Upgraded master cylinder?
 

I am looking to do some major replacement of brake hoses, lines, etc. and wonder if replacing the stock style setup with Wilwood, Leed, etc. is worth it?

I have the OEM style power brake booster and disk/drum master cylinder currently. Looking around and it seems there are a lot of sizes and bores and styles. What is a good setup that looks good and I don't have to disassemble everything to know what rod size I have and be down the truck for a month?

I ultimately want at least a new master cylinder, just don't know what rabbit hole I am jumping into.....

Re: Upgraded master cylinder?
 

My personal opinion only - it is not worth it, costs more, and factory setup works very, very well. If for no other reason than easy parts replacement, I'd stick with the factory setup, you can get parts anywhere and there's no performance gain in putting a Wilwood mc on a stock brake system.

Re: Upgraded master cylinder?
 

I second what Jocko said. I had to replace EVERY SINGLE thing on my brake system due to a fire. Master, booster, lines hoses....ALL of it front to back. I have EXCELLENT brakes now though!!!

Re: Upgraded master cylinder?
 

I'm with Jocko. The wilwood etc will no give you any performance improvement. Only a looks improvement.

I have bought and used a couple wilwood master cylinders and have been happy. But, they don't work any better.

Re: Upgraded master cylinder?
 

X4 with Jocko!!!

Re: Upgraded master cylinder?
 

x5:agree:

Re: Upgraded master cylinder?
 

your not going to see a performance difference, i plan on eventually going to a Wilwood master to possibly change the pedal feel and its more visually appealing.

Re: Upgraded master cylinder?
 

If you do replace your master cylinder you will need to match the bore to your line size and calipers. Unfortunately I have not done this yet. I swapped to factory 71-72 style power disk brakes, and honestly I wish I would've kept manual brakes. Ultimately with my truck I hope to be able to size an appropriate master cylinder, and caliper set up that gives me manual disk brakes. A lot of muscle cars have manual disk brakes, and getting the right set up of pedal ratio, master cylinder bore size, line size, and caliper size is what it takes. I like to use factory parts when available. BUT when was the last time that you swapped master cylinders/calipers on the side of the road. And remember in the worst case scenario, to get home you can trailer it, or cap/pinch a brake line to SAFELY get home.

Re: Upgraded master cylinder?
 

FWIW, 71 C 50 , drum brakes , did all new brakes , master cylinder, wheel cylinders, lines, power booster , wheel cylinders 1 1/2 diameter pistons , later model master cylinder with 1 3/4 diameter piston, brake pedal is softer feel than original 1 1/2 diameter piston master cylinder, did this to keep rear dually from locking up on moderately hard brake stop . Don't carry heavy loads truck is near daily driver/ parts runner/Dairy Queen cruiser/rat rod blast to drive. Read a lot about brakes from the internet , specifically about different master cylinder/wheel cylinder combinations and their relationships to one another and the different results from using them . What I did was only for me to keep from sliding the rear tires under quick stop situations. This is just my input to the posts on this thread .
Good luck on all your projects.