I just bought the car and I am concerned about having all wheel drum brakes. Should I change the from drum brake system to a disc brake system? I already checked availability and pricing. It seems pretty straight forward on the conversion. Any thoughts?
Thanks,

Steve Robichaux

 

It depends on how you use your car. If you are driving high speed on the highways, the disk brakes will be a lot more effective in bringing the car to a stop under emergency braking conditions. If it is a Sunday driver, and you feel comfortable with the drum brakes, why spend the money? On all of my cars, they have original braking components, and I feel very comfortable with them, because I know that they have been properly serviced, and are working as intended as when the car was new. Whenever I get a new vehicle, the brakes and steering are the first two components that I check, rebuild, and replace as necessary to get them back to peak performance. I also drive my cars with the knowledge that they don't handle and stop like a modern car. If you are looking for modern performance, then I suggest upgrades whenever possible with quality parts.

 

I'll try a different tack here. First, if you are using the brakes regularly on the highway, you're doing something wrong. I almost never touch the brakes on the interstate. Of course, if you tailgate then you should probably change your driving habits before changing the brakes.

Whether or not to change over depends first on make and model (which you didn't tell us). A-body cars have parts readily available. 1970-earlier full size Oldsