drilled drums??

[Hottrucks]

has anyone drilled drumes like they drill discs to let gases out and help cool??


I was just woundering if there was any advantage to it??

I want to tow my boat with my truck so thought about brakeing..my truck is Drum/drum and I plan to add the power to them this spring

[loughnan]

ya I drill my drums, a lot of ppl thought I was crazy but it works good. I race circle track and we're not allowed to run rear discs and get a bit of brake fade 15 laps in, after I drilled them it's not as bad. It lets out some gases and dust, other guys I race with slot theirs. I'm the only one that has drilled so far. I'll see if I can get a pic and post it up

[BOOB]

Converting to power brakes with discs in the front will be more than enough. If you REALLY cant stop your truck with that than you may be towing a bit much.

[Hottrucks]

the boat I have is a 21 footer with a big block...I think it about 3500lbs...not alot and I tow alot and know about saving your brakes and giving some room....some day I may goto disc but not anytime soon looking to make what I have the best it can be?

[Shane]

drilling a component that is exposed to this extent of centrifugal force not to mention being made of cast iron is probably not a good idea for a street driven vehicle.

[Hottrucks]

they drill and slot rotors all the time and they deal with alot more heat

[OhOneWS6]

Originally Posted by Hottrucks

they drill and slot rotors all the time and they deal with alot more heat

Totally different set of stresses on a disk VS. a drum.

The majority of braking is done with the front. Disc conversions can be done on the cheap. Brakes is not somewhere I would want to experiment on a street vehicle. A disk conversion is much cheaper than a wreck because of a failed drum. Just my .02

How bout some pics of the boat?

[Smallz72project]

Originally Posted by Hottrucks

they drill and slot rotors all the time and they deal with alot more heat

As a brake technican working on brakes all day, I have seen drums that have broken or for better explaination come apart. Although Im too young to have been around when it was a fad, I can imagine to do it properly on a dd would take some very good finese and engineering, not to meantion that it would probably need to be rebalanced. In regards to your remark about them doing it to the rotors all the time, have to remember that 99% of the time, those rotors are steel and not cast iron. I would recommend that your equip your trailer with trailer brakes. They are pretty simple to install, and Im sure your axles on the trailer already has the flange for it. 4 bolts and two wires to your plug and away you go. Best of luck with your decision and keep on truckin

[Hottrucks]

Smallz72..those breaks DO NOT WORK...you have to relize that they are boat trailers ...yes they have a hydralic system that you can put on them but its VERY pricey and they still dont last long due to rust..they last about a year if you deal with salt water ..which thankfully I don't deal with

as far as drilling my own I thnk I;m going to pass..it looks like lots of hours to drill them out myself..it looks like alot of holes X 4 drums

[Smallz72project]

Was just making a suggestion, and true they dont always work properly but if a person was able to swing the cost might be something to get by with, but I agree with you, again just a suggestion. Those brothers drums look like they might be a decent option. Keep on Truckin and have a great day!

[Shane]

ok. go for it.

[Lippyp]

I'd have thought you'd drill the back-plate rather than the drum itself to let some heat out. I've seen hot rods with drum brakes with drilled back plates and a little scoop facing the front to funnel more air in.

[mrein3]

I pull my 3200ish pound bass boat all over the state with my truck however it has front disk brakes.

Back in the day, when my 72 Chevelle was my daily driver, I pulled a little 14 foot boat around. Back then my Chevelle still had it's factory, manual front drum brakes. One stop was it for those brakes. After that I REALLY had to plan ahead.

I would never consider attempting to stop a 4000+ truck and a 3500 pound boat with front drum brakes. Power drums or manual.

