Lucky444

Just wanted to say thanks to everyone who helped me out with my brake situation. Seems like the shop I took it to didn't give me the straight info. I did the minor adjustments and the pedal feel and braking performance is way better already. Does anyone know of a way to get my hands on one of those brake adjustment tools you guys talked about? Seems like that would really dial them in. Big "mahalo" for straightening things out for me!

Thank you so much you guys. I'll do the minor adjustments myself soon and see what that does. I'm so glad I posted here and got so much feedback before finding some drums somewhere to purchase. Probably would've been a waste of money. P15-D24.com rules.

LOL! Socks are allowed, but only when the weather here drops down into the frigid 65-75 degree temps!!! Shel Bizzy, thanks for all the photo's and detailed explanations. The pictures really help in seeing what's going on. Yes, that rear drum you have looks exactly like the one on my car. It seems like what I need to do now is start from the beginning again and see if those shoes (front and back) can be properly adjusted. All the info will really help with that. So much for that brake shop I took it too! I'll post again when that gets done and what the outcome is. Big "Mahalo" to everybody for all the info and links.

Okay, got my socks on, getting the running shoes on....by the way, Happy New Year everyone!

If it turns out to be a simple solution like getting the MAJOR and MINOR adjustments right, that would be great! I have no attachment to that brake shop that checked it out and was purely going on word of mouth and the fact that they have been around a long time. Could definitely be a case of "the wrong shop". Are those brake adjustment tools available for sale anywhere? I'm assuming it's pretty specialized and not easy to come by. I appreciate all the help guys!

Whoa man, thanks you guys. I don't have access to "The Right Tool", but have seen it on the 50plymouth.com site. Maybe the "Old Timey" brake shop was not the place to go. Not sure what to think now as I have not removed those rear drums and looked at them myself yet. Will I need a special puller to get that drum off? I will be sure to check out the link for brake adjustment. I apologize I don't have any more info and have only been going off of what the shop told me. I have no idea if the drums OR the shoes are the right things on that car! The shop didn't mention anything about a major and minor adjustment so that makes me wonder.

No, unfortunately I was being a dummy when I took that wheel off and didn't measure the thing! And yes, the drums and backing plates visually appeared to be a great match. The brake shop also said that all wheel cylinders and shoes looked to be recently replaced. Can't vouch for their adjusting ability on this old setup, but they are an old timey shop like I said. They said that they adjusted out the star adjusters a bunch in the rear and were still not getting the right amount of drag on the drum. They said that when the drums start to wear down that the pistons in the wheel cylinders were in jeopardy of pushing too far out and begin leaking. This whole process has been great because I'm getting a lot of different opinions and I may be more confused now, but more determined to find out what may be the REAL issue with those brakes.

PS...Here's a pic of the car just for the heck of it , since I figured out how to download photo's onto this thread.

Thanks again for all the replies. The Dodge is a new purchase and was taken to an old time brake service place here in town. There seemed to be a lot of pedal free play and marginal braking power. It was the brake service center that told me that the rear drums had been replaced relatively recently with drums that were too big in diameter and that I would need to track down drums that were 11" X 2". This could also be a case of the blind leading the blind! Maybe it indeed is the shoes that need the attention. I will take a better look at everything and maybe do a quick tear down after the New Year celebrations. Unfortunately like I said, it's a new purchase for me and I really have no idea what kind of work and/or parts swapping may have occurred before I got it. I'll try to post pics to see if anyone thinks it looks proper. I'm pretty certain the rear end is original and no swap happened there.

Hey, thanks everyone. The car was bought in California and is now in Hawaii. I have a few repair receipts for the car from Missouri, but beyond that I don't know any more of it's history. I don't have any parts lists for this car either so it's all new to me. I inquired with a brake drum specialty shop and they told me that Dodge for that year had a couple different drum sizes and configurations. Could be a case of the blind leading the blind! I'll keep looking, but if anyone has anymore info...would be greatly appreciated. Mahalo.

Aw man, it's never a good sign when the first response you get starts off with "Goo Gawd"!

Hi all, new guy here. I'm not totally sure that this is the right place, but it looks like it. I am in need of a source for rear brake drums for a 54 Dodge Royal. The dimensions are 11" X 2" and they fit inboard of the backing plates. I've tried my best everywhere else with no luck. I also have a 51 Chevy, and it's not nearly as difficult finding parts for that car! I figure you all must know the problem and have some obscure source for some Dodge goodies. Hope you can help. Thanks in advance!