Stovebolt.com Forums The Shop Area Driveline Disk brake conversion

I’ve been looking at disk break conversion kits for a’63 C30 step side. I’m finding c20 kits but nothing for a c30. Any one know if C30 conversion kits with 8 lug rotors?

Joe

Cadillac converters and disk breaks. Both hard to explain.

Have you looked here?
https://tuckersparts.com/product/Disc-Brake-Conversion-Kit-F-8LUG/

At https://www.67-72chevytrucks.com there is a suggestion to swap the entire front suspension for an 1981 GMC.
Maybe other swaps are possible.

Thank you Buoy. I’ll check them out.

Joe

What's the reason for the conversion?

I was kinda wondering the same thing? I drive a 66 c20 on a 63 GMC 1 ton chassis with a stock drive line. I've had 3k lbs on the bed of it at the scrap yard and didn't have one bit trouble stopping. Drum brakes work well if properly adjusted and serviced. For the time and effort, not to mention cost, it might be worth a second thought about servicing what you got.

If the drum breaks were that bad, how in the world did any of those trucks survive for 50 years or more of running max weight loads (or more likely big overloads) every day, so a hotrodder could decide he needs to convert to disk breaks? They should have been totalled a few weeks after they rolled off the assembly line. Yes, the spelling errors are intentional!
LOL!
Jerry

Q. And why do dump trucks, delivery trucks and tractor trailers all use drum brakes?
A. Because of their superior stopping power and shorter stopping distance.

The only advantage disc brakes have over drums is that they don't heat up and fade during repeated, high speed, panic stops. Unless you're auto-crossing your vehicle, drums work perfectly fine.

I have stock brakes on my AD 1/2 ton and they work well, but wonder that if drum brakes are so good, why did the manufacturers switch to disc brakes? Are they cheaper? Cars got more powerful then got disc brakes. Fifty to sixty years ago, everything coming out of the factory had basically the same technology and people probably drove closer to the speed limit than they do now. But now, these classic vehicles are sharing the road with higher powered ICE cars or electric cars that go from zero to sixty in 3 seconds. Then add in Mr. Important who is better than the rest of us by darting in and out of traffic to get 2 car lengths ahead of you, so the possibility of quick stops could be higher. Doing a search online reveals contrary opinions as to what is better. Seems that both systems have their pros and cons.

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.

The drum brakes on my 37 Buick served me well for 40 years UNTIL I got caught in Kansas City during a monsoon. The drums were actually under water and though I had full pedal I had no brakes. For 99% of people with vintage rides I'd stay with drums but mine gets driven from coast to coast and Mexican to Canadian border including traversing the length of the Grand Teton mountains. Just one 40 year event had me put on front discs so I will always have stopping power regardless of conditions. It would take a really big guy or at least a small gun to force me to go back to all drums.