How many have restored trucks and left their front drum brakes?

[James the III]

Originally Posted by special-K

So there are states where they would rather you tailgate than slow down? I can't imagine a courtroom in this nation where a person charged with driving under minimum speed wouldn't be let off once they explained they were driving that slow to maintain a safe distance from the vehicle ahead. Our minimum speed on interstates in 40 mph, and I believe that's national. Every rush hour there are areas on 55-70 mph interstates where no one is doing 40

I can see being in court and telling the judge, WELL your honor, I was going that slow as my vehicle can't stop fast enough to keep up with todays traffic..

Instant defective equipment ticket.. if not driving to endanger.. that here is an instant lost of lic. for 6 months..

God bless those in areas that don't have traffic.. you are blessed.

[special-K]

Are you considering moving? I would or give up driving. Your court scenario is comical and far fetched. What I was saying is you tell the judge you were going under the minimum because it was the only way to not tailgate the people who keep jumping in creating a distance insufficient to operate in a safe manor. And, wouldn't you be going the same speed as everyone else, only with the proper distance? The safe distance when I took drivers ed in drum brake cars was 1 car length per 10 miles an hour. Have they reduced that now that cars have disc brakes? I think not, and that distance was established when cars had drum brakes. I never had any issues with following that rule back then or now...in either drum or disc brake vehicles. Judges don't want to hear monkey see/monkey do. Just because everyone else drives like an ass is no excuse for you to, I don't care what state you are in.

We just get a repair order for any safety equipment violations, and 30 days to fix. And factory brakes in proper working order is not on that list

[saxart]

I'm confused...

As I mentioned earlier, if I tromp on my 1970's power-drum brakes, all 4 wheels will lock up HARD! How is this truck going to stop any slower than a similar truck equipped with disk brakes? I get it that it won't be as good if I was towing or driving in hilly terrain which made the brakes heat up, but I'm just not buying all this talk of increasing following distance because I'm driving a drum brake vehicle.

What am I missing here?

[palallin]

I have driven one of these trucks daily since 1983. I have driven in the densest city traffic, the fastest interstates, and and old country roads. Both the '67 and the '69 have drums. They ARE my DDs. And I have never yet rear-ended anyone or anything. If I ever did rear-end anyone, I hope I'd be man enough to go into the courtroom and say, "Hey, Judge: I screwed up," rather than trying to blame my failure on the perfectly good equipment.

But it is all too common these days that no one owns up to mistakes, blaming it on others, their equipment, the manufacturers, Congress for not outlawing dangerous whateveritmightbe. . .

There are no dangerous objects, just dangerous people.

[WorkinLonghorn]

Ah HA! The old disk vs. drum discussion.

I have vac. assisted drums and they stop me quite well and I use my truck for hauling loads of decomposed granite, gravel, pallets of sod, dirt, cut-up trees with my 4' sides up, etc.

Disks will not reduce stopping distance IMO unless there have been repeated heavy applications generating lots of heat and fade. Then I suppose it would be better to have disc.

I've never had a fade problem and with a close ratio 4spd and well maintained brakes, I don't expect I ever will. If I did this work in the nearby mountains I would consider disks.

All this talk about following distance makes me wonder because I have been in this business for 30 years and I've never had a problem leaving the cushion. When I'm heavy I stick to the right. Nobody bothers you there because who wants to cut into the slow lane behind a bunch of trucks????

When I'm light I move into a faster lane but I've never had a problem there either. In my car which has Anti-Lock disks all around I still have no problem leaving distance, never have and would never follow too closely.

It's easy to forget that following too close will not get you to your destination much sooner. If you are in a real hurry, or if you are young and have an urgent need for speed, it may SEEM difficult to allow a safe cushion, but it is possible and absolutely necessary regardless of your brake design. -BA

[WorkinLonghorn]

Originally Posted by saxart

I'm confused...

As I mentioned earlier, if I tromp on my 1970's power-drum brakes, all 4 wheels will lock up HARD! How is this truck going to stop any slower than a similar truck equipped with disk brakes? I get it that it won't be as good if I was towing or driving in hilly terrain which made the brakes heat up, but I'm just not buying all this talk of increasing following distance because I'm driving a drum brake vehicle.

What am I missing here?

^^^ Exactly. TY

[CST10]

I have manual front drums in the 68 and power drum front brakes on the 70. No problems at all. Stops just fine.