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I thought they would be OK for the front but, I would rather have the German made drums on the rear because of the nearly 300 ft. lbs. that that big axle nut gets might brake a Chinese drum.
Any help is appreciated. TIA!

Is this for a late Beetle? (hard to tell with all that snow on it)

I see late Beetle 4 lug brake drums at the swap meets all the time. Genuine VW are easy to find that still have plenty of life in them. IMO, using any aftermarket drum (including German) is foolish given the plentiful supply of good used drums. If there are no swap meets in your area, The Samba.

Bruce2 wrote:Is this for a late Beetle? (hard to tell with all that snow on it)

I see late Beetle 4 lug brake drums at the swap meets all the time. Genuine VW are easy to find that still have plenty of life in them. IMO, using any aftermarket drum (including German) is foolish given the plentiful supply of good used drums. If there are no swap meets in your area, The Samba.

Bruce2 wrote:Is this for a late Beetle? (hard to tell with all that snow on it)

This is a 1973 Beetle.

That's good then. Check your local Craigslist. Look at all the VW ads and guess which seller might have drums. It's not a big seller, so many might not bother listing them for sale.
New they are 230mm ID. Worn out is beyond 231.5mm. If you don't have calipers that go that big, take a good precision steel ruler with you. There will always be a lip, so you should take a coarse file to file that off in two places across from each other for a measurement.
Look for the round VW logo on the inside cast into the drum.

I had a friend who was restoring his 71 Super. He wanted the best of every part available, no junk. When it came to the rear drums, the shop who was doing most of the work convinced him to buy new German. They said something like "why work with that old rusty junk?" Against my recommendation he bought the new German aftermarket. Three years later they were completely worn out, past the spec max. When my friend came to me with this problem, I made sure to emphasize the "I told ya so", then I gave him two good used genuine VW drums. He blasted them and painted them. They were smooth without any grooves, so he just installed them. It's been about 12 years since then, they are still in great shape. I told him they will last for the life of the car.

Jim Ed,
Location?

helowrench wrote:Jim Ed,
Location?

..close to an Army base and a Mountain.

Why use used stuff when the may be questionable... Check wear limits and you will probably find used drums are out of limits and cant be turned (the is why the are on market as used).... Life is so much easier with new drums and shoes that match (wear you know) mismatching shoes to drums just makes brakes more questionable.... Do it once, spend the money and do it right...

Dale

Because the used drums are most likely genuine VW, and they're better quality than any drum on the market.
I've measured used 4 lug drums. I've never found one that was out of spec. They simply don't wear out.
I bet the reason a used drum is offered for sale is that the PO upgraded to discs. Or he's parting out a dead car.

Jim Ed wrote:

helowrench wrote:Jim Ed,
Location?

..close to an Army base and a Mountain.

Well, Jim, that is kinda vague...
But since I am definitely not close to neither, I cannot help you.
(I have a removed rear in good shape, and one with a chip in it, that I will not reuse. New ones going on, and you could have mine. but it might be a bit of a drive)

Jim Ed wrote:

helowrench wrote:Jim Ed,
Location?

..close to an Army base and a Mountain.

Lehi, UT?

Chip Birks wrote:

Jim Ed wrote:

helowrench wrote:Jim Ed,
Location?

..close to an Army base and a Mountain.

Lehi, UT?

Lawton, OK next to Ft. Sill and close to Mt. Scott.

anyway, if you find yourself in Dallas, my offer stands.

I also have a set of fronts that were removed when I installed discs, just like Bruce mentioned.

Jim Ed wrote: Lawton, OK next to Ft. Sill and close to Mt. Scott.

That's funny, a mountain in Oklahoma...LOL

I don't know about OReillys drums, but their brake SHOES are largely why I now have rear discs.

Between OReillys and Autozone i looked through 15 sets of rear shoes and never found a set even glued on halfway right--- huge voids etc, you could literally see and feel where they were not bonded.(late T3 with the nice big drums)

After 2 weeks of that garbage, I was so pissed I ordered some calipers off ebay i thought might work for $26 (shipped no less) from California, and had rear discs with parking brakes (std brake cable even) the following weekend.

Between the BMW 4 pots up front and the Audi nee-MK4 vw rear calipers is stops like I caught an anchor on a stump, and I have yet to need to crawl around under the car to adjust the, nor ever will. I'm getting too old for that.

Truly self adjusting 4 wheel discs: Priceless. just have to use the parking brake, as one should anyway.

ps2375 wrote:

Jim Ed wrote: Lawton, OK next to Ft. Sill and close to Mt. Scott.

That's funny, a mountain in Oklahoma...LOL

We have the Arbuckle mountains and the Witchata Mountains with a wildlife refuge. That wildlife refuge is nice.

Yes. I am out here on the prairie in the plains with the Cowboys, Indians, buffalo, elk, dear, and longhorns. Don't forget the prairie dogs. I'm also close nearby the Ft. Sill Oklahoma Artillery Center.
Wow! We even got 3 Walmarts. Walmart, internet, cable t.v., an old aircooled VW to work on. Life is great!