Disc Brakes? What are your thoughts?

[greasemonkeyman]

Here's a question I'm proposing : I know converting to front disc brakes are a no brainer (nothing but a plus),but what about switching to rear disc brakes over drum brakes? Have any of you done this conversion and how do you like it? Please list the conversion company that you used as there are many on the market and all are not created equal. I like the idea of rear disc brakes due to ease of brake replacement and not having a need to adjust them.I've checked into the subject a little and have heard about issues with proportioning valves,brake pedal pressure,and some of the kits using the "green" rear bearings.I've read that the first generation green bearings were a problem with limited bearing life but the second generation bearings ( MO-400 ) seem to be much better.What are your thoughts on this and any of you have a preferable kit that they have been using that really seems to work?

 

[greasemonkeyman]

BTW,the vehicle is a 1967 New Yorker Fastop with 440 engine

 

[Badvert65]

Nothing against rear discs but since most of the braking is done by the front, I don't think it is worth the expense. If you have a good set of (large) rear drums I don't think you would notice the difference.
Definitely go disc on the front, the rear...only if you feel you really must.
Just my two cents worth.

 

[greasemonkeyman]

I would guess any bonus to better braking would help when we're talking about cars over 4K lbs.One of the main reasons for swapping to rear disc brakes is the ease of maintenance over drum brakes.I've seen the Scarebird adaptor that only sells for $170.It uses Lincoln 11-1/4" rear rotors and Cadillac Eldorado calipers with a parking brake feature.Overall cost should be somewhere between $300-400. Whether it would actually make a huge difference,probably not,but it would reduce time doing brake jobs and have less brake fade.Even if it's a matter of a two foot stopping distance that can mean a big difference when your avoiding an accident!

 

[jake]

How many miles do you plan on putting on the car in a year? I can change out my drum brakes fairly quick!

 

[greasemonkeyman]

I'm a firm believer in using my cars any and every chance I get,so mileage can vary anywhere from 8K miles to 20K miles per year.Where I live there is alot of traveling from one area to another.Also I do travel to various car shows and some of them are 150-200 miles one way,and the shows are quite often here in Florida,which is why I'd rather be able to swap out disc brake pads in fifteen minutes as opposed to an hour of playing with removing stubborn brake drums,tons of brake dust,and springs that have a habit of shooting across the room.

 

[livininharrow]

I'm a firm believer in using my cars any and every chance I get,so mileage can vary anywhere from 8K miles to 20K miles per year.Where I live there is alot of traveling from one area to another.Also I do travel to various car shows and some of them are 150-200 miles one way,and the shows are quite often here in Florida,which is why I'd rather be able to swap out disc brake pads in fifteen minutes as opposed to an hour of playing with removing stubborn brake drums,tons of brake dust,and springs that have a habit of shooting across the room.

yea those springs piss me off too. just put rear discs on it and dont let anyone talk you out of it.

 

[bajajoaquin]

My thoughts are that unless you're on the track and very concerned with brake fade, there's no functional reason to put rear disks on your car. There will be no discernible difference in braking performance. I think most of the move to four-wheel disks on modern cars is about marketing.

Having said that, if you want to put disks on your car, because you think it will look cool, be cool, easier to service, or whatever, I think it's a great idea. You could probably craft an argument that going through the effort of putting on disks to save maintenance hassles is like trading an operating expense for a capital expense. But the real reason will be because you like the idea of an old car with a modern braking setup. And I'm all in favor of doing things to your car that you just plain old like.

 

[bulldogchesty]

My thoughts are that anything we can do to slow down our large barges is a plus. I know where Greasmonkey drives, and if it isn't the older folks it's the teenagers with the fart pipes that we have to watch out for. There seems to be a lot of companies that make disk brakes for the 8 3/4. Pound the Mopar sites from others that have done it.

 

[Wollfen]

Disk brakes are not superior to drum brakes when it comes to braking performance, this is a misnomer, the whole reason that cars switched to disk brakes in the first place was for safety reasons, disk brakes dont fade with heat like drums do. And most of that heat is generated in the front not the back, you would have to be driving like a maniac constantly using your brakes time and again to get the rears to fade. When it comes to stopping hard the first time, then the front drums will not be outdone the first time, its the stops after that when the disks show their superiority.

