My dad has an original set of finned Buick brake drums on his model T but always complains about the handling when he drives it to a show. Does anybody know who can still balance these drums?
He/you can check balance,just by jack up wheels off the ground, back off shoe adjuster an, spin wheel,let it stop on its own,and mark the top near the tread. Spin it a few times,to see if it stops about the same place all the time. If it dose,add a rim Wt./tire Wt.. Put mark at 90* from top;see if it go up or down? If it goes down=you added too much,if up;not enough. One of the most done mistakes with Buick Drums added to anything; Is using a tire rim on them that has too much out set!= Big scrub, that makes messed up handling{ some do it,to show off the Buick Fins and have no understanding of scrub and what high scrub dose to both braking an bumps road.
Does he still have the factory balance weights bolted on the drums? A common F--K up is removing these weights.
I had a thread about balancing them. I made a insert that centered on the inner bearing and had a point to fit to a stand. I used a bubble level on the end of the hub.
That's sometimes necessary, to a degree, because many 15" rims won't clear the fins. I had to run 1" thick spacers (wheel adaptors, as my hubs are small Ford bolt pattern) to have the Dayton 15" wires fit. The offset isn't ridiculous, and it drives and handles great. I've seen some cars that have the entire drum exposed. I have a set of 15" Ansen slotted chromes that likewise don't fit. 16's, no issue, but Buick 15" rims are specific to those cars that had the big finned drums, Chevy and Ford 15's will not clear. As mentioned, DO NOT remove the factory balance weights. They're there for a reason.
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