I bought a couple of 1940 front drums a while back and they have been laying on a shelf. Now I took them down and was going to put a set together when I noticed (didn't think of this earlier) that they were very different. One has small square humps on the "leaning part" of the drum and a lot thicker outer ring while the other is all flat on the "leaning part" and has some strange flanging. Hard to explain, but you understand after looking at the pics.
They should both work, and if you don't tell, I won't. Knowbody else will notice. Ford had different suppliers for parts, and it looks like you found brake drums from two different suppliers. I've also heard that the supposed '40 vs. '48 (inside hub vs. outside hub) is actually a supplier thing, not a year thing. Can't confirm this though.
My 48 has the ones with the heavier outer flange I've seen the other ones though I cut a set of them for my buddys 46 . both will work ....good luck
Yeah, I have two that look a little different from each other too. You can't tell once they're behind the wheel though.
I've also heard the many wives' tales over the years. The idea that it was simply a supplier thing makes the most sense of all the stories. Like the others said, no one will know. . .
Actually the early inside hub 40-41 drum/hub ***embleis were a year thing. Then the outside hub 42-48 drum/hub ***emblies appeared. The beauty of it was that, as ***embles, they are interchangeable, though the only parts they share are the bearings, races and seals.
My fronts don't match. When I find someone that can see both sides of the truck at the same time, I'll change them.
Almost certainly a supplier issue...I know I've seen an article laying out variants for earlier drums, but could not find that. Not in the rather poor club resto books for these years. Almost everything had multiple suppliers, and you can find quite different construction methods used in a stack of drums. In some years, there were midyear changes based on such things as noise reduction. Time and retooling are another source for variations...Ford did not stockpile mountains of spare parts, they ran new batches as long as demand was there. They might even have had a new supplier bid on '40 drums in 1952... Then you have Canadian parts, again different manufacture...and mountains of stuff made during WWII by whoever was available when Ford resources were fully commited. Toss the things in your suitcase on your next trip over here and you can root through my stack of brakes for a pair. Meanwhile, just park the roadster with wheels at full lock so people can see only one drum in detail
Just to annoy you, the story of a matched set I found: Carlisle, about 6 years ago. I stopped at the Polish sausage booth...noticed that a vendor near it had his tent poles supported in brakedrums. I looked carefully...hmmm...look like Ford, smell like Ford. "How much for those drums?" "Oh, they aren't drums, actually, they are complete brakes. $15.00" He took down his tent an hour later, and off I went with a complete set of '40 or so brakes. Ridiculous price even then.
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