Need brake help

Revisiting this topic again. Now that I actually have possession my new 1970 CJ-5, I have confirmed my fears that the brakes need serious attention. I finished wiring up lights and signals yesterday, then took her out for a spin. I drove around the neighborhood 30mph and under, and while they seemed a little soft, they at least had some pedal pressure to them. I decided to test them on a bigger road, and ended up going for a white knuckle ride. Above 45mph, the thing is SCARY. I hit a red light going about 40mph and found that I had almost no brakes. I had to jam it in first just to stop. I can stand on them and get the left front to lock up, which pulls me toward the centerline. Almost nothing from the rears.

When I got home, I noticed some fluids on the outside of the front wheels. Can't tell if its brakes or axles. I am reading my manuals right now on how to service the stock brakes. The entire system is original. I have manual drums all corners, looks like 10" to me. A single frame mounted master cylinder sits just behind the front axle. Front end is a closed knuckle stamped 27 A, dont' know if the "A" makes any difference. Rear is a 44. Brake lines appear to be in decent condition, don't see any kinks or cracks.

I have been sifting through past threads and the Tech section all morning trying to decide what to do. There seem to be a lot of options, so I need some help deciding. I want to get the most bang for my buck. This Jeep will see occassional in town and trail use. There are 33" tires on it now, but these will probably be 32" by the time it's done. It is a 4th vehicle for me, so it will never be anything more than a weekend driver. I am not into rock crawling or mud bogging. I have two daughters that I may want to take to the trails and lake. I am a cautious driver; this is not a hot rod. Money is an issue, but I don't want to compromise safety on this particular upgrade.

I would like to try to keep the original master cylinder set up if possible, not because of money, but because it looks like it would be a PITA to fab anything different in place with the body mounted, which I am not prepared to remove at this time. I like the idea of the 11x2 upgrade, but I am having a hard time finding backing plates locally; our salvage yards are full of early 90's and up vehicles only. For the price that I have seen them go on Ebay recently, I might as well just buy a kit ready to go from Herm or R&P. I could try just servicing the stock system, but it looks like at the very least I am going to be buying drums, shoes, and wheel cylinders at all 4 corners. I don't really want to put the money toward a turd. Then there is the disc option, but I don't know if I can make that work without spending wads of cash on vacuum booster/master cylinder/fabrication.

Would good working 10" drums do the job, is the 11" upgrade worth the money, or should I just start forking over the cash for discs?

 

Any upgrade would be worth the $$ but you would also be fine for what you say you are going to use it for if you just service what you have. Sounds to me like the wheel cylinders are your main problem, but it never hurts to replace springs, drums and shoes while you are fixing it. Just my .02 since $$ is an issue.

 

IMHO 10" brakes work well in normal conditions. The main issue is that the 11" work better, especially in wet conditions or with larger tires. The disc brake setup is nice, but you might have to chanmge your MC, or at least do a mod to it.

 

shoes, wheel cylinders & a rebuilt MC will run around $250 at your FLAPS. My 10" drums had lots of meat on them.

 

If the drums are beyond specs and wheel cylinders are shot, I would go the 11" kit.
If the drums are okay, and the wheel cyls can be rebuilt, go with what you have now.

 

The 11" drum brakes are a Bendix design (don't know who made the 10"-ers) and were much more widely used, thus they are easier to find parts for. JMO - I would not put a lot of money into 10" brakes unless you have wheels that won't work with 11" or you have some need to preserve your Jeep in stock condition. You can get all the 11" parts at your FLAPS except for the backing plates and e-brake levers. Measure your 10" drums and see if they can be turned (the shop will measure them for you). If you have leaky cylinders, you'll need new cylinders, shoes, a hardware kit (springs), and turn the drums. New hoses are a good idea if they do not look brand new. If your drums need to be replaced, the price for parts will go up considerably. Shop around - the prices will vary.