I tried to order drums and shoes for the rearend on my Edsel and it seems that the drums are possibly an odd size. I have received 2 inch wide drums and shoes, when the drums and shoes on my rearend are 1-3/4. I found a set of drums and they were abhorrently expensive..... I had thought to possibly change them over to disc brakes, but it seems there is also an oddball axle standoff on this. Anybody have some knowledge or suggestions on what I should do? I would actually prefer to change over to a more readily available brake, such as a universal disc brake with off the shelf components, its more the brackets I am concerned with
If you have the original shoes, you can get them relined. Drums can be turned unless too far gone, or you don't have them.
you can use 2" wide drums on 1-3/4 shoes. Chevy did it all through the 50s on their cars and trucks. What we might need to know, to help you, is whether or not the drum fits in the right place, relative to the backing plate. Put the drum on, take a picture, post it here. Also describe the "fit" of the drum flange and backing plate--does it hit? does it have a gap? does it fit ok? If the offset of the backing plate/axle is wrong, then you need to see about finding another drum or backing plate, most likely.
Probably the same as Ford cars of the same year. Got my drums through Kanter but don't let them sell you the wrong ones and stick you with return shipping like they did to me. Told them I wanted non heavy duty (not police, taxi, wagon). Had me measure my old drums and sent me what they thought I needed. Drums are slightly wider than shoe and 2" drum doesn't mean 2" shoe. Shoes, wheel cylinders and hardware with same part numbers were used on a few different makes so should be pretty easy to find at the parts store.
Looking at a 59 Edsel Service Manual, it calls for the following: Brake Drums 11.0 in Front Shoes 2.5 in Rear Shoes 2.0 in
It is possible that someone switched some parts before you got the car....it's been 62 years, after all
All 1959 Edsel's use a 5x4.5 bolt pattern. The 5x5 was used in 1958 on the big series Edsel's, Corsair and Citation. Run of the mill 1959 Ford brake parts should be all he needs.
I have a '59 rear in my OT car and it has the odd bearing size, 11" x 1-3/4. Pic of housing end would be nice.
Rock Auto says 2 inches on the shoes for a 59 Edsel Ranger with a 292 engine. It looks like there are two top anchor pin sizes though. If the drum fits flush to the axle flange and the back lip has 1/8 or so =/- clearance from the backing plate life is good. As Jim said there are tons of cars out there that run shoes that are a bit narrower than the drum surface width. That lets them use one drum and backing plate set with difference performance levels of shoes. I wouldn't be putting a lot of credence on the 1-3/4 shoes being correct unless you have actual documentation attesting to that. It could well be that someone stuck those on years ago before you got the car because they were what 11 inch shoes they had in stock.
Check to see if the backing plates are correct. Chevy used the same drum front and rear with different width shoes, but you can't use front shoes on the rear because of the backing plates I would assume Ford would do the same in the interest of cutting costs
I will pull it apart and look a little closer as others have suggested. The drums on the car and the drums I have are wider than what is on the car, potentially someone changed them at some point as others have suggested. It may be worth it for me to order a complete rebuild kit (shoes and springs) The drums are pretty badly scored and the shoes are right there with them First I will check the clearance to the backing plate and make sure the drum mates to the axle mounting surface if the drums are hitting the backing plate before engaging the mounting surface, would trimming the backing plate make sense and have the drum overhang it a bit?
Ford is famous for having several different brake setups for the same model with different drivetrain or engine options. Back in the 70's when I was doing brakes and front end work in a Firestone store and did a brake job on a Mustang the standing joke that wasn't much of a joke was what color was the car as you absolutely could never assume that the brakes would be the same as the last one you did. I've probably taken more brake shoes back to the parts house for late 50's, 60's and early 70's Fords than all others combined because there were so many variations. Note= 9 inch rear axle doesn't mean squat as far as brake shoes go. You are not looking for shoes for a 9 inch Ford you are looking for shoes for a 59 Edsel______ with ____ engine in it. As far as 11 x 1-3/4 shoes being on the car now, they could have been stuck on at a brake shop that had them in stock in the back room at the time rather than sending out to the parts house and paying a few dollars more for shoes. Back in the days of 12 dollar for two wheels brake jobs that could have been the case.
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