twisted".

 

[Michael Mayben]

Once the new drums were mounted to the hubs, were they then turned as an assembly?

My initial impression here is a clearance issue but without having the parts on hand to inspect I can't say what the issue really is.

The first idea I have is that the drums are not actually accurately centered on the hubs.

I would remove the drums from the hubs and very carefully use a dremel to barely oversize the stud holes to allow the drums to be able to be removed/installed from the hubs. Then when mounting each drum, have someone stand on the brake pedal to center the drum on the shoe set and tighten the lug nuts.

When servicing lockheed brake sets, I always make the drums "removable" from the hubs (whether 2x4 or 4x4) so they can be removed without dismantling the hub set from the spindles.