The Stovebolt Site Forums The Parking Lot Big Bolts better brakes for bigger trucks

I am sure this has been covered before but what is everyone doing to improve the braking on the 1.5 tom and bigger trucks? Thanks

A booster and a dual res. master. On my 48 4400, that was more than enough.
Scott

Just to clarify, a booster doesnt give you better brakes. It just makes them easier to apply.

So long as your brake systems rebuilt and your brakes are adjusted properly, theres no reason not to stick with the original braking system.

Jeff

If you start changing other stuff so you can haul more and faster then different/better brakes may be welcome.
Otherwise the original brakes in good shape are OK and a dual circuit MC upgrade is safer.

Grigg

Did you do away with the Hydrovac system and did you use a floor frame mounting mastercylinder with booster like you can get off ebay for a 1/2 ton or does it need a bigger booster and cylinder.It sounds like a grest idea

my truck is a 1951 ton and a half with a hydrovac that needs rebuilt anyway so if I can do away with that and go with a power booster and dual master cylinder that would make things clean and simpler

My set-up is a Chevy booster with a 1970 C10 master from a drum/drum style system. It works very well. With an 8' plow and 6 ton of gravel on back, I can still lock all four corners with mild effort.

Rustednuts implies that a booster doesn't give you better brakes but you can't use a booster without the dual res. master.
Scott

So there is no sort of disc brake upgrades? How hard is it to find the stock brake parts?

A hydrovacs a booster.

Jeff

Hydros do give you better brakes too. I have a stock 48 4400 that I drove without the hydro for about a year. Loaded it was too scary to drive in traffic but now that the hydro has been replaced, I can drive it anywhere.

But we all know I was talking about the typical booster..........
Scott

Disc brake upgrade can be found here, and this is what I have under my truck.
http://www.stovebolt.com/techtips/bigbolts/p30swap/
It's not a simple bolt on system, but well worth the efforts if you will be driving fast and want to stop even faster.

Grigg

Not me. My thinking always leads me toward original parts.

So you are saying a typical brake booster ad dual resivior mastercylinder from a drum brake system on a 1970 or so chevrolet 1 ton truck would work without the original hydrovac booster on a 1 1/2 ton truck this seems like a clean and simple update would you mount the booster on thr fire wall? thanks for the ideas

You could mount the master cylinder on the firewall if you wanted. You could pretty much mount it anywhere so long as you can make the linkage work from the pedal to the master cylinder work.

Youll want to look for a master cylinder that has the same size piston in it as does your truck. So if yours is 1 1/4" then look for a later model with 1 1/4".

I mounted mine under the floor. There's room on these big trucks,
Scott

Gives me something to look at and ponder over. Thanks