Disc Brakes or Drum Brakes

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1969VADart

1969VADart

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Since I am just getting started on my 69 Dart project I am probing the waters for all sorts of ideas. While I have a few immediate cosmetic things to deal with, I am also looking at some of the more mechanical issues. It seems that the front drum brake to disc brake swap is especially popular. I have read through a bunch of the threads including the 101 about this swap. It left me with my head spinning.

However, I was wondering if anyone is still running drum brakes all the way around on their Darts? My car is not going to be a track car; more like a street/show driver car. It is powered by a 318 with 2.02 heads and purple cam, and it is mainly meant to be a fun on the street car. Can I get away with keeping the drums and still upgrade to decent 15" wheels for my ride? Any advice or insight would be greatly appreciated.
 
The problem with drum is stoping quickly at highway speed. Drums worked OK for me for 30 years. Now I would alway want at least 73 Duster/Dart front disks. Non power disks require a lot more pedal effort
 
manual discs with a small master cylinder (read 15/16") are effortless to operate.
definately go disc!
 
Drums will fade with heavy use and pull if not adjusted right. Nascar used drums in the 60's and made them work. Disks are so much easier to maintain and have less fade that there is no reason to not use them. If you're doing a restoration it would be wise to keep the drums. I use 11 3/4 disks on the front of my car and 11x 2 1/2 drums on the back. Higher performance motor and larger wheels and tires need better braking.
 
Even if you are doing a resto you can still go with disc, it will just be the KH brakes and not the 73+.
 
Thanks for some of the thoughts. This will not be a full-on restoration. Want to make this a nice around town driver. Can I got to a 15" wheel now with the drum brakes (thinking something along the line fo 15x7 all the way around) and still be able to make the swap to discs without having to buy new wheels again later? Wheels and tires are a must right now. It has been sitting for awhile outside and the tires on the car have all but dry rotted. I believe the car still has the factory rims (13's I think) but I hate to put money in some small tires now when that is not the long term plan.
 
Thanks for the thoughts. This will not be a full-on restoration. More of a street/show/around town car. Can I switch to 15" wheels now (thinking of something along the lines of 15x7 all the way around) and still make the disc brake swap later without having to buy all new wheels again? The car needs new tires now (it has been sitting awhile and the tires have dry rotted) and I believe it is still sitting on the stock rims (13's I believe). I hate to buy tires to fit the stockers when I do not plan to keep them on the car.
 
Drums work fine for stopping once from 80 mph or less. Stops from very high speed or repeated stops, without enough time to cool, like road-racing or excessive braking on mountain roads (FL drivers in NC) can over-heat them and cause the friction linings to "fade" (melt). Most problems with drums are due to poor maintenance. They are touchier than disks to oil or other junk on the shoes since they have a (non-linear) self-jamming effect (why you don't need vacuum booster). That can cause a pull to one side, as can somebody installing the shoes wrong (short lining should be on fwd side).

I have drums on all my 60's Mopars, and no issues, though the 9" drums are a bit marginal. The 11"x3" front drums on my C-body will haul down anything. I do plan to try disks later, but it sure isn't my top priority, and I won't spend $800 on it.
 
I have drums on my Duster.I added a power booster and it stops real good now as compared as before.One day I will convert it to disc.
 
My GTS still has drums all the way around. It will not see the streets again without discs...
 
Sorry about the double post in my message. Did not realize a moderator had to approve the message up to a certain number of posts, so I reposted like a dummy.
 
I have the 11.75" Cordoba rotors, the larger of the two single piston calipers, some wagner thermo-quiet pads, and 10x2.5" rear drums. The car now stops very well...I would never go back to the drums.
 
No comparison.

I can still remember "back then" my 69 383 RR which had 11" drums, or the old 64 Dodge 426, same drums, but on a hot day on a windy road, if you "got frisky" you THOUGHT a little about just how much "of that" you wanted to use up

When I got the 70 (440-6 car) there was no comparison. None. Yah, you could fade 'em a little here and there, but that thing was a LOT faster, and took a lot more 'doin' to lose a little. The '70, by the way, had single piston floating calipers.