 

[bulldogchesty]

The trouble with drums in the front are that they tend to grab at different times. which causes a pull to the side that grabs first. I may be setting them up wrong, but that is what happens.

 

[bajajoaquin]

In theory, there is no difference between theory and reality. In reality, there is.

There's no doubt that front disks are superior to front drums. They shed heat better, self-adjust better, and are easier to maintain on the axle that sees the most use. So I agree that in theory front drums can (and do!) work effectively on many cars, in reality, disks work better the vast majority of the time.

The calculus works a bit different on the rear. Since most of the braking is done by the fronts (especially on our cars, which are so nose heavy), drums on the rear are perfectly adequate. If you were braking repeatedly like on a race track, you would be concerned about heat build up, and disks outperform drums in that case. But I think the difference between rear disks and rear drums on the street is totally overshadowed by how well you set tire pressure, or brand of tire, or something else.

Which, again, isn't to discourage the OP from putting on rear disks. It will be easier to service, and he will feel a real sense of pride in having done the upgrade.

 

[70bigblockdodge]

You would do better to fix the proportioning first, its cheaper and makes braking confidence much improved. Fronts must lock first or *** end will come around on you I know this is not something you warm weather people only see in a panic stop, but we here in the snow see this over and over at even the slowest of speeds.

 

[bajajoaquin]

How is the proportioning set up? On my old race car, there was this vague skill you had to learn that when you had all four wheels off the ground, you would press the brake pedal until the fronts just locked under the torque you could provide by hand-turning. The rears should just be able to be turned by hand. Never made sense to me, but we seemed to get the balance right anyway.

 

[70bigblockdodge]

That sounds too difficult and not really useful as doesn't have wieght transfer. There was a great article on this in Mopar Action magazine, I know I sound like a broken record with them but if you want your car to work better without chasing the product of the week as in other mags go buy a subscription, you can get back issues if you are really serious about it probably worth the 10 bucks. Go make some panic stops, if the fronts lock first your close, if rear lock first crawl under you car and see if you have a proportion valve look one up on summit yours will look similar without the knob. Swap out stock one for adjustable, bleed brakes start adjusting till fronts lock first. Thats a quick look at it.

 

[mobileparts]

Lot of extra money -- not a lot of extra value -- As indicated, with a front disc / rear drum brake car -- 70 % ish of the brakes are on the front -- and these 4 wheel disc brake kits that don't have issues don't "net" you much extra braking....... truth be told.

 

[Skwerly]

Disk brakes are not superior to drum brakes when it comes to braking performance, this is a misnomer, the whole reason that cars switched to disk brakes in the first place was for safety reasons, disk brakes dont fade with heat like drums do. And most of that heat is generated in the front not the back, you would have to be driving like a maniac constantly using your brakes time and again to get the rears to fade. When it comes to stopping hard the first time, then the front drums will not be outdone the first time, its the stops after that when the disks show their superiority.

Well said.

 

[Husky]

In my humble opinion disk brakes are superior to drums when it comes to braking performance, unless you don't count fade as a performance issue. True about the cold stopping performance of disks v drums though. That said, given about 70% of braking effort is handled by the front brakes, if I didn't already have disks up front, I'd certainly convert. As for up back, I personally couldn't justify the cost as there will be no appreciable gain in overall braking performance for the typical driver.

 

[greasemonkeyman]

Well,considering using the Scarebird kit which cost $135 for the kit,which uses Lincoln 11-1/4" rear rotors(approx $30 each) and 79-85 Cadillac Eldorado rear brake calipers(approx $50-60 each) plus brake pads and flex hoses.It should put you in the $350 range with all the parts required and it allows you to keep your stock bearings(no green bearings) and have use of your parking brake.You must use 15" or larger wheels with this setup.Not much money for a system that has virtually no brake fade,ease of maintanence and better appearance.

 

[bajajoaquin]

Yep. It's fairly inexpensive, and is probably a bolt-on affair. I'm a big fan of doing things you like, so I think it's a good idea. Seems to me that the OP wants two things: 1) rear disks, just because and 2) reduced effort on regular maintenance. If $350 and a weekend's effort is a reasonable price to pay for those two things, I can't think of a reason not to do it.

But remember I'm the guy who can't pull a window motor, and I want to do a 518 trans swap, so you pays your money and takes your chances.