Hello fellow slanters. A couple of questions for your consideration (and maybe a tip for cheap shoes):

1)
I received some time ago a pair of new (unused, don't know how old they are) 9 inch brake shoes for the front. Now, when checking them, I noticed that the primary shoes are narrower than the ones on my car at the moment. The ones on the car are about 2 1/2" wide, while the "new" ones are about 2 1/4" wide. The secondary shoes are 2 1/2 inch on both.

My question is: Does the difference matter? Does it cause any change in stopping power (yes, I have dual master cylinder and I do know 9 inch drum's are not world's most powerful brakes and no, I will not mix old shoes with new ones)?

The numbers I found on the shoes let me to this rock auto page (I think they are the same ones): http://www.rockauto.com/en/parts/wagner ... hoe%2C1688
pretty cheap, if they are correct...

2)
What brands would you recommend today when it comes to (drum) brakes. What would you not recommend. I realize this has been asked before (I did run a search), but the answers I found were a few years old and quality doesn't always stay the same (companies get bought up, want to squeeze more money out of the products, etc).

As always, thank you for any answers.
Maurice

I've never seen a difference in width.

The primary shoe is usually shorter and thinner because the secondary does the vast majority of the braking (and get the most wear)


I don't think it should matter.

_________________
Ed
64 Valiant 225 / 904 / 42:1 manual steering / 9" drum brakes

Thanks. Yes, the primary shoe (or the friction material) is shorter. The placement of the friction material on the shoe is different, too. On these "new" narrower ones the friction material is placed far further down than on the ones in place at the moment. But I guess that is irrelevant.

Any comments on quality these days? I don't mind paying more for quality, but paying double or triple price for same stuff that has just been packed in a different box with a different name sticker is waste of money. Centric, Wagner, Raybestos and Bendix (Carlson for hardware and Dorman for cylinders) can be found on Rockauto.

Maurice