Question about front/rear brake drums

Will the 10" front brake drums fit on the rear 10" drum brakes ? With the hub removed ? Napa says the front and rear brake shoes are the same.

the drums do fit, BUT, and there is always a BUT. the drums for the front would be thicker and should have a flare on the edge. this is because the front braking is 60-40 roughly percentage of the bias. helps to cool them faster to prevent fade.
I have a set of rear 78 dodge 1/2 ton truck drums on the front of my truck with no big issues as of yet. ii have tested them trying to brake from idiots on the road but if I did it more than 3 or 4 times in a row I would prefer to wait a bit for them to cool off some. that's why I am looking to upgrade to front disc brakes. but I am a purist and I want all dodge stuff not a mix of 3 manufactures.

jkr wrote:the drums do fit, BUT, and there is always a BUT. the drums for the front would be thicker and should have a flare on the edge. this is because the front braking is 60-40 roughly percentage of the bias. helps to cool them faster to prevent fade.
I have a set of rear 78 dodge 1/2 ton truck drums on the front of my truck with no big issues as of yet. ii have tested them trying to brake from idiots on the road but if I did it more than 3 or 4 times in a row I would prefer  to wait a bit for them to cool off some. that's why I am looking to upgrade to front disc brakes. but I am  a purist and I want all dodge stuff not a mix of 3 manufactures.

I've recently install disc on the front of my 64 A100 pickup. All of the parts are from 1987-1990 Dodge Dakota's   You use 4x4 vented rotors (5x 4 1/2)/ 4x4 Dakota front brake hoses, Calipers and brake pads from the Dakota (calipers are the same 2x4 or 4x4)
You need the caliper mounting bracket from the Dakota (2x4 or 4x4 they are the same) held on with 2 large bolts.
Then you need to make an adapter plate from 3/8 steel , 5.50"x5.75" . You also need 4 thick round spacers 1.00" OD / .500" ID x .600" thick.
Send me an email address and I will send a drawing of the plate that you need to make . They are very simple.
Check out this link for pictures   https://flickr.com/photos/scottie8door/   drop to bottom of page
you have to press the hubs out of your front brake drums. The rotors are thicker than the brake drums. So I replaced my wheel studs with longer ones. The wheel studs that I used were Dorman 610-449, They fit jeep 1/2" Right hand thread.
Now on my install, I ended up adding a 2lb residual valve inline for the front brakes. Some guys have had to this/ Some have not. Also you use a 1972-1976 dodge B100 master cylinder for MANUAL Disc brakes: it has a 1.00" bore.

before you start the disc conversion i would like to talk to you to help avoid some of the headaches.
send a pm when you are ready

I have a couple spare spindles and am in the process of making the mounting plate. I plan on using the newer caravan/journey dual piston calipers and brackets. because I have 14" wheels there is little room for the calipers. health issues have put the actual conversion on hold but soon to be back at it and building a wiring harness from scratch as well. still drivable and stops fine for now with 4 rear drum brake drums.

the calipers on the dakota are not big, i'm running 14" cragars now but some wheels will not work.
the mopar rallye wheels will not clear. if you are running a newer style wheel for disc brakes then clearance should be fine.
the disc brake conversion does take time it's not a week-end project ,