[beautimus]

drilled or slotted rotors are okay, on the street. the drums should stay intact.
when a rotor is drilled or slotted you are talking a 1/4" hole.not much chance of getting a rock or other junk in there. the rotor is already vented around its outter edge and has vanes that force air up through the middle for cooling. the holes and slots let gasess created when braking hard escape so that the pad will still contact the rotor surface properly. when you drill a drum you have to drill a 1-1/2 hole to get enough air across it to affect the cooling of the drum and pad and a hole that big can let in bad stuff. rocks, mud etc.
thats why they make that rubber plug for the adjuster hole. water and mud inside a drum is not good. drilled drums on a race car make a little more cents, because race cars aren't tippically driven through pot holes and mud holes on a regular basis, and any unsprung weight you can remove is a bonus. also a brake drum is a very brittle casting.
i have never seen one come apart but i bet its an awesome thing.
admittedly i am not an expert but for me , i don't think i would do it on a street ride. best of luck to you in whatever you decide.
Tony

[Hottrucks]

thanx for everyones input I think I'll pass on this bright idea..thank god you guys are here to talk me out of some of my BRILLENT Ideas I guess its winter time and I'm looking for small projects that I can do in the cellar with some of the extra parts I have or plan to upgrade this spring....I have a ton to do but the cold garage is killing me....

as for the boat well theres 3 of them I tow 1st on is 750lbs with me in it runs 87 on gps...the second is 1100lbs with me in it and runs 143 on gps but the anchor of the fleet has a BB and a bravo drive guess the weight to be about 3500 lb with all the BS and coolers its a bull dozer and runs in the high 70's with 2 or 3 in it

[72 cheyenne pdx]

I found this while googling drilled/slotted drum brakes.



http://www.chtopping.com/CustomRod4/

[marcsRX]

I have a question regarding towing. I have a car that has a curb weight of 3175 lbs. Is that plus a trailer too much for my 72 with a sb350 and TH350 trans?

[bigguy69]

i remeber Performance online or somebody offering a drilled brake drum i think.

[PanelDeland]

Drilling drums was done quite a bit "back in the day".I've been told it helps some but have never done it myself.I do know that evenly spaced holes are required to keep the drum where it is "balanced".There was an article about it in R&C,Street Rod or one of the other mags.They seemed to think it was an OK addition for cars that didn't have other remedies for brake improvements.

[cdowns]

we used to drill the backing plates and put scoops on them too back in the 60's early 70's circle track cars i worked on

[Hottrucks]

I can believe it my drill press is from the 30's...you cant tell me that lookiing at there equipmnet ther is any brain surgery to it...what ever you do to one side you do the the other to keep it balenced...

still not sure I'm ready to dive itn but it was an Idea I had while sober??

Marc does your trailer have brakes??? your truck is a disc brake truck so brakiing isn't such an issue but there are other factors like how many axles on the trailer

[mike16]

drilling drums was a fad back in the 80's Its a very very BAAAAAD idea. the drums will crack over time and at some point when you really need them they wil simply brake up into chunks and whith them goes your park brake. Dont do it. Its a very bad idea.

[roughedup72]

Nice Boats, I really like # 2 & 3. What make is #3? I have a 83century cuddy 4000 which is 22 footer and damn that thing is heavy. I pull it with my 72 that has disc/drum. This past summer I really found out how hard it was to stop it after I came up on my turn quicker than expected. I did make the turn but it was almost too late. The pig was pushing my truck. That has made me decide to do some brake upgrades on the boat trailer not the truck. The boat trailerr used to have trailer brakes but the p.o. must have put it in salt water a time or two and the lines rusted and fell off. So this year I plan on puting the brakes back on the trailer. Should make a world of difference. As far as your truck. Upgrade to power disc/drums. You can find the parts in alot of yards. If you cant find any let me know. I went to a yard the other week and they had several out there with power brakes. If I can figure out how to make the booster m/c and prop valve work that I got off of a 93 burb to work on my 72 then You could get the set up from my truck.

[project 67 sub]

here you go, brothers sells them already done for you
http://www.brotherstrucks.com/prodin...ber=FMA5170-XD

[ERASER5]

And bookmarked! Somehow, I was thinking drilling through the face of the drum.