Power VS. Manual Brakes

[1FaastC10]

i've been considering ways to take some weight off of the nose of my truck. i'm planning on running a manual steering box, moving the tank farther back on the truck, moving the battery to the bed, and deleting the heater and windshield wipers. how is the pedal effort between a full manual setup and a power brake setup?

[crazy longhorn]

I am running a manual disc on my 69, & dont have any complaints. Note that the masters are different manual vs power tho. I do like powersteering , as the truck is not as sensative to grooves in the road ,or potholes. Wipers are also nice! I have deleted the heater on my longhorn, & moved the battery to the rear, tossed the inners & built a tilt front clip. You could go with a glass nose to save a little weight, & drop the front bumper in favor of a rolled pan(depending on state laws). Good luck, crazyL

[low 84]

i've run manuel drums all around, and also manuel disc up front and drum rear. the disc up front drum rear isn't that bad. i still like my power breaks though.

[Jesse 67 c-10]

I originaly planned to run power brakes when bought my new master cyl so I bought a "power" one, and installed it as manual. Seems so work fine, takes a bit of effort to lockem up but it works good. If I was gonna do it agin I'd go for a master cyl out of a newer chev, with the plastic resevoir. Lighter weight and no more rusty master cyl look!

[cdowns]

i've run both and much prefer the power as far as deleteing your wipers for the sake of saving a couple of pounds it's illegal and i think really foolish

[1FaastC10]

as for being illegal, im not so sure about that. there are lots of guys running around here without wipers. dune buggies, 'buckets, street rods of all kinds. if those dont have to have them, why should i? keep in mind that im planning on this being a fair weather truck only, and the windshield will be heavily coated with Rain-X, for those "just in case"/"what if..." moments. the glass front end is a good idea, but just not in the budget right now.

[cdowns]

don't know about the dune buggies but t'buckets and early rods aren't required to have them because they weren't federally required until the late 40's early 50's and yes if everybody else jumps off the bridge you should too

[crazy longhorn]

In the state of Ill(unless laws changed),a windsheild is not required....but a wiper is! LOL This I found out 20 some yrs ago, when i was playing with a 400 Poncho/4spd powered frame car(the car didnt have a windsheild, so the cop didnt push the wiper issue). Personally, I dont think you will save that much weight by removing the wipers, but its your choice. I doubt that you will be hassled over wipers unless you are driving in the rain, or roaring through town......& a cop just wants to 'nail you" for everything crazyL

[GMCPaul]

Slide the motor back 2" into the 6 cylinder position on the frame installing it on 6 cylinder frame towers, there is a NOTICEABLE difference in handling and launch just in 2" movement of the v-8 on the same truck or a pair of identical trucks. If your not gonna plan on driving it often in bad weather shed those inner fenders for nothing or some custom built aluminum or plexi-glass inners, keep the wipers and relocate both battery and washer bottle to the bed, take the rotor hub assemblies to a good macine shop and have them lightened, drop it with shorter springs, eliminate bumper for roll pan, a good fiberglass hood or front clip from a source such as US Body Source. Swap current radiator for a all aluminum radiator, water pump fan removed and go electric, I would consider all these that you may not have done before eliminating the wipers for that little of weight.
GMCPaul

[Blue Beard]

Most of the laws I've dealt with are not inforced unless you absolute p. off some officer.................

In Washington they are hot on seat belts.....but that only goes back so far....and littler bags, except they have descriptions that get you by on........

[79GMC454C35]

I dont think it is a good idea to reduce the braking puwer of your vehicle to loose weight to try to go faster. I think everyone should consider trying to get brakes to work better when you make your truck go faster. I have never driven any vehicle that I thought, " Damm, this stops too good, I need to change something so it takes longer to stop". I dont feel the weight loss your seeking justifys reducing your breaking ability. I think you would see more weight savings by installing a front roll pan or aluminum bumper, or a fiberglass bumper. Building an aluminum or fiberglass core support might really help too.

[crazy longhorn]

I drove a 71 c10 with manual disc(stick shift truck tho), & didnt have any complaints on the braking power. They arent as nice as power disc, but in a panick situation that "power brake lever" was real handy.....just drop it a gear or 2,& let the clutch back up....it will stop! my longhorn is a manual disc, & was set up that way due to low vac issues on a 455 olds(big Engle cam). Even with the auto trans, the brakes didnt scare me. The firewall is a little cleaner without the booster, so mine will probably stay that way......crazyL

[1FaastC10]

removing the heater/defroster unit and the wipers are not the only means of lightening the truck that i was going to use. i planned on a 'glass hood and inner fenders, setting the motor back as much as i can (there is no "6 cylinder position" on 73+ trucks) removing the PS, all the little emissions crap, and swapping to an '86 front grill (eliminates need for bumper, as markers are mount in the bumper for '81-82).

[Slammed67]

Here's what I did.... MC off a '85 1/2 ton truck. I'm very happy with it.

[TIMSPEED]

My 75 came factory without power brakes..I got the manual disc/drum setup. Works for me! Although, I would like to upgrade some day to a power brake setup...

[sbc350gearhead]

keep the power brakes....if you want to lose weight try aluminum heads and radiator, ministartor and aluminum water pump.

[1FaastC10]

Originally posted by sbc350gearhead
keep the power brakes....if you want to lose weight try aluminum heads and radiator, ministartor and aluminum water pump.

i'm talking about lightening the TRUCK... the engine will be as light as possible as well. im just not ready to build an engine yet.

[sbc350gearhead]

I guess you have to decide just how street capable you want to keep the truck. There is only so much you can get away with unless it is drag only.

[ZOOMY]

First time I've heard that power brakes stopped a vehicle faster. I always heard that power brakes just required less pedal pressure to do the same job. ?????????.....Zoomy

[sbc350gearhead]

most manual brake setups are drums and not as capable as disc brakes and it is hard for your leg to quickly match the clamping assist of a power system.

[1FaastC10]

depends, how big a boy are ya?

[CustomChevy]

Jesse 67:

I originaly planned to run power brakes when bought my new master cyl so I bought a "power" one, and installed it as manual. Seems so work fine, takes a bit of effort to lockem up but it works good. If I was gonna do it agin I'd go for a master cyl out of a newer chev, with the plastic resevoir. Lighter weight and no more rusty master cyl look!

The bore/stroke of the master is not the same on manual vs. power brake M/C's. Also, when you switch to manual, you really need to change your brake pedal ratio , power brakes use a lower ratio than manual. gotta add 1" to the length of pedal by changing pivot point on pedal.

As reference, try these sites for more info:

www.mpbrakes.com
www.classicperform.com


Good luck!