Problem with rear drum brakes, I'm out of ideas.

Yeah, that pretty much sums up his reply right there.

 

I would be tempted to spray a light coat of paint inside the entire drum and then install it. Should rub the paint off somewhere!?

 

It sounds like you've discounted this idea because other "reputable" shops have looked at it.... yet none have come up with an answer.

You can trust anyone's work, but when issues arise, go ahead and verify... hence why I suggest checking the drums run out... preferably bolted to the same axles. Just bolt the drums on "inside out", and set up a dial indicator to read the turned surface.

I'd imagine an untrue surface would float some when turning by hand, and become more resistant when bolted down. Since the drums are hub centric, is there any slop between the drum's bore and axle's hub? what about the axle studs, are the splines protruding through the axle flange too much and not clearing the stud holes in the drum?

By the way, I've seen some brake lathes with a bit of a wobble on their spindles that would obviously translate on to the disc / drums. Perhaps not enough to cause an issue with street pads, but maybe enough to exaggerate the drag with performance pads.

 

Not discounting at all. As a matter of fact you're on the same path I have been on with this since the start. Prior to this thread I asked Mark to take his axles over to the guy who built my rear end so they could check them out. And for the record, he has tried two sets of drums and had the first turned and then checked AGAIN to verify they were not out of round, etc. I'm of the mindset now that when torqued down something in the axles, studs, drum is getting, in technical terms, out of whack do to some incorrect contact surface issue. And to answer another question you pose, Mark says the the hub centric hubs fit perfect on the axle hubs.

I'm done racking my brain from afar. Going to wait and see what this qualified Ford tech says this weekend.

 

bummer, I'm curious to know what's up with these things!

 

I'm with Craig but will add unless he has a good excuse may the fleas of a thousand camels infest his house.

 

Is the picture the left or right side. Which way is forward? There should be a primary and secondary shoe on each side. The materials can be different. The forward shoe helps the brakes apply and must be the forward shoe. There is a left and right adjuster also. There is an L & R on the inside of the short cap. Did you tighten the adjuster just till you couldn't rotate the wheel or until the adjuster was difficult to turn?

 

Spring arrangement does not agree with the 66 Ford service manual. Could be different if you bought a kit that included instructions etc.

 

Have you tried to verify the housing ends are square to the center section?
I had like problem and it came down to the housing ends were bent ever so slightly from previous accident.
The dragging hub only appeared when the wheels were on tightly.

 

Reading thru this in post 27 you found the problem. The drums are binding on the backing plate.
Look for the reason this is happening, drum depth to deep or axles set back too far in.
I saw where the axles have new bearings installed, they may have been set too close to hubs.