86 Samurai and it's time to do the brakes (I think). I touched upon this in the garage sale but I think I should post the question here.

What's my best bet on brakes?

I was thinking of getting rotors too and having my current ones turned for spares.

What about the drilled ones?

I also saw loaded caliper sets (you never know when the caliper is going to lock up)

Calipers with pads? 

Rear brake drums are frozen on, any trick to getting them off?  (I was beating on them a few months back (I mean really beating on them!)  but no luck),

Maybe I should have the drums turned? or replaced? With what?

I have been browsing Ebay but can't decide what to get. There must be a hundred manufacturers for these kits so I thought I would ask here first. Maybe  Ebay isn't the way to go? 

I rely on the internet since my dealer has his parts department in a mobile home type setup (this is Arkansas)  and they don't stock ANYTHING for the Samurais. 

Any help appreciated.

-Adam

When I first got one of my sammies the rear drums were the same way so I just loosend the four nuts on each side about two turns and drove around the block moving the steering wheel back and forth until they broke free and then drove it in the shop real slow, but don't try this at home.   See if napa auto parts or autozone will send you the calipers with pads that wouls be a good choice I think.

Only problem is that I don't know which are the good ones. Are the drilled rotors worth it?

It seems that the autopart stores always have a different supplier on the pads too.

-Adam

The drums and rotors have two tapped 12mm holes in them (check size).

This allows you to thread a metric bolt into one or both of the wholes. As you tighten it down it will inturn push the rotor or drum off. If they are rusted on real good and the bolts snap off inside of the wholes then a B_H will do but only if you plan on replacing them.

There are a few options to upgrade the brakes. Sidekick and tracker front rotors and calipers will bolt on the front of the samurai with some trimming or removal of the backing plates. A few vendors also sell a rotor and caliper mod kit for the rear of the samurai to eliminate the drums.

The drilled rotors are to let the gases out of the pads faster to stop brake fading, you could do the same thing putting lines in the pads with a grinder, how many times have you over heated brakes on a sammie? I only have once pulling a 1200 pound trailer down a steep four mile long hill, if you run aluminum wheels that will cool them also.

I wouldn't bother with the drilled rotors. As for the rest, do you need to uprate the brakes? if you think that they're not as powerful as you need then go for the Track/Kick fronts and rear discs. Otherwise just overhaul the stock units. Loaded calipers vs rebuild, well thats usually down to time vs money but if you're going to replace all the seals, the pistons and the sliders then the loaded caliper has to be worth considering.

In the past, we have had some success getting seized up drums off by soaking them down with Liquid Wrench, letting them sit for a couple hours, then heating them up with a propane torch and hitting them around the hub area with a hammer while prying firmly against the backing plate with a big screwdriver (but not hard enough to bend the plate).

Be careful not to set the truck on fire (have an extinguisher or hose handy).

One thing that worked on my rig is to unbolt everything, then put the rim and tire on and have it elevated off the ground securely, then take a decent size hammer and smack all the way around the tire!!! Use some leverage on it!!!

You can undo the four nuts and then lift and support the sammy lay on your back and kick the tire with the bottom of your foot from the back side while turning the tire.  This works well ont hte trail to replace axles also....  But every zuki owner should have a slide hammer to pull the drums and replace the axle shafts.  I have never had any problems with samurai brakes stopping me I have run 35" tires wiht no problems.  The brakes are in my opinion the breaks are over sized and one of the best parts on them.   I replace the rear shoes at least once a year and make sure they are adjusted tightly always. 

O.K. I think I will try loosening up the bolts and kicking at the wheels from the underside. If that doesn't work, I may try driving around with the loose lugs and turning. If that doesn't work, I will break down and buy a slide hammer. I already tried p.b. blaster and it did nothing.  I'm confident that the holes for breaking it loose are either stripped out or will be when I'm done with them so,  as frozen as they are,  I better not even mess with those holes. 

Now for replacement brakes. I normally buy the 2 year vs the lifetimes since I think you just pay extra for nothing. If they are a harder brake pad or shoe, It seems like it would eat the drums and rotors. I'm still thinking about picking some up off Ebay or somewhere. Am I better off just going to Napa or Autozone. Whats my best bet?

-Adam

On the rear just but the cheap stuff.  On the front buy som good ones I don't know how much front rotors are at checker or auto zone but I know that Low Range Off Road sells some good ones for a good price.

I have 2 sets of sammi calipers, all in very good shape and working just fine.