Allowable wear limit for 350 steering brake drum

wfoidaho · Post by **wfoidaho** » Sun Feb 08, 2015 9:49 am

I pulled the left steering clutch on my 350 yesterday due to a pinion seal leak. After getting the final and clutch cleaned up I noticed that I have a groove in the steering brake drum that is .016" in depth (measured with a straight edge and feeler gauge). I have searched my manuals but can't seem to find any wear limits.

I know that there has been discussions of machining the drum to smooth out the surface and having to use a thicker lining on the brake band but I haven't been able to find any of the specifications for determining when to machine or not. If you do machine the drum how do you determine the proper thickness for the lining? Anybody out there willing to provide some insight on this. It would really be appreciated.

jtrichard · Post by **jtrichard** » Sun Feb 08, 2015 11:38 am

.016 ...... this is a brake drum on a crawler NOT the space shuttle... i would not hesitate to RUN it as is

dirtguy34 · Post by **dirtguy34** » Sun Feb 08, 2015 4:03 pm

Try to figure out how the groove got there. I had same case scenario little more severe. But Completely missed a part that was broke directly above the drum that would ride on drum and cut bigger groves while your running. Guess what I'm saying is look it over really good, cause I was mad at my self for not catching the broken part. Dave

wfoidaho · Post by **wfoidaho** » Sun Feb 08, 2015 6:01 pm

Dave, the wear is from the brake band being applied to the drum for the last 46 years. There are no abnormal wear issues, ie metal to metal problems.

I completely understand the space shuttle reference.

.016" didn't trouble me much as I have a lathe that can swing the drum and true the face up. I just didn't know 1) when do you order thicker brake linings due to drum wear or machining and 2) what the acceptable wear limit is for the drum.

Just trying to pin down some sort of specification as it would be nice to know when to go looking for a new drum or a machine shop.

Post by **Lavoy** » Sun Feb 08, 2015 7:35 pm

For the thicker linings I have, you would have to cut 1/16" off for them to fit.
Lavoy

wfoidaho · Post by **wfoidaho** » Mon Feb 09, 2015 10:55 pm

Thanks Lavoy. I'll turn my drums and reinstall.

Toofarnorth · Post by **Toofarnorth** » Fri May 15, 2015 7:49 pm

With having to take that little off will a 1/4" lining fit fine?

JDcrawlers Messageboard

Allowable wear limit for 350 steering brake drum

Allowable wear limit for 350 steering brake drum

Groove in brake drum

Who is online