drum brake wear life?

[busted knuckles]

i have a 57' cj5 with 9" drum brakes front and rear which as you all know they are a pain in the *** to install so im wondering how long the wear life is on these brake shoes

any info is appreciated

[dinger]

Not sure what the wear life on the drums is- but I have to say that on the fronts I'd convert to disc brakes. Best thing I've done for the driveability of my '59 CJ5. Had front drums that were out of adjustment and locked up on a stop heading downhill- that experience made my decision for me! Bought the R&P kit that day.

[busted knuckles]

Not sure what the wear life on the drums is- but I have to say that on the fronts I'd convert to disc brakes. Best thing I've done for the driveability of my '59 CJ5. Had front drums that were out of adjustment and locked up on a stop heading downhill- that experience made my decision for me! Bought the R&P kit that day.

i would love have front disks on this jeep but i have no money and i just finished putting on new shoes, adjusters, wheel cylinders, springs, all new brake lines, and a new master cylinder. so i cant just swap to disks now that i've done all this work to it.

[LarrBeard]

I had to make the disc/drum decision when I started on the '48 2WD truck. I opted to keep the original drums, basically because I wanted to stay with the original configuration.

Probably the question you need to have answered is "How much life do I still have in my drums"? You didn't mention that you had put new drums on it, but for a Jeep that old, the drums have probably been turned at least once, and maybe more.

A new set of drums, with normal wear, should go 20 -30K miles before you need to pull and turn them. (Depends on how hard you get on the brakes, etc. Your results may vary). But, if the drums are already turned down to their limit - or maybe even below - you won't get good braking action even with all other new parts. I'd recommend taking the drums to a brake shop and have them take a look at how thin they've been turned. You might get away with not doing that, but stepping down on the brake pedal and having it feel like you've squashed a banana makes for a very exciting day. You don't save much money if that happens.

Good Luck - let us know what happens.