Rear discs, nice improvement or novelty

Rear discs, nice improvement or novelty - 08/26/12 02:27 AM

Those of you that have converted to rear disc brakes, was it something that you felt was worth the money? Did you notice a difference? I drive the car quite a bit, but never autocross or rally.

I am on the fence about doing the conversion, but need a new set of drums. I figure now is the the time to do the conversion before I spend $70 on drums.

Posted By: jcc

Re: Rear discs, nice improvement or novelty - 08/26/12 03:07 AM

Posted By: astjp2

Re: Rear discs, nice improvement or novelty - 08/26/12 04:32 AM

I am wanting modern parts so disc's it is. Tim

Posted By: MuuMuu101

Re: Rear discs, nice improvement or novelty - 08/26/12 07:25 AM

I had disc brakes all the way around on all of the cars I've owned. However, all of them were newer than 1990. When I bought my Dart, I was kind of paranoid driving around in it thinking I have drums all the way around because it wasn't stopping as fast as I'd like. I always feared I would have brake fade and crash into the person in front of me. Later I found out I actually had 4 piston disc brakes in the front with the 9" drums in the back. So I'd definitely say, discs in the back is a big plus. When I work on brakes in my Dart I am going disc brakes all the way around.

Posted By: autoxcuda

Re: Rear discs, nice improvement or novelty - 08/26/12 09:11 AM

Quote:

I had disc brakes all the way around on all of the cars I've owned. However, all of them were newer than 1990. When I bought my Dart, I was kind of paranoid driving around in it thinking I have drums all the way around because it wasn't stopping as fast as I'd like. I always feared I would have brake fade and crash into the person in front of me. Later I found out I actually had 4 piston disc brakes in the front with the 9" drums in the back. So I'd definitely say, discs in the back is a big plus. When I work on brakes in my Dart I am going disc brakes all the way around.

BTW, you've actually got 10" rear drums on your Dart.

Perception is reality.

I drove a 69 Dart with samee factory 4 piston brake and 10". All parts rebuilt though. It could lock them up at any time in normal driving.

Now, did it "feel" like the 4 wheel disc brake modern somewhat performance inspired cars I've regularly driven. No.

But I really think a lot of that is because of the handling of those modern cars. They have way less nose dive. Lower center of gravity, shocks, and suspension that resist dive. Tires with more grip....

Posted By: HemiRick

Re: Rear discs, nice improvement or novelty - 08/26/12 06:15 PM

The only advantage of disks over drums is they cool off faster. Do you ever have the need to stop from high speed more than once in a short period of time? If not you have no need for rear disks.

Posted By: 65rbdodge

Re: Rear discs, nice improvement or novelty - 08/26/12 08:37 PM

i dont had discs all the way around on any of my old cars but i do have them on my 03 dakota. they have given me nothing but problems. the e-brake froze up with in the first 6 months of owning the truck(i bought it new) i had it fixed and fixed it myself many times only to have it fail again and again. i did use it regularly as it is a 5 speed. now i have not used it in many years now because i`ve grown tired of working on it. i believe i`m on my 4 set of rotors too. i will always keep drums on the rear of my cars.

Posted By: scratchnfotraction

Re: Rear discs, nice improvement or novelty - 08/26/12 09:50 PM

Quote:

I had disc brakes all the way around on all of the cars I've owned. However, all of them were newer than 1990. When I bought my Dart, I was kind of paranoid driving around in it thinking I have drums all the way around because it wasn't stopping as fast as I'd like. I always feared I would have brake fade and crash into the person in front of me. Later I found out I actually had 4 piston disc brakes in the front with the 9" drums in the back. So I'd definitely say, discs in the back is a big plus. When I work on brakes in my Dart I am going disc brakes all the way around.

on my 68 dart i used 73 disc brakes up front,then upgraded the to the 12" R body disc/rotors.

used 11x2.5 drums on the rear from a 73 newport. big difference over the 10" drums as far as stoping power,even with the small front disc, the 11x2.5 were noticably better.

i also used the 4 bolt to 2 bolt alum MC adaptor with a 79 truck alum MC for a manual brake 12" disc/11x2.5 drum set up.

I dont think disc on the rear would have been any better than that set up.

weighed a little more but stoping was killer with no brake fade when working them in heavy traffic. I ran drag skinnys and never had anytrouble stoping fast and they never locked up unless it was a panic braking moment.

I want rear disc on my 440 truck for the kool factor though.

IMHO,swap the 10s out for 11s and use a 2.5 wide drum/shoes

try stoping with a 68 Dart BB/727 and manual 9" drums at all 4 corners.