Brakes Original

Hi kids have a break question. I have an original 1963 CJ5 with the original brakes. I'm not able to lock up the brakes, in other words I can't slam on the brakes and come to a stop. Is that typical of the small brake shoes? Or should I look elsewhere start the trouble shooting

 

That is typical of the 9" front brakes. That and pulling to one side or the other. Upgrade to 11" front. I did it and it is a great improvement.

 

Do you have big tires? I wonder if they would lock up with the original skinny tires.

 

To be fair, if they were restored to original spec and properly adjusted, that might be a place to start comparisons. Most anyone who "upgrades" is probably going from badly neglected OEM to fully tuned new components.

All my jeeps have always seemed adequate to me with the small drums, but I don't drive in heavy traffic.

 

Have always wondered how bad stock brakes truly were

 

I had the 9" drums worked on before I went to 11". The parts for the 9's were harder to get. Even after getting them worked on it was still pathetic when braking. The 11's are almost like having power brakes. If you plan to go through a lot of water you might consider discs, otherwise going from 9 to 11 should work well for you.

 

I understand your point of comparison of old poorly maintained 9" brakes to upgraded larger brakes. I also understand your propensity to keep your vehicles as original as possible but in this day in age, I have to ask why not upgrade. To me it's not a matter of whether I drive in light or heavy traffic but the fact that I do drive in todays traffic with way to many distractions such the preverbal cell phone.

 

Lazy, I guess.

Certainly I don't fault anyone wanting to improve their brakes.

 

I put new 9in brakes all round on the 3B, when I restored it. Didn't realize that the 11in would bolt up, nor did I know about this site and the info available here. This is a great forum.
With new, well adjusted brakes and skinny bias ply tires, I could not lock up any wheels on dry pavement. Later put 11in brakes on the front and 10in on the rear and I am very happy with it.
Can practically stand it on its nose now.

 

It's a very easy conversion.

 

i did the brennan metcalf disk break conversion on a '62, and its a pretty epic upgrade. im going to do it on my '70 this winter, and its already on my FC-150 im redoing. look into this, i think all in all it was about 250 bucks.

i had 10" breaks, and they get any kind of wet, forget about stopping. its scary. plus, now you would have the ease of swapping out brake pads. no more constant adjusting.

 

Hi it's my daily driver and I try my best to keep lots of distance between me and the car in front of me time to start breaking way in advance. it's just that I noticed that I really need a lot of leg power to get her to stop and that's the way it always has been.

When I let my ex-wife Drive I told her to stop, I said press on the brake pedal, she said I am I am as we kept rolling along. I was thinking of switching over to the 11-inch brakes since I drive this all the time like I said it's my daily driver. When I talked to Carl at Walck's about 11 inch brakes he said that the stock ones are just fine. That's why I asked the question do they really work oh, sometimes I think I'm driving a Model T.

 

I 've got a a Front Bendix 11" set , if your interested . PM me.
BTW, They have self adjusters, too !

 

With good incentives a very dedicated person can lock 9s when they find religion.

You don't adjust disks. and you don't have to see a physical therapist when you find religion.

11's are a good compromise to keep stock wheels. 11' also allow for parking brakes on the rear axle with the right backers and can have self adjuster kits.

 

Good thought. I may look into using the rears for the parking brake.