what do i need to convert to power brakes

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mrhollywood

mrhollywood

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I have a 70' dart with manual brakes. What do I need to convert to power brakes?
 
Can we assume you have disc brakes? Go to Yearone.com and look up their master cylinder/power booster kits. They sell newer Mopar master cylinders and they work well.
 
Adding a power booster will not help you to stop any faster. You are best off going to disc brakes in the front. There are a lot of conversion kits on the market and well worth the price.
 
How significant is the stopping power between a front disc brake car with and without a power booster? Is simply converting to disc brakes enough to see a significant difference or is it really worth doing both?
 
IMHO, it's worth installing the brake booster; makes the car that much more pleasant to stop. I had drums on all four corners of my Dart, and stopping was an exercise in patience before I had a booster put on; made a huge difference.
The Dart now has discs all around and a brand new booster and MC. Stops on a dime and gives change.
 
72demon-777 said:
How significant is the stopping power between a front disc brake car with and without a power booster? Is simply converting to disc brakes enough to see a significant difference or is it really worth doing both?
Click to expand...

Depends on your car and how you drive.

I had a slant six Duster with manual 9" drums and my pedal is pretty loosey goosey right now because I have to get in there and repack and tighten the brakes.

Anyway I was on the freeway and I drifted up fairly close to this F250 and was off the gas waiting for him to pull away from me a little more. Out of no where the car in front of him slammed into the wall next to us and he slammed on his brakes. First thing I thought was oh boy he's going to easily out brake me and I'm going to slam right into him. Sure enough I slowed on a dime doing about 50 and never ran into him or the car that hit the wall. Not bad for the worst mopar brakes on a car that already needed them tightened.

Unless you ride right on peoples asses and you have a lot of HP under the hood, it's really not necessary to go to disc's as far as safety goes.
 
A good set of Manual Brakes can stop pretty well. Alot of the conversion to disc was about weight reduction. I know people will argue with me but I love Drum Brakes. I guess it's the Tractor Trailer driver in me. They say a Big rig won't panic stop too well but I've had to do it many times. Manual brakes just require the driver to push harder with their foot. Of course...always follow back at a safe distance.
 
Will adding a brake booster at least make it easier to to step on the pedal...feels way to stiff for me really use to power brakes!
 
Converting to discs would be a much more useful upgrade. Adding power to 4 wheel drums would still leave you with.......... Very outdated, 4 wheel drums.
 
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