Brakes

[sb4boys]

I am in the process of restoring my 68 f-100 and want to keep it as original as possible. I would like to keep the drum brakes, but not sure of their reliability, especially in today’s driving environment. I have never driven a vehicle with drum brakes and would like your advice as to keep them or upgrade.

[ultraranger]

Replacing my '69 F100 drum brake front suspension with a '77 F100 disc brake suspension is one of the best swaps I've made to my truck. It's all pretty much bolt-on stuff. If you ever wanted to return it to drums, (don't know why anyone would), it would just be a matter of unbolting the disc setup and bolting the drum setup back in.

[lamogo33]

Hello and nice to meet you. If your concern is reliability then as long as they are rebuilt with good components and maintained they will always be reliable. I own a '52 Ford with 4 wheel drums and have no desire to change them. The only advantage I see in swapping brake components is when the original stuff is hard to come by, or even impossible to locate. But really the decision is on you.

My two cents... Don't change them if you don't want to.

HTH

[jzjames]

I second the 'don't change them'. Make sure the brakes are all new including the flexible lines. After the new shoes break in and conform to the drums they are all good.
Maybe if you have a hot rod truck with a 460 in it, you might need front discs.

[geradr4]

Drum brakes are reliable as long as they are properly adjsuted and in good shape.

[colnago]

I just converted my '67 drums to discs. To me, it came down to how I was going to use the truck. I find the discs more "snappy," and I want to be able to tow. But if you keep it as a daily driver, you should be fine. I think my drums would have been fine if the rest of my hydraulic system was properly set up.



Joseph