I need new front drums and they were shockingly expensive at the local auto parts store. They wouldn't turn my existing drums...too thin. I installed new shoes and wheel cylinders, and scuffed up the drums with sand paper. The brakes still suck.
If I'm gonna spend a lot for drums, why not spend even more and get disks? Is the car worth more with original drums? It's not a numbers matching car.
Or, maybe a need a lesson on improving drum brake performance.
drums can stop your car very well providing they are in good working order.disc brakes are better but if you adjust and maintain your drum brakes properly,you should be able to stop your car unless you are abusing it or racing it.i have 4 wheel drums on my 69 bird and it stops on a dime.
even thin drums ought to be able to stop well during normal driving. they just might fade a little quicker than good drums, and can sometimes be darty. discs dont fade near as fast.
what causes chatter? heat or warped rotor, or both? there's a long 40mph hill near my house, and my brakes always fade and start to chatter going down it.
when you say chatter, i guess you mean it shakes the car or makes noise in some manner? lots of things can cause it, with a hot spotted or distorted drum being among them. you'll need to do a thorough inspection of the brakes and the steering/suspension.
Try this link: http://www.praisedynobrake.com/ I've read some articles about these guys. They make drum brake kits that stop as well as original disc brakes. They don't stop as well as modern discs though.
I found a disc setup off of a 1970 Grand Prix, so I'm going to convert to power disc brakes this winter.
Thanks 69fbman. 4h wheel drums stop the car on a dime--well at speeds less than 80 mph. Anyone who knows how to adjust drum brakes knows that the "drums suck" comes from people who don't know how to adjust them. A lot of professional brake mechanics don't know how to adjust drums.
The termology for the chatter is pulsation. The drums are out of round. You can buy a new set of drums for 1/10th the money you wrap up in disc conversion. In addition, drum brakes are much lighter than disc, and adding additional weight to what is already waaaayyyy to much weight in the front of the car isn't any bonus as far as handeling and performance.
Ain't no sense with trying to explain proper brake adjustment; also, it's too late. Buy the new drums, make a post, and I'll try to explain the way I adjust drum brakes.
Drums do stop great... as long as you never drive thru a city during mild or rush hours, or follow someone thru same when they have discs... which leaves you a very small window in the cities I've been in... esp if the drums are thin.
Most techs do tend to overadjust, due to bad training, and we dont match shoes anymore. The AMA specs give a decent adjustment procedure without the tool, which is worthless anyway with bent parts... except it can help with diagnosis. If they aint bent too bad the AMA specs work great anyways. Merv can give you better detail on the procedure though.
I have an all drum car also and have no problems stopping (even on a dime).There is no noise or chatter or even shaking.I will be leaving my brakes as is. AL
Drum brakes have more grabbing power- more than discs- but they start to fade immediately because there is nowhere for the heat to go. Thats why they have poor 60-0 stats. Two things I remember about driving with power drums: 1)they lock up very easy! 2)they can fade to the point of failure very easy, especially in the mountains.
You can compensate for lockup by practicing hard stops a lot, but if you drive a modern car all week, then drive the bird, you can surprise yourself in a panic stop. For fade, you can mitigate it by not letting them get too thin. I noticed a huge difference when I switched to discs, but it looks like that website offers a very good compromise. I also read somewhere that you can mitigate the heat buildup of drums by drilling quarter-size holes in the face of the drum, to allow them to air cool. I never had the guts to cut up my stock drums tho, they're still sitting on the shelf in case I want to go back to stock.
