NAPA brake drums ?

[kenwin30]

got a 99 4runner and the drums need replacing, parking brake has been stuck for awhile and drums are toast. thinking about the NAPA drums, are they ok or should i go with another brand ? thanks

 

[mechtech2]

It's s dice game with rotors and drums.
Cheap Chinese may be great, and expensive name brand ones may be average.
What to do? Get reasonably priced ones. Spin them by hand [mount them and not contact with the brake shoe] to see if they are out of round.

 

[unDummy]

Napa tends to have 'levels' of most parts. Avoid their cheapie parts and use the premium ones and you will be ok.

Don't be surprised if they rust quickly. Some of the OE drums are painted/coated/plated on the outside so they rust a lot slower.
In a couple weeks, new cheapie drums will look like they were pulled from a shipwreck.

You can't go wrong with OE Toyota drums, especially if you don't want to replace them again in a decade. I'd consider Toyota shoes too. Too many aftermarket shoes need riveting or pin pressing. With the OE shoes, you'll only have to worry about a couple easy to assemble clips...

 

[JDD]

Originally Posted By: unDummy
Napa tends to have 'levels' of most parts. Avoid their cheapie parts and use the premium ones and you will be ok.

Don't be surprised if they rust quickly. Some of the OE drums are painted/coated/plated on the outside so they rust a lot slower.
In a couple weeks, new cheapie drums will look like they were pulled from a shipwreck.

You can't go wrong with OE Toyota drums, especially if you don't want to replace them again in a decade. I'd consider Toyota shoes too. Too many aftermarket shoes need riveting or pin pressing. With the OE shoes, you'll only have to worry about a couple easy to assemble clips...


+1
Napa has low, middle and high end brake shoes and drums. Avoid the low end stuff and you will be fine. Overall, I like Napa parts better than most other national chain parts. Around here at least, they seem to have more experienced/educated employees.

 

[artificialist]

Every Napa brake drum for a Toyota I have seen has rough surfaces on the outside, and no paint anywhere. They certainly look inferior, but I don't know if they are a problem.

I would rather buy a Toyota OE drum, but I don't know what that would cost.

You don't have to worry about shoes if you don't buy the cheapest ones.

Wheel cylinders from Toyota are far superior to what NAPA sells. I often see 5+ years from OE Toyota wheel cylinders, but only about 3 from any part store's brand.

 

[wiswind]

The OE drums on my 2003 Sienna were ribbed on the outside.
There was a TSB issued to address squeeling noise where TOYOTA redesigned the drum to elliminate the resonance that was taking place.
I bought the "improved" drum from TOYOTA and it is smooth (non-ribbed) on the outside.
It was about $200 for 2 drums.
I noticed that most of the aftermarket ones that I looked up were also non-ribbed.

What I did with my replacment drums......wash them down to remove the oil coating, then paint them.
The TOYOTA drums were not painted.
I used Eastwood Rust Encapsulator to paint my new drums.....because it was what I had on hand, as I had used that to paint any exposed metal under the vehicle.
Seems to hold up very well.

 

[artificialist]

I once painted the drums on a Saturn I had. I used blue brake caliper spray paint from Autozone. The paint faded after 3 years, and at 4 years, it was flaking away.

I wonder what Toyota puts in their paint to make it last for so many years?