I have been thinking to sticking with factory drums all the way around on my 69 camaro. But I was wondering if a disk brake conversion would make a big difference considering it will be an daily driver. I dont live in a very congested town by all means so I think drums will work just fine as long as you keep them in good working order. They can do almost as good as disk ; so why change them?

 

Disc brakes are a lot lighter. I would personally just change the front to discs since 70 percent of the braking power is in the front. It is a little pain in the *** due to a need to replace the master cylinder and proportioning valve. DRUM brakes in the rear are fine. Notice how it is still a popular set up on modern cars!

 

Stopping is the key!

 

Back in the day We used to take the disc brakes off and replace them with drums ( less drag ) and stopped fine from 125 Mph. If they're set up right with premium riveted linings, Drums work fine. They just take longer to cool down.

 

Thats cool I never thought of that.

 

ya but disc just look cooler and you can tell a diference, i think between a car with drum in the back and disc in the back the, disc will stop faster evrytime... this is from my experience...

 

Drum brakes need constant attention, as in adjusting, they are more prone to brake pull, if not adjusted right. A few mos. ago I did a brake job on a 70 Chevelle with manual 4 wheel drum brakes from the master to the linings. Why GM made a car that heavy with manual brakes is beyond me. That car took so long to stop and needed alot of muscle to stop it, it made me glad to power brakes. Disc are more reliable and user friendly which is why most carmakers are using 4wheel disc setups on more and more of thier products. I don't see many 3/4 and 1 ton trucks with drum brakes anymore. I say convert it.

 

I vote for Discs, I have a 1967 camaro and when I purchased the car it had drums. The car stopped fine, but it didnt stop as well as my vehicles with disc brakes. So I bought a kit from a vendor here in Ohio who makes disc brake setups for alot of different muscle cars. What a difference!!!!! I installed the kit myself (discs, calipers, master cylinder/porportioning valve)- very simple, and I even replaced all the brake lines front to back. It stops on a dime now. As Matt said - Stopping is the key!!! I was always a little afraid with the drums wondering if I could stop in time if some idiot did something stupid in front of me....I think the discs will buy me a few seconds and help me get the car stopped in a shorter distance. Thats my two cents. Good Luck!!

John L
Columbus,OH

 

biggest difference I've seen in disc to drum
drum would certainly stop my 69 chevelle just fine - except under heavy on off braking situations
keep in mind drums are typically manually adjusted (best) and some are automatically adjusted but only when the car goes in reverse, under twisty windy road conditions drum brakes were more prone to failure.
modern disc brakes typically auto adjust ( unless you have one of those fiero's that required using the e brake to adjust.

I personally converted over from drum to disc after 15+ years only because I moved to an area with heavier traffic and now my thought is my 3 year old in the back is worth the $600

hope that helps