At normal street speeds and in normal driving situations, disc or drums doesn't matter. But if you have to do a lot of repeated large breaking events or racing around or putting a ton of heat into the brakes, disc brakes are superior. But if you are just cruising the car, drums are fine.
So back to the OP’s original post- tell us how you accomplished the swap? Were you able to retain the existing spindles? Did you acquire the drum brakes as a kit or complete assembly or did you have to piece it all together. What about your M/C- what did you use to make it all work and do the new hubs have a different bolt circle?
I personally don’t give a flying fuck what anybody runs on their cars, I get tired of reading that the only way to safely drive an old car is to “upgrade” the brakes, that’s just not true. If, and that’s a big if, changes are done properly then great. I still think more people screw up brake systems trying to make them better. Sent from my iPhone using H.A.M.B.
then why comment if you dont care? and show examples of the "screwed" up systems you have encountered I like to learn
Well here it is disc's are better, trucks run them trains run them bikes cars. But for the front end of that rod buicks rule. Sent from my KOB-L09 using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
correct scrub radius WAY too much scrub radius. Look it up, learn why it’s important! The aluminum drums save you some unsprung weight - not there for looks. If you can see them it’s set up wrong.
its opinion there is no win or lose you are correct to have your opinion that the stock brakes you have are great someone else is also correct to want to make upgades to existing brakes. (those upgrades are subject to the mods on how they fit the site if posted) the OP of this thread is correct by removing the brakes he didn't like and replacing them with the style brakes he wanted.
I’m doing the same thing with my roadster, it had a hideous home brewed disc brake set up with a terrible scrub radius. In the rebuild I’m going back to ‘40 style backing plates and drums. I agonized over using the Lincoln brakes but I’ve always liked the look of chromed early backing plates with the recesses painted much better. I have a Wilson Welding Buick setup but it looks funny with my front Halibrands. I learned with my last roadster that when it comes to light cars the braking is no better than the contact patch and since I like to run bias ply tires you just have to drive within the limitations. Don’t expect Buick drums to improve the sprung weight much, as a drum/hub assembly they are still mighty heavy. Their only advantage is looks and heat dispersion. In the hot rod world sometimes appearance and style wins out over ultimate functionality but as long as it is basically safe, we’re good. Sent from my iPad using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
This is a roadster I built years ago. It had Buick drums front and rear. I used F1 hubs in the front, with early backing plates. On the rear I made an adapter that went from the Ford 9" pattern, to Buick backing plate pattern. The wheels were 16". It had a Mustang Fruit Jar master cylinder. In those days Buick drums were still in the Pick A Part junk yards. I had the drums Jet Hot Coated. Like a fool I sold the car, and lost track of it.
Drums on some cars stop great like a 1960's Buick or Cadillac, full size 1960's Fords and Mercurys as a few examples. I had a big 1964 Olds 88, stopped well with drums. My 1965 Belair too, although I went to a dual master on that. Working on drum brakes is becoming a lost art. There are a good many little things that should be done right.
The only wheels I like better than those 8 lugs, are the knock off wheels I had on my 64 Corvette. Not going to get into the drum vs disk brake argument, lots of miles on both systems, and under some pretty crazy circumstances, in cars, big trucks, and aircraft, and got by alright on both. I'm still here after 77 years, and some people would not have given good odds that could happen. BTW, I like the brakes on the OP's car, and they look just fine to me. Bob
personally i prefer disc brakes on all four corners for many reasons. that said, old hot rods seem to look better with drums. if i were in the OPs shoes, i would have gone with the kit that keeps the disc brakes, and makes them look like finned drums. but in the end drum brakes can be made to work very well, especially on lighter cars.
Yep, negative scrub radius is the desired setup, zero and even more so, a positive scrub radius will give undesirable handling traits.
Since this thread went off the rails we all know that radials work better with disc brakes,NO they work better with drum brakes, maybe its lever shocks! No wait bias ply work better in cold weather and tractor tires work better with drum brakes!! Now I'm confused!! I'll have to get back to you in this!! Pete
I drive a lot on highways doing 70 and I like to be able to stop as well as the guy in front of me, so I went front discs on my car. The car weighs in at around #3500, not as heavy as some cars but I felt I needed the edge and after a few idiots pulled out in front of me, it has paid off.
That's a blueprint for my next project! I've got a rebuilt 276 Firedome, pulled from our '52 DeSoto wagon custom build, going today to get a '28-'29 roadster body (glass, with steel firewall and fender wells). I'm going to use Buick drums on Wilson Welding backing plates, and it's gonna be Tuxedo Black. I realize your car is a '32, but, hey, a black roadster with a DeSoto Hemi, it's close enough! I had the Wilson brakes on my '34 roadster, loved the look and loved the way they work. Thanks for sharing that photo of your car!
Correct. My car, the '34 above, handled very well. I can't imagine, anywhere but on a road coarse or skid pad, where the increased scrub radius using Ford hubs on Buick drums would be an issue. I can't imagine pushing my car to the limit of handling where it'd have been noticeable. Not street driving, for sure.
Actually the ideal is a little bit of positive scrub radius. Scrub radius manifests as a tug on the steering during cornering. If the tug suddenly goes away you've lost traction e.g. locked up the brakes. Zero scrub radius means no tug, which means you can't feel traction at the front wheels. Too much scrub radius means a violent tug which wants to grab the wheel out of your hands, which is no good. Personally I like my cars loquacious, so scrub radius slightly on the large side suits me. Negative scrub is a front-wheel-drive thing. Audi made much of how crucially important it was in the '70s and '80s and then as suddenly decided it wasn't all that important after all. Nevertheless, negative scrub is why front-drive cars tend to have large-offset wheels.
lo·qua·cious /lōˈkwāSHəs/ adjective 1. tending to talk a great deal; talkative: "never loquacious, Sarah was now totally lost for words" I think we were talking (a lot) about Buick finned brake drums looking good!
LOLOL! I knew what loquacious means. I just never heard that term used around the pits of a dirt track to describe a car's handling characteristics! LOL! I still can't quite wrap my head around it.
He wants a lively dialog with his steering. Some scrub radius will give you road feedback. Too much scrub radius will give you... too much road feedback! Yeah, I have never heard that term used either in this context, but I get it.
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