Longer brake shoe, in front or back?

[bmorgil]

That would do it Cat. The Simplex would have the big shoe to the front for best wear.

[LarrBeard]

Catlewis:

You are indeed a wise man to put so much effort into brakes. Some guys let brakes be an afterthought and their biggest effort is to just get a Jeep running.

Getting it to stop is as critical as getting it running. There was a TV commercial a year or so ago that had the tag line; "Well, something will stop it" - not a good approach to Jeeps.

Take a hard look at your drums. On the '48 the drums were right at the reject limit, so we used new drums. Then about a year later, (not that many miles) the brakes got a bit wonky. They surged and had a screech and shudder as the truck came to a complete stop. It turned out that even the new drums were out of round - so look them over carefully. Even if they are not too worn, check for concentricity.

Take care and keep us informed on the project - it's looking good,'