Getting the most out of Drum Brakes
- Thread starter 68conv4sp
- Start date
68conv4sp: I think your missing the message here.
Nobody is telling you that maximizing your brakes is a bad idea. Especially if you can do it easily and for free or really cheap. But so far I havn't heard a single suggestion that I think will make much of a differance.
Drum brakes suck because they cannot shed the heat as well as disc brakes (at least from a performance standpoint.. they suck for other reasons too). Due to design, drilling them isn't going to help like with rotors. It's only going to allow water and dirt to enter the drum and make things worse. "matching the drums to the shoes" (or vice versa) is also not going to make a difference in shedding heat. Neither will performance pads.
Air ducting will help.. but you might as well go with discs at this point. Same goes for adding fins to the drum unless you can find an OEM drum from a different application. But even then your spending money... drums arn't that cheap.
What we are saying is spending significant time and money on them is a lost cause. Everyone's time is worth money.... you could use that time to make money.
Nobody is telling you that maximizing your brakes is a bad idea. Especially if you can do it easily and for free or really cheap. But so far I havn't heard a single suggestion that I think will make much of a differance.
Drum brakes suck because they cannot shed the heat as well as disc brakes (at least from a performance standpoint.. they suck for other reasons too). Due to design, drilling them isn't going to help like with rotors. It's only going to allow water and dirt to enter the drum and make things worse. "matching the drums to the shoes" (or vice versa) is also not going to make a difference in shedding heat. Neither will performance pads.
Air ducting will help.. but you might as well go with discs at this point. Same goes for adding fins to the drum unless you can find an OEM drum from a different application. But even then your spending money... drums arn't that cheap.
What we are saying is spending significant time and money on them is a lost cause. Everyone's time is worth money.... you could use that time to make money.
well actually the drilled drums do allow a lot of heat to escape from the drum, but it's still not as efficient as a vented disc. you'd probably actually be quite surprised at how much heat the drilling allows to escape, combine that with some well placed holes drilled in the backing plate where the cooling ducts run and you actually have a pretty efficient way to cool the drums. a lot of the problem with drums fading is the heat that gets built up inside assembly that has nowhere to go, so it's kind of like a little oven in there, if you give that trapped heat a way out you will improve the effectiveness of the drum brakes exponentially.70_Nitrous_Eater said:
even after that diatribe i would still rather have a really good set of discs. i am however, seriously considering doing all of the above to my rear drums until i can afford another versailles disc brake rear, since i sold my last one.
Despite some brilliant insights that discs are better than drums, two of the on-topic posts have helped already. I took the old smooth exterior drums off on Tuesday and replaced them with the heavier ribbed type ($40). The new drums also were a perfect radius match for the almost new pads. With the old set up, fade was evident at the end of the 2nd hard stop. After bedding the new drum/shoe combination, it did not fade until the end of the 4th hard stop. Not as good as discs, but a real and inexpensive improvement for $40 plus my time. Thanks to those of you who understand budget limits.
68conv4sp said:
now that you have all the good new stuff, i would go ahead and drill the old drums and swap them out for a few test runs and see how much improvement you get. i'm betting you will see a tremendous difference even over the current setup. then you will have enough evidence that you can decide whether or not to drill the new ones as well.
let me know how you like it if you do drill the old ones
Simple but effective ideas
Remember that MANY old Mustangs often have sticking, frozen or leaking wheel cylinders and brake drums that have been turned beyond tolerances. Often the rear brakes are not given the attention they deserve. Fresh wheel cylinders and properly sized drums may, in addition to the items mentioned, may make a huge difference in helping drum brakes work properly.
All thingsconsidered, doing the drum/disc conversion can be a cost-effective solution in the long run. Again, DON"T neglect the REAR brakes!
SD the Elder
Remember that MANY old Mustangs often have sticking, frozen or leaking wheel cylinders and brake drums that have been turned beyond tolerances. Often the rear brakes are not given the attention they deserve. Fresh wheel cylinders and properly sized drums may, in addition to the items mentioned, may make a huge difference in helping drum brakes work properly.
All thingsconsidered, doing the drum/disc conversion can be a cost-effective solution in the long run. Again, DON"T neglect the REAR brakes!
SD the Elder
HistoricMustang
Active Member
I would caution against drilling drum brakes or modifying any stock OEM part unless inspections are done on a very regular basis (like every-time you drive the car more than a few miles).
Brake system failures usually end up with very bad results!!!!!!!!
HistoricMustang
www.historicmustang.com
Brake system failures usually end up with very bad results!!!!!!!!
HistoricMustang
www.historicmustang.com
HistoricMustang said:
Henry, people have been doing this since long before i was born and you were probably still in diapers when they started doing it. it is very unlikely that a failure will occur because of this modification, in fact you have a better chance of getting hit by lightning on a sunny day.
HistoricMustang
Active Member
HistoricMustang said:
I tend to agree.
Drilling holes is just beging for a crack in the drum. It may be OK.. it may not be. Especially on an old drum that's probably getting thin anyway.
If this was a track only car.. I'd say go for it. But on the street I would get nervous.
68conv4sp: If you do decide to try this, please make sure to inspect those drums often. Especially after a day at the track.
HistoricMustang
Active Member
70_Nitrous_Eater said:
Bravo Nitrous.................
The point I keep trying to make is that modifications to stock equipment should not be made unless the car is inspected on a VERY regular basis. This is done with performance set ups by most sane people. Modifying street driven cars that may at some point be sold to another individual that is unaware of the modifications or does not do VERY regular inspections is a formula for disaster.
Several members are way to concerned on trying to discredit what I post!
HistoricMustang
www.historicmustang.com
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