Are Disks worth the cost?

[Stu Pidd]

Comparing the stopping ability between the '68 C20 with drums to the 2001 K2500 with discs is revealing- The '68 is getting disks soon!

[Steeveedee]

Short answer, YES.

Having been a State- licensed and ASE-certified brake mechanic for many years, and having converted from drum to disk many times, I will have to weigh in on disk brakes being way better. Safety for the general public is paramount. If the manufacturers could have continued using drums, they would have, simply due to cost. The human price due to brake fade and the loss of braking power in the wet with drum brakes instead of disks is what drove the switch to disk brakes. Disk brakes are better, period.

Disk and drum brakes require different master cylinders and proportioning valves. Accept no substitutes. People who tell you otherwise, unless they are engineers working for a vehicle manufacturer (and they won't be saying that), are just lucky that the parts they are using haven't killed them yet.