Discs have fewer parts and are cheaper and easier to install so manufacturers like that aspect because its more profitable for them.
You aren't driving an antique vehicle to its limits and are not making repeated high speed stops. By that I mean decelerating from highway speed multiple times in less than a minute as on a race course. That just doesn't happen in normal driving scenarios. If you're in the habit of riding your brakes down mountain roads, then disc brakes won't overheat like drums. But who does that in an antique car?
Stopping distance is longer on disc brake equipped vehicles than drum equipped vehicles of the the same weight.
I read a comparison of a Ford Taurus and a mid 50s Ford of approximately the same weight and the 50s Ford stopped about 20 feet or so shorter from 60mph than its modern equivalent.
If you're worried about stopping distance, drums are your friend. Again, its a 70 year old truck. How fast are you driving and how close are you following the guy in front of you?
As I mentioned before, heavy vehicles such as dump trucks, semis, delivery vehicles, etc are all equipped with drum brakes because they stop quicker than discs.
Last edited by Otto Skorzeny; 11/15/2022 3:09 AM.
