Brake drums
- Thread starter CSteppe82
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Shoes are all the same as well as brake cylinders, although there is a left side and right side for the adjusters.
Aren't front and rear brake cylinders a different bore?
It has been 27 years since I rebuilt my wheel cylinders so memory is a little spotty. Converted to front discs in '94 and rear in '99.
It has been 27 years since I rebuilt my wheel cylinders so memory is a little spotty. Converted to front discs in '94 and rear in '99.
There are many different sizes of brake cylinders on these rigs. The cylinder is the adjuster and yes they are two to a wheel and have a left and right.
On my '73, there are six different wheel cylinders. Two left front are identical, two right front identical, and the four in the rear are all different.
I bought the expensive cylinders from SOR for my 67. Cost an arm and a leg but they seem to work great.
Don’t know if the ‘71 rear brakes are the same as a ‘69 but I just swapped to discs on my ‘69 and I now have a good set of rear drums with almost new wheel cylinders if your interested.
for me it's worth buying new ones from Kurt versus rebuilding the old ones.
X2 on cruiseroutfitters
@cruiseroutfit
Bought my 1970 fj40 in late 73. Over the years I kitted all the cylinders three times as I remember. No problems each time.
Around 09 I decided it was time to do the brakes again and figured the old cylinders had been honed enough so bought all new ones.
Two weeks later one of the right front cylinders started leaking. Replaced it and no problems since.
Thanks for the props guys. We stock wheel cylinders, drum hardware kits and complete import and OEM drums too! 
Complete Wheel Cylinders: (mid page)
Cruiser Outfitters
Wheel Cylinder Rebuild Kits:
Cruiser Outfitters
Complete Wheel Cylinders: (mid page)
Cruiser Outfitters
Wheel Cylinder Rebuild Kits:
Cruiser Outfitters
Was it a major benefit converting?
Yes.
Brakes that stop the rig faster and straight wet or dry.
Haven't adjusted brakes in 20 years.
Front brake job lasted 19 years and 95K miles.
Rear brakes 12 years and counting.
Brake jobs are cheaper when they do need to be done.
Brakes that stop the rig faster and straight wet or dry.
Haven't adjusted brakes in 20 years.
Front brake job lasted 19 years and 95K miles.
Rear brakes 12 years and counting.
Brake jobs are cheaper when they do need to be done.
FineWynsFJ40
Too much to do...
I used cylinder rebuild kits for all eight wheel cylinders. I broke them all free (some were seized and/or non-functioning) and cleaned them up, honed them all, and reassembled (using anti-seize compound on all threads). After bleeding and properly adjusting, I can now stand my truck on its nose. It stops straight and true, you would be quite surprised how well a set of properly adjusted drum brakes work. For full disclosure, I also replaced all four drums, put new brake shoes on, & replaced all of the brake lines as well.
Brian
You have no idea how many times i have rebuilt two or three of those cylinders just in time to find out that the third or/and forth ones were beyond saving. For the time involved I just source the new ones from the start now.
My '79 FJ40 non-USA continues to drive me crazy. The USA models got disc brakes up front. Mine got FJ45 drums up front. They are 295 x 87 vs the 290 x 66 drums used on all four corners of "normal" FJ40's. Today I picked up two drums and two sets of shoes. The problem is that while the drums are indeed the 290mm, they are for the 2 1/2" shoes, not the 3". I'm not sure if the drums will even work on the rear since there may be backing plate issues. Maybe it will stop raining so I can find out.
