The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk power or manual disc / drum ??

hello again guys. want your input on what you have experience on.
my 57 now has stock master and drum drum setup. cant make up my mind wether to go with manual disc drum or power disc drum set up.
how much better pedal feel is it to keep manual but disc front and drum back ? is it a noticable difference over the stock drum drum set up ?
how about any of you who went with the power disc front and drum back ? any issues with being too touchy in hard braking situations ?
i dont mind spending the extra money and getting a power booster, but also dont want to spend the extra money if not really needed, and if its going to amke my truck really touchy on hard braking.
thanks much.....

p.s., my 57 is a 3100 1/2 ton with a 350 small block angine and th 350 auto trans. modern early 80's truck rear. just a cruiser, not a fast race truck.

I've got disc front/drum rear without power and it works fine. I'm using a Mustang II master cylinder that mounts under the floor where the original mounted using a kit from Fatmans.

I've got manual disk/drum and it works just fine. I do notice a difference going from a power brake vehicle to this one, but after a few stops I adjust and its fine.

More important than the power booster is getting the parts to work together. Make sure you have compatible parts at both ends, and the right master to go with them.

I'll throw a different opinion on this. If you go disk, go for the power option, too. I've had bad experiences with manual disk brakes on trucks, not enough stopping power as disk brakes are not self energizing like the Bendix drum brakes that they come with. I know a guy that had a '78 Dodge Warlock that had manual brakes, that thing wouldn't stop for nothing!

thanks do much guys for your input... will decide hopefully in about a month or so.... decisions decisions. LOL. ...leonard.