brake questions from a newbie

[old Rusty C10]

I recieved a PM from one of the newer guys on this site. Hes Nlgas from Corpus Christie TX and his PM reads:

hows it going had a? how do you up grade brake system?

I figured id Post his question for all to see and start his first thread. Im sure you all can help

[old Rusty C10]

please desctribe what you want to upgrade? from manual brakes to power or to put brakes in for different applications for racing or off roading?

[nalgas]

well ive added some stuff to my motor and now that i take it out it slides when i brake thats why i was wondering if i shuold upgrade or is there something wrong withh my brakes

[3r!c84]

ok whats the problem? it slides when you brake? like what front tires locks up,backtires,one tires

give us more info

[nalgas]

the whole truck slides like all brakes lock up

[3r!c84]

thats werid.i never hurd of that befor?

[Kalashnikov46]

get in your truck and push the pedal down all the way. start the truck and see if the pedal sinks even further. this is your power brake system. if you disconnect the vacuum, plugged, or kinked it when adding your goodies to your engine. or if you even just add something that requires to much vacuum, you may have lost your power assist. in this case your stepping on the brake harder then you normally would to get any braking, and they will get sensitive on a vehicle that's supposed to have that power assist. the idea is that if you loose your power assist you can still stop. but just like loosing your power steering pump, things will be differant. if you still have your power assist, i suggest doing a full brake bleed. air in the system can also give a hard brake.

[Kalashnikov46]

also, do you have disc fronts or drum all the way around?

[nalgas]

i have disc in the front and drums in the back and i added a edelbrock performer rpm intake and a 650 edelbrock carb and timing chain and a new dissy still need my cam people tell me to go mild cause then ill really lose my brakes well there is alot of nice trucks on here maybe one day mine will be this nice i dont see alot of 1980 c10 stepsides well i really appreciate youlls help

[Kalashnikov46]

check that you do have vacuum from the intake, and check the line(s) going into your brake booster to see if they are getting vacuum. adding power shouldnt take away your brakes. your not changing the weight of the vehichle that much and if went from stopping normal at 30 to locking them up at 30 it wont have anything to do with your cam. if i supercharged my truck today and still kept my brake setup the same it should still work the same. now, if you are accelrating hard and then going to an instant brake it might lock them up, but it all depends how hard you get on them, and thats not the way to test your brakes anyways.

[old Rusty C10]

Nalgas.... after putting it like that about your truck you HAVE to post some pics!! lol

[nalgas]

heres one

[nalgas]

by the way what kind of cam should i go with any suggestions

[Kalashnikov46]

depends what your using it for.
daily driver: .288/.296
Street: .320/.324
Street/Strip: .402/.442
Drag: .555/.555

of course these are approximates. The number of production cams out there and the range is way to much to list. you get them anywhere from a .150 duration to a .60 duration. to get the maximum valve lift you multiply the lobe lift (.402[or whatever]) by the rocker ratio (1:6:1[or whatever])

and if you mean brand? I kinda like voodoo cams, never had a problem with them, made some lumpy a$$ engines at a reasonable price. Comp Cams are pretty popular in the street rodding world, also there is crower, crane, and lunati. of course there is summit, and theres is made by one of the big names, so theyre good to.

[nalgas]

cool well ill start working on my breaks can u send me pics of yalls trucks

[Kalashnikov46]

Originally Posted by nalgas

cool well ill start working on my breaks can u send me pics of yalls trucks

[LONGHAIR]

After you changed the intake, carburetor, and distributor.....you are going to change cams?

You do realize that all of your new stuff is going to have to come back off again to install a cam? The cam should have been first.

[Kalashnikov46]

Originally Posted by LONGHAIR

After you changed the intake, carburetor, and distributor.....you are going to change cams?

You do realize that all of your new stuff is going to have to come back off again to install a cam? The cam should have been first.

10 dollars in gaskets from napa, and 30-45 minutes of work. no biggie

[nalgas]

hey how are yall well see its cold up there so a buddy of mine wants to sell me a 327 engine just wondering if it will fit my pick up if it does my 350 5.7L will be up for grabs oh will it take alot of workl to do

[LONGHAIR]

Originally Posted by Kalashnikov46

10 dollars in gaskets from napa, and 30-45 minutes of work. no biggie

If you can change the cam in 30-45 minutes.....you are my hero.

[Kalashnikov46]

Originally Posted by LONGHAIR

If you can change the cam in 30-45 minutes.....you are my hero.

ive gotten alot of practice at it, the only problem is removing the clutch fan and shroud then the studpid vacuum lines. i'm gunna figure out a way to minimize my vacuum lines and keep them out of the way. i guess if youve built your block up with like spider lifter hold downs it would take longer, and steel lines to. but in all actualyity, im know i can do it in an hour and a half, so if i pushed it and didnt run into any snags....

and to nalgas, 327 large journal small blocks have the same mounts as the 350 becuase they are the same block. infact i think almost all chevy small blocks are the same mounting brakets and if there not you can buy them cheap. but before you jump on that 327, find out if its a large journal or small journal first, that would be my deciding factor. if its a large journal i would make it a 383 stroker and punch it over .60 and run a .511 lift cam

[nalgas]

thank for the info

[87chevy.com]

even if you go crazy big on a cam like i did on my first 87, which was a 496bbc with everything you would want to buy, it was on there. Stock brakes... took EXTRA pedal effor to stop, but the truck really didnt lock up and slide.
Are you casually stopping and they are locking up, or are you freaking out and jamming on the brakes?
if your casually stopping, youve got a problem somewhere.
if your jamming on the brakes, could be normal.

first, look at your tires, whats the dot number, post up all 4 numbers, it reads DOT XXX XXX XXXX. the important number is the last 4. Thats the week and year the tire was made... if youve got a tire with 2201.. well get some new tires, the tire reads 22nd month of 2001... old dry crappy delapitaded tire... post up your number anyway.

second what senario is your truck sliding under, casual or freaking out the pedal?

3rd, remove the rear wheels and drum and look at the wheel cylinder... see if its leaking.. if its leaking, its probally leaking onto the pads.. if so, fix the leak and replace the pads. the leak is causing the pads to be super grabby.
-same for the fronts.
start with that and report your findings.
clint

[nalgas]

well my tire are new and my breaks are not leaking i think it has to do something with my vacum cause know my trans is not grabbing it wants to o yea its newly rebuilt just a little frustrated the wife says to much money on this piece of sh** o well thanks for the info still gonna put more money into it