tuxnharley

Westlotorn

Frankie mentioned downhill breaking techniques a little.
"Careful" drivers that lightly ride the brakes downhill can pre heat the drums and shoes till they are totally ineffective. Use the brakes when needed then release them till needed again. Each release allows the brake to start cooling for the next application.
Most 18 wheelers today still have drum brakes. They have to teach drivers how to work them properly. School Bus drivers have the same issue. "Careful" but un knowing drivers ride the brakes lightly down long grades and overheat the drums and shoes and making a very good brake system worthless. Then later the driver complains that the brakes squeal? Duh, you glazed them!
BTW: disc brakes have the same limitations, if you don't let them cool they become useless. The new Corvette brakes are just so over built for the application that they can take far more abuse than anything built in the past. This is great when you are racing.
Those new Vette brakes probably offer more stopping power than the brakes used on 20 ton dump trucks 30 years ago.

SDVette

Just for the record, that is exactly how I use the brakes.. Moderate braking for as short as possible, allowing maximum 'recovery' time. Use of downshifting in conjunction with braking.

I doubt I glazed the shoes.. the car stopped normally on several stops after that. It was a perfect storm of 3 red lights at the bottom of 3 big hills, in rapid succession.. Probably just built up too much heat (it was also 95+ degree day here in SoCal)

A perfectly fine braking system capable of handling MOST street driving conditions

MikeM

I've been driving with drum brakes since 1958. The only time I ever had a problem with brake fade is when I was deliberately trying to experiment and see what it felt like.

I've never driven a drum brake car past the Mississippi River but I have pulled a number of trailer east to the coast through those mountains and no problem.

The key to it (as others have said) is to know what you have and how to use it. Like many things.

DZAUTO

There is no room in my life for joking or kidding----------------------and I'm serious about that. In fact, I hope some day I'll finally find the courage to pull the trigger myself.

Randy G.

rnixon

Interesting discussion, but there is another consideration that hasn't been mentioned. Brakes, weather they be disc or drum, have done all they can do when they lock up and stop the wheels. The brakes do not stop the car, the brakes stop the wheels , the tires stop the car.

When the brakes have "locked" the wheels ,then it is the friction of the tire on the pavement that will determine the stopping distance. When skidding to a stop, your fate will be determined by the cleanliness of the pavement and the quality and friction of your tires, which will rapidly be declining as they go up in smoke.

Disc or drums are more than adequate to stop the wheels on a 3100lb. car. More important is to have a tire that will stop the car, before the brakes apply all their force and lock the wheels. Drum brakes got their "bad rap" because they were paired with bias tires. The coefficient of friction of a modern radial tire is sufficient to stop a 3100lb. car before the point of lock-up. My 64 with manual drum brakes stops on the proverbial dime, with enough inertia to put the passenger through the windshield, if not buckled up.

It is the Pirelli tires that stop the wheels and the car , when pressure on the brake pedal suggests it would be prudent to do so. I think of them as my bolt-on, passive, pneumatic, no tech, anti lock / anti skid system

KC John

The only complaint I have with my drum brakes is after replacing every single part of my system, I still have an occasional situation when the car will dart right or left the first time I apply the brakes. It will stop straight 25 times in a row and then pull to one side the next time I touch the brakes.

vettepoor

My scariest memories of drum brakes in my youth were when they got wet and didn't work so well. I had some serious "pucker moments" when trying to stop on a dime after sloshing through deep water!

65hihp

Wow! Must be a very busy, critical life. Yet you have time to spend on the internet? What's your line of work, pediatric cancer, or brain surgery, or maybe combating international terrorism? Thanks for sharing some of your time with us here on the CF.

Frankie the Fink

Veteran drivers know to lightly pump drum brakes after driving through water to dry them out. Like I said you have to "work" drum brakes. Then, they are quite effective.

vettepoor

"Veteran" drivers, yes, we all learned through experience, sometimes the hard way. I was referring to driving some of my dad's lead-sleds when I was 16!

Randy G.

If you want the younger generations who grew up with radial tires and antilock disc brakes to come to appreciate older cars some standard warnings are in order.

I sold a friend of mine my 1971 SS 454 El Camino back in 1981 when he was 17, and he still has it. Fast forward to 2015 when his 22 year old son gets in it. His looks at the door and asks his dad "What's this???" "What's what?" "This," as he's pointing to the window crank handle. "That's to roll the windows up" he tells his son. "You had to roll the windows up???"

MikeM

You'll be in jail for reckless driving long before you're kill these GM brakes.

Frankie the Fink

I must be a tad older - back in Driver's Ed (when they still offered it in high school) we were told all about pumping the brakes after driving through water.

Talk about civil law suits ! It was usually 3 kids, just learning to drive, with two in the back seat, one at the wheel and the instructor (who reeked a bit of alcohol) riding shotgun.

One mistake by some goofy kid (and we had 'em aplenty) and its the hurt locker for everybody...

Ah...the good 'ole days

I should also say in......in hmmm 50 years of driving I've had one, and only one, catastrophic master cylinder failure in an old, maintained-like-crap, Plymouth Belvedere.. Plenty of spongy and scary brakes .. but only one complete loss of braking..

Frankie the Fink

OK, I'll bite - what's the wire mesh at the backing plate ?
Extra cooling ?

MikeM

Good guess.

dplotkin

Common issue with drum brakes but disks with a seized calipers(s) will do the same. Drum brakes need both sides to have identical action. That means they must be properly adjusted, both drums need to have been machined and shoes replaced or cleaned up at the same time. A wonky wheel cylinder will cause it too, so I usually replace them when I do a full brake job, they are cheap enough and easy enough to do.

Among the things that disks do better than drums, less fade, no adjustments, less prone to lock or to perform poorly when wet, is even operation. Still, drums are fine if used and maintained properly.

Compare the disk/drum argument to one about incandescent bulbs vs. LED's. Both make useful light. The incandescent uses more energy, doesn't last as long, and will burn your hand if touched when hot. Its old tech but it works well when you understand it. LEDs use less energy, will not burn your hand, last longer, and can be made to change colors and do other tricks, synonymous with ABS...etc.

Again, this argument comes down to personal preference. Some want old cars that have modern upgrades and others (including myself) want old cars to be old, stem to stern, deficiencies and all.

Dan

appaloosa 0012

Safety first, what ever it takes!

65hihp

Excellent evaluation, and I'm with you. Give me the deficiencies of archaic equipment. They remind me of when I was a young buck. It's a big part of the joy of driving these relics of a different time (for me).