helping the old drum brakes
 

I was curious if adding a power brake booster on my 66 c10 will let the old drum brakes stop the truck a bit better before I get a chance to put the front disk brake kit on the c10. Or is it just going to stop the same with or without the booster?

Re: helping the old drum brakes
 

I just added an original rebuilt power brake booster to my 65. Much better than without the booster. I like to keep my truck mostly original, so the brake booster was a no brainer for me. I was surprised at the improvement. Plus not the expensive cost of doing all the conversion. I would suggest you go with the booster first. You can always move forward from there.

Re: helping the old drum brakes
 

I did it on my '61 Suburban, with the addition of self-adjusters in the hardware.
Much easier to stop.

-Brad

Re: helping the old drum brakes
 

X2 on the booster, it makes a huge difference. I have drums on my C20 and it stops great.

Re: helping the old drum brakes
 

I swapped in a booster and a dual line master on my 64 and am very pleased. It will lock 'em up, which I wouldn't do before.

Re: helping the old drum brakes
 

I locked mine up so hard one time that it shattered a front drum.

-Brad

Re: helping the old drum brakes
 

Now, that's scary! The shop that probably turned it last cut beyond its limits?
Sam

JUST had this happen to me, as well. I didn't inspect the drums before I installed a booster, but tested full lockup and gave the front left an 'inspection hole'. Really glad I had it happen while testing.

To answer the OP, adding a booster makes drum brakes work VERY VERY well.
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Re: helping the old drum brakes
 

When I first got the 66 it had drums all the around and needed redone. So I split the brakes, added a power booster and put in all new parts including the brake hoses and new drums. I did take a skim cut on the drums to make sure they were good. First set of shoes were bonded and had a lining come off in the first 1000 miles. Next set were Wagner quick stop rivited shoes and they were much better performing than the others. After the disc conversion I still run that shoe on the back and they do work good. The choice of shoes makes a difference and new brake hoses always seem to improve the feel.
Jimmy

Re: helping the old drum brakes
 

Are you guys running a factory style booter on your drums or is there a better aftermarket one? Any tips on direction for a good supplier would be great.

Re: helping the old drum brakes
 

Many go this route: http://www.67-72chevytrucks.com/vboa...=1#post3257836

Re: helping the old drum brakes
 

I did that without the booster. I really don't think a booster is necessary if the brakes are in good shape like they should be. I don't find the pedal effort much worse than a new truck with power brakes.

Re: helping the old drum brakes
 

If you are running drums front and rear, all you need is a '67-'70 C10 booster and master cylinder plus one of my booster brackets to correctly mount it to your firewall.

Re: helping the old drum brakes
 

And they work great!!!

Re: helping the old drum brakes
 

Nice and easy, I built a similar thing to mount a booster to my first gen Camaro.
My truck hasn't reached New Zealand yet, its still sitting in LA waiting on the boat. I may be in touch depending on how the brakes feel. I'll be doing a heap of driving over a mountain pass. Brakes with a good feel are a must!