As I built the flat bed for my truck, the local steel guy got me pumped up to make my 9x6 deck out of 3/16s thick diamond plate. However, I found when I got home I could hardly move the plates! I started to think about it and decided I really didn't want an extra 600 lbs that the sheets weighed, nevermind the $440 that they cost. Took em back and made a wood bed instead (on steel 2x2s 16 inches apart). While driving though with the plates I noticed the clutch was a bit rough starting out in 2nd (i have the granny 1st 4 speed) and the brakes didn't feel so good.
I had adjusted out my brakes RONG and redid the process following the shop guide for major brake adjustment.
long story short: I bought the
www.praisedynobrake.com semi-kevlar brake shoes awhile back for my fronts and now could finally test them. They work great. The truck stops like it has disc brakes. If you are concerned about your brakes and considering discs, you might check these brakes out. I use about 1" of brake travel to stop the unloaded truck. That leaves a lot of brake travel. I jumped on the brakes today and got the rears to prematurely lock up. (no abs
) I think with a load on there to hold em down, it would have stopped even better.
I also have a ECI 7" powerboosted dual master (the early vette's used the same size master cylinder bore as the 1 ton truck) so it doesn't need a huge foot on em to stop. I also replaced all the brake lines.
Your results my vary, but I will tell you, my brakes work way better than I had expected. The brake shoes are pricey, but I am glad I spent the $.
