Our brakes can be made to work very well. Look at the size of the drums and shoes. Pretty big. 50 year old brakes are bad, but the design is good and if all new and the parts are working properly it will stop these trucks pretty good. Unless you want to do a lot of mountain towing. You should always however drive within the vehicle's limits. These will never be modern, nimble lane changers. These are trucks that belong in the slow lane. With some driveline modifications maybe at 65mph.
IMO
