Brakes made a big step forward from the 50's to the 60's. In the 50's it was common to go down a hill at 70 mph full well knowing that the vehicle couldn't be stopped in an emergency. But there wasn't much traffic in those days and you could usually find a way to steer around an obstacle. And wrecks were just a way of life for truck drivers. All of that has changed. If you are going to get into heavy traffic at highway speeds, I would recommend upgrading the brakes. I have the brakes that came on all of my old vehicles, but I stay out of heavy traffic with them. I have a several 2 ton and larger. I don't use them for anything than just to play with. One of my trucks is a 53 GMC that was still hauling grain from the farm to the elevator a couple of years ago. But it was in farming country and probably was never driven over 45 mph. Even though I grew up driving one of these things, I would never dream of putting 200 bushels of corn on it and heading out on the Interstate.