I really HATE....drum brakes!!

[JeepsAndGuns]

I have a profound hate for drum brakes.
All those stiff springs, little nail thingys, more springs, frozen adjusters, more springs, frozen drums, more springs, leaky wheel cylinders. :banghead: :banghead:
They hold crud, mud, dust, and oil, they seem to never self adjust like the are supposed to do. Disc brakes do about everyting way better.


Get in my jeep and go down the driveway, hit the brakes to stop and pedal goes right to the floor. Good thing it was flat ground and I was only in granny gear! I get parked back and open the brake MC, rear brake part is dry. I look under the back and its leaking out of the drivers side drum. I know once the pads get soaked, its pretty much done for. So I get new shoes and wheel cylinders for both sides, brake fluid, and a can of cleaner. Runs about $50.

Dangit, I hate putting money into axles I plan on replaceing before too long (read sig) :banghead: But I gonna keep it running and driveing untill the swap starts.

[YellowJeep]

Drums can be a PITA but they are quite effective. Big over the road trucks hauling 1000s of pounds use them over disk brakes for a reason!

[Mikel]

Drums can be a PITA but they are quite effective. Big over the road trucks hauling 1000s of pounds use them over disk brakes for a reason!

Drum brakes have great stopping power, but I hate how they deliver it. I can easily lock all four wheels in my '66 Toronado, but that doesn't equal good braking. And not to mention heat dissipation...

[mrtazwrench]

I always dread working on them, My 82 J20 needs an adjuster, and I end up pulling spindle bearings to get the drums off of that.:rolleyes:

[mattmopar440]

I HATE HATE HATE drum brakes ............Lucky for me some crazy idiot loves them down the street so I let him fix them :D

[beloth]

amazing though that you can all the parts all day long for old 70's/80's vehicles that run the drum variety but i hear all the time about folks with newer cars that have 4 disc brakes always having problems finding parts for brakes...parts stores always out of stock or need to order the part from the warehouse....

:D

[manicjester3]

I guess I'm not on the same page as everyone here, I actually like drum brakes. Once you get the hang of working on them, they provide far more braking power than disks. They're also pretty cheap. $50 for everything new on both sides is a great deal compared to disks. If you have a caliper go on a disk brake setup, you're running over $100 for the caliper alone unless you want to go through the huge pain of rebuilding it. I'll admit, drums have their downfalls, never adjusting correctly, tons of springs, screws and other small parts, and constantly collecting crap inside, but for all the money and effort you get for more braking power, I think they're the way to go. A disk front/drum rear setup is the best of both worlds, reliability for the front brakes, which do most of the work, and power and cost-friendly-ness for the rears for when you're towing a lot or run out of cash.

[drlocke]

I'm a crazy idiot, 'coz I love drum brakes. In spite of their springs and things at least most of it is contained within, and not hanging out like the testicles on a scrub bull to expose precision parts to the salts that abound around here. I have never--REPEAT NEVER--had a routine brake job involving disc brakes; there has always been a stuck--or otherwise unwell--caliper that needed replacing.

It's all a matter of personal experience, I guess.... :rolleyes:

[Dirt Wag]

If you have a caliper go on a disk brake setup, you're running over $100 for the caliper alone
Say what? Advance Auto Parts sells rebuilt calipers with a limited lifetime warranty for less than $20.

Drums suck - 2 hours to replace calipers/pads - 3 times as long to replace wheel cylinders/shoes. It always takes me a half hour or so just to break each of the siezed adjusters loose.

[KaiserMan]

Say what? Advance Auto Parts sells rebuilt calipers with a limited lifetime warranty for less than $20.

If you like putting the cheapest crap maade on your rig. I don't.

My Napa brake rebuilt Bendix calipers cost me around $35 each. That was for my D44HD. The I could get a really good set of shoes and maybe wheel cylinders for that same $70.

I like drums myself.

[5quarter]

My 68 M715 has drums and has a vacuum booster system you'd better warm them up a bit before the first stop of the ride or they'll leave 4 nice skid marks ( no abs )

booster picture
http://img156.imageshack.us/img156/223/muttengine004pu9.jpg

[Headhoncho]

Gee, I love drum brakes but that's what I grew up working on as my J2000 had all drums with 36" tires. I just don't love them on a full floating rear axle. I eventually switched to rear disc on my Honcho because of too many wasted brake shoes from mud, sand, and pebbles.

http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/cc237/headhonchoj10/gm14%20bolt%20rear%20disc%20brakes/DSCN1964.jpg
http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/cc237/headhonchoj10/gm14%20bolt%20rear%20disc%20brakes/DSCN1963.jpg
http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/cc237/headhonchoj10/gm14%20bolt%20rear%20disc%20brakes/DSCN1980.jpg


JR

[JeepsAndGuns]

Headhoncho, a PERFECT example of one of the reasons I hate drum brakes.

I have had minimal problems out of disc brakes. I had one sticky caliper on my YJ, but that was because it had 200k on them. I swaped in a disc brake rear axle into it years and years ago. Never looked back since. When I put the one tons under my cherokee, there will be discs on the rear.

If drum brakes are so much better, how come hardly no modern car or truck has them anymore? Even the big 3's one ton trucks run 4 wheel discs.