97 k2500 Semi-float Brake drums height

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MikaelT

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So I realized after purchasing and painting them that there is apparently 2 different drum overall height ( 5 1/4 and 6 1/2 inchs ) for 2.5 inch pad.... anyone have any info on what kind of setup cause this difference ?
 

GoToGuy

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I've always used shoe width to crosscheck for correct drum. Where are you measuring ht. at? I have 95 K2500 six lug.
 

Schurkey

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So I realized after purchasing and painting them that there is apparently 2 different drum overall height ( 5 1/4 and 6 1/2 inchs ) for 2.5 inch pad.... anyone have any info on what kind of setup cause this difference ?
Disc brakes have "pads". Drum brakes have "shoes".

I don't know why there'd be two different drums. Regular, and heavy-duty towing, perhaps? Not something I'd have expected. Is this for a K2500 pickup, or a K2500 SUV?

What brand, and part-number drums are you talking about?

I would guess 8 lug vs 6 lug would be the difference.
I would expect 6-lug to be 11.x" diameter, with 8-lug being 13" diameter. But perhaps I'm wrong.
 

MikaelT

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Disc brakes have "pads". Drum brakes have "shoes".

I don't know why there'd be two different drums. Regular, and heavy-duty towing, perhaps? Not something I'd have expected. Is this for a K2500 pickup, or a K2500 SUV?

What brand, and part-number drums are you talking about?


I would expect 6-lug to be 11.x" diameter, with 8-lug being 13" diameter. But perhaps I'm wrong.
sry should have been more precise, 97 k2500 pickup with 8 lugs 14 bolts semi-float.


both are technically for same application and for the same shoes width. only difference is larger distance between the braking and mounting surfaces and larger lip in the back to cover the back plate.
 

Pro439

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Well gm did all kinds of crazy things when it came to the rear drum brakes. It does have to do with gvw sometimes. I found some 13 1/2” x 3 1/3” and now have 12,000 disc because there’s no one left around here that can true the drum up. It almost seems to me the 11 and 13 are right you just have to measure the width
 

MikaelT

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Well gm did all kinds of crazy things when it came to the rear drum brakes. It does have to do with gvw sometimes. I found some 13 1/2” x 3 1/3” and now have 12,000 disc because there’s no one left around here that can true the drum up. It almost seems to me the 11 and 13 are right you just have to measure the width

seems like the only difference here is the distance between the back plate and the hub .... just trying to figure out what use the smaller 5 1/4 high drums to see if I can find a use for them eventualy
 

Pro439

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Oh ok well your statement makes sense now and no you can’t use different from what it is w/o converting it to what you want to go to. So if you have 5 1/2 you can go to 6 1/2 but you won’t be utilizing that extra 1”. But you can’t go to a narrower drum as you will have that same 1” of brake shoe hanging out doing nothing. I hope that makes sense
 

MikaelT

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Oh ok well your statement makes sense now and no you can’t use different from what it is w/o converting it to what you want to go to. So if you have 5 1/2 you can go to 6 1/2 but you won’t be utilizing that extra 1”. But you can’t go to a narrower drum as you will have that same 1” of brake shoe hanging out doing nothing. I hope that makes sense

yes, I realized the hard way it does not fit and wasted 400$ on drums lol, I guess what im wondering is what axle setup use those narrower drum to see if I could swap into it eventualy.
 

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Pilot hole diameter is different, too.

The Buyer's Guide linked-to on those web pages shows that both are used on a multitude of trucks--C, K, R, G, V, P. The '0363 goes back to '73, and as new as 2000, while the '0449 ranges from '83 to 2002.

I thought at first that perhaps one is for a 14-bolt 9.5" ring gear semi-float axle, and the other would maybe fit the old "truck" 12-bolt 8 7/8" ring gear semi-float axle...but I think the old truck 8 7/8 axle was discontinued long, long before 2000. 9.5" ring gear vs. Dana 60? Heavy-duty towing package?

Sorry. Can't really help.
 
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