I just swapped to a dual reservoir/power unit in my daily driver '62 Suburban. I drove well over 20,000 miles with the manual brakes (4wheel drum).
I HIGHLY recommend the power booster.
You DO stop quicker. The brakes come in with less effort/pedal travel. (Most power conversions require you to drill a new hole in the brake pedal arm for the rod, apprx. 3/4- to 1-inch lower than the original hole...that changes your pedal ratio. Faster ratio for the same amount of leg travel).
It takes less effort to push in the brakes. That's very nice when you're rolling up on a the freeway off ramp, coming to a stop light, etc.
And where it really shines is when you're sitting in traffic. I'd bet money I'm not the only person who ever wedged their leg on the bottom of the steering wheel to keep the brakes tight after getting tired in stop/go traffic.
There's a tremendous amount of charm in driving a vintage truck...part of that comes from the Spartan interior, manual windows, that hollow sound the doors make when you shut them. Even manual steering isn't bad. But brakes shouldn't have "charm." They should work. And work darn well.
The next upgrade is self-adjusters in the drums. I figure one of the biggest things going against drum brakes was the manual adjust. I know if I adjusted mine when they need it, I'd be under there every month, easily. And who's doing that? I'm not. They won't be as good as discs, and if I start to tow the race car with the Suburban, I'll probably upgrade then, but for now, self adjust, dual-reservoir power drum brakes will be great.
And yes, I drive it like a modern vehicle; that means 80mph on the highway, 55-60 on the back country roads.
-Brad
