Upgrading from kelsey hayes to???

AJ/FormS said

IMO,that article is flawed. As area lot of HR articles
The discs in the back did not decrease the stopping distance, the drums were simply not tuned to potential; and we both know why.
Sorta like ET and trapspeed.
For street;
I find no fault in rear drum brakes, having driven most of my life with them; some tuned, most not. I PREFER them on the back over discs, as they are, in my experience, trouble free. Just about every all-disc vehicle I have ever had (including my wife's and my three kids) have had, at one time or another, rear brake troubles. And some of them were a total PITA to service, especially with the parking brake system fubared into them.
But hey, it'd good that you shared.

Click to expand...

Not tuned to potential? The brake system was fully stock to start, so, factory everything except the tires. I know for a fact the factory "not tuned to potential" BBP drums will still lock up that size of rear wheel. The argument I see over and over again is that if you can lock up the wheels that's as much brake force as you need. That's wrong, but that's the argument. That car could without a doubt lock up the wheels with those drums unless there was something seriously wrong with the drums. Not just tuned to their full potential either, there would have needed to be something wrong for them to not be able to lock up those wheels.

And yet, the stopping distance still decreased when they went to disks. There was also no mention of an adjustable prop valve in that article, just how to defeat the metering valve in factory combo valve. So you think the disks were tuned to full potential? I bet they weren't. They said after they "carefully tested in the shop parking lot" that "it was time for some actual hard brake testing." See the problem? They didn't even break in the pads properly. So yeah, I think they sold the disks short too.

I think that article is more useful than you give it credit for. They replicated the average car, a "not tuned to potential" factory drum system replaced by a slapped on and "not tuned to potential" disk system.

Besides, I don't have to go just on their work. The braking on my Duster improved when I went to rear disks too. And when I went to 13" front rotors and new calipers. Despite the fact that the 11.75" front disks and 11x2.5" rear drums were fully capable of locking up the wheels.