10" drum brake upgrade

michowski · Oct 5, 2007

Ive decided I wanted a little more braking out of my truck and wanted to upgrade from 9 to 10 inch drum brakes. What all do I need to do the swap? Right now im looking at getting.....

two 10" drums
self adjusting kit for both sides
10" shoes
two wheel cylinders
drum brake bar

Is there anything else I need? Will all that bolt onto my 7.5 axle?

bigpotato555 · Oct 5, 2007

i think you will need the back plate also

michowski · Jan 24, 2008

I just got a complete 10" drum brake for the rear. Its got the cylinders, drums, shoes. Its complete. Is it as easy as removing my drums, taking off the 4 bolts holding the backplate on, put the new one on with the bigger shoes and bolt it all together?

michowski · Jan 24, 2008

Also will my parking brake cable work on the bigger drums?

gaz · Jan 24, 2008

Upgrading to 10"

Hello,

One thing that you didn't mention is removing the axles to get the backing plate off; this is somewhat time consuming as the the diff has to be opened to pop the "C" clips, then slide out the axles, then you are where you take off the backing plates.

gaz :icon_pepsi:

Jspafford · Jan 24, 2008

What he said, and you minds well check the axle bearings while you have the axleshafts slid all the way out.

Mutant Pony · Jan 24, 2008

And the bearing surface on the axle shafts too!
None of my Rangers have 9" brakes anymore. This is also a good time to add a posi or locker.

michowski · Jan 24, 2008

im gonna pass then. Im gonna put a 8.8 on my truck early summer, gears, locker, these brakes. I figured for now if it was easy enough I would just put them on my 7.5 so they wouldnt get dusty.

michowski · Aug 9, 2009

Well I ended up getting a sportbike not long after posting this thread so I really had no reason to switch drums on my truck since I only drove it in winter. Now im doing the 4 wheeling thing with my brother and its got a trailer and it would be nice to have the 10" drum brakes on there now. My theory is you can never have enough brakes.

Anyway I got the rear axle on stands, I got the shoes and all the hardware off. I got the diff cover off and let the fluid drain out. Now its just the backplates attached to the shafts. My question is what do I do now on my 7.5 axle to get the shafts out? I read the tech library but didnt find any answers. I dont want to start taking bolts out around the ring gear or anything cuz im scared of meshing with the mesh. Just need to get the shafts out so I can get the new drums on there.

BRUTUS_T_HOG · Aug 9, 2009

there is one bolt on the carrier that holds a solid shaft right in between the 2 axles.. you take that bolt out and then slide the shaft as far as it will go and push the axle inward and then take a magnet and take the C-clips out.

michowski · Aug 9, 2009

Got it, thanks. Now I just gotta figure out the easiest way to get those bolts off to get the backplate off. Most likely there gonna snap but thats a project for tomorrow when theres daylight. Also I got a variety of snap rings in this kit I bought a long time ago. Worth putting the snap rings on vs the c clip? If so should i put enough snap rings on to equal the width of the c clip or is all that slack ok? Id think not but better ask now before I get to that stage.

BRUTUS_T_HOG · Aug 9, 2009

the slack is normal. put what you take out back in. snap rings WILL ruin the axles

michowski · Aug 10, 2009

I put it back together stock. Im not doing any crazy offroading or anything, mostly work transit and weekend towing with 4 wheelers. I did finish this but I am having one issue. My parking brake does not work. When I engage em they work as normal, but they dont release. I had to take the drum off and manually pry the lever on the pad back to normal position. To try and remedy this I took it all apart again, I made sure its 100% free moving. Its all lubed up and cleaned and should be fine. Put it back together and they dont disengage. Mechanically from inside the shoes its all free and 100% right. Is this a common problem putting the 10" brakes on the 7.5 axle?

10" drum brake upgrade

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