Having said that, millions of people drove hundreds of millions of miles, over the years, with drum brakes. One thing I never figured out, for any of the "big three" is why "the same body" AKA cheapo moredoor Belv. or Biscayne with a 6 or 283 "didn't need" as big a brakes as a car with a larger engine --- with the family, luggage, camping gear, and the boat......
 
Drum brakes feel fine until you have traffic in front of you do an emergency stop. Then they suddenly feel completely inadequate. Just finishing up with a Scarebird conversion on my '64. Looking forward to it!
 
The issue is that 99.9% of the other cars on the road have disc brakes and can stop much better than a car with drums.
Yes you can get by with drums, maybe even the small 9" ones, but not if you deal with any heavy traffic.
Really old cars had cable brakes but you wouldn't want to use them today.
 
I have a 68 Dart with drum brakes on all four corners. They work OK but I am going to convert to discs this winter.
 
Dartman, I am probably going to stay with the drums for now as well. I was just trying to solve two problems at once: swap to disc brakes and whether to buy SBP or BBP wheels. Really want to get some decent wheels and tires on the ride now, so I may just go with the SBP wheels and keep that when I switch to discs. The kit that the Ebay guy has looks about right, but I don't really want to spring for that much unless someone here offers some insight on the guy. A couple of the local pick-a-parts in my area are devoid of any swap parts that I might need.
 
I ran with 10 inch drums for a year then swapped to 4 wheel disks. I used the smaller stock big bolt pattern disks on front and a kit for the rear from right stuff detailing. I will convert all my old mopars to disk up front before my other mopars hit the road ! Night and day difference, especially on the strip.
 
I bought kit and converted my 65 formula s to front disc brakes, it stops nice with manual brakes and a dual master cylinder kit! Safety first when riding on the road! Unless the car is original original why keep it so is my motto! Mine was not so made it a driver! 318, motor painted like a 273 with valve covers from 273 and original air cleaner! Also converted to modern u joint drive shaft! Car runs like a rabbit and blows the doors off mustangs just for fun, had a chevelle try to beat me off a light a few weeks ago and I blew his door off, next light he just shook his head! I still need a paint job so it is a little bit of a ghost machine!!

65 Cudalover!!
 
I have manual drums and on a 68 dart and they work fine ...even when I have gone to Denver in heavy traffic, they did well. if your going to have drums then drive the car like you have drums.....too many people drive old drum brake cars like they are new Hondas and that is where they get in trouble.....if you know what you are driving and drive it accordingly then you will be fine just like the last 40 years the car has been around with obviously no problems to now.
 
I have had 4-wheel drum brakes on a lot of my A-bodys, well, actually all the slant 6 daily drivers only. Since they got a lot of care and checking and manual adjusting, they stopped very well, didn't pull and had a nice high pedal. Discs are much better, but drums aren't like crazy terrible......just if they've been neglected, with glazed shoes and drums and some grease or diff oil on 'em.

But in a full-on panic stop, those smallish drums will make you bite your lip......
 
1969VADart said:
Anybody ever heard of this guy on Ebay: The Ram Man? He is selling kits like this one I have linked to here on Ebay and I was wondering if anyone had any experience with him.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/221204787791?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649#ht_1824wt_679
Click to expand...

I've purchased a couple little things from him, he's a decent seller.

The kit seems a bit expensive considering it just uses all the stock Mopar parts, but I suppose if you bought all of it brand new its about right. And he's got ball joints in there too.

I can still usually find a Diplomat or 5th Ave in the yards around here, so the F/J/M spindles and brackets can usually be picked up for under $100. He references Ehrenbergs article on the disk swap, which is just flat out wrong about using F/J/M spindles. I just get the calipers, hoses, bearings and rotors on RockAuto, that usually costs around $200 depending on if I can get anything on sale. The core charge on all of those parts is less than what I pay at the yard, so there isn't much point grabbing the calipers or rotors unless they're in really good shape.

I wouldn't buy the kit myself, but considering the time/effort needed to get the used parts, plus knowing you're getting new parts and all in the same place, I can see how just buying that kit wouldn't be a bad deal.

I sure as heck wouldn't run 4 wheel drums on anything I put on the public roads.
 
I have driven my father's 68 Satellite with 4-wheel drum brakes many times, so it is not a new experience to me. Probably spring for some SBP wheels and just get a disc swap with the SBP later.
 
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