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Over the years I have seen some brake drums with bands clamped around them and some without the bands.
Why do some have them and some do not?
Is it for noise dampening or a very crude way of balancing the drum assembly?
I have a few spare drums with them and I was just curious as to their use.
More than likely the brake drum band was installed to keep the drum from expanding away from the shoes. Under heavy use, especially mountain driving, the drum will expand away from the shoe mechanism. I learned this the hard way in 1968 going to the Pierce national meet in my recently purchased ’36 conv. sedan. This type of brake failure in mountainous terrain is usually accompanied by a good amount of screaming coming from the inside of the car.
That’s as good a reason as any.
Lack of brakes is never fun, especially in a 5,000 lb classic car in mountainous terrain.
This application is unusual and looks like an after-market item.
Model A’s had them. Most were a continuous cast iron ring that was
heated to red hot, placed on the drum and when it cooled, it was
firmly secured. They are there to prevent brake fade which is caused
by distortion of overheated thin metal brake drums. This band looks
too thin and the clamps and bolt look like a poor idea.