What replacement drums have you folks had good luck with? In particular, drums that are actually machined round to meet factory spec (.005 max out of round, if I recall correctly).
My '98 GMC Sierra SL has the crappy 10" leading/trailing drum brakes. I recently replaced the shoes and went with new drums. The old drums, originals, had gone out of round because I did something stupid; missed the fact the E-brake wasn't fully disengaged and drove that way for awhile. End result was toasting and permanently out of rounding the drum(s). I tried having them turned but no luck. Loads of brake shudder and pedal pulsing ...got to the point were it was scary, especially at 70MPH interstate speeds.
My replacement drums are NAPA Premium Brake Drums ...made in China. Right. I scored a pair and checked for out of round: one was .009, the other .026(!). Took the .026 back to the store and got another. It checked out at .011. I didn't have the time to get another set of drums (they weren't showing in the local distribution system) so I went with these. Sad to say that after spending over $100 for some "premium" NAPA garbage, the shuddering was only marginally reduced than previously. After putting a few hundred miles on these drums I got the opportunity to address the shudder. Today I found a place that actually turns drums ( O'Reilly's seems to be the go to). Even my local machine shop doesn't turn drums or rotors ...says he loses money on it. O'Rielly's charged me $30 a drum(!) to turn them. Got them back on the truck, crossed the fingers and went for a drive. While the shuddering/pedal pulse has gotten a lot better, it's still there to a degree. So is this the new "normal" as far as brake drums? The market is flooded with garbage Chinese-made parts. NAPA used to be a reliable source for higher quality parts ...but it seems they're no better than any of the other major chain parts stores.
So what's the secret to getting brake drums that are round?
My '98 GMC Sierra SL has the crappy 10" leading/trailing drum brakes. I recently replaced the shoes and went with new drums. The old drums, originals, had gone out of round because I did something stupid; missed the fact the E-brake wasn't fully disengaged and drove that way for awhile. End result was toasting and permanently out of rounding the drum(s). I tried having them turned but no luck. Loads of brake shudder and pedal pulsing ...got to the point were it was scary, especially at 70MPH interstate speeds.
My replacement drums are NAPA Premium Brake Drums ...made in China. Right. I scored a pair and checked for out of round: one was .009, the other .026(!). Took the .026 back to the store and got another. It checked out at .011. I didn't have the time to get another set of drums (they weren't showing in the local distribution system) so I went with these. Sad to say that after spending over $100 for some "premium" NAPA garbage, the shuddering was only marginally reduced than previously. After putting a few hundred miles on these drums I got the opportunity to address the shudder. Today I found a place that actually turns drums ( O'Reilly's seems to be the go to). Even my local machine shop doesn't turn drums or rotors ...says he loses money on it. O'Rielly's charged me $30 a drum(!) to turn them. Got them back on the truck, crossed the fingers and went for a drive. While the shuddering/pedal pulse has gotten a lot better, it's still there to a degree. So is this the new "normal" as far as brake drums? The market is flooded with garbage Chinese-made parts. NAPA used to be a reliable source for higher quality parts ...but it seems they're no better than any of the other major chain parts stores.
So what's the secret to getting brake drums that are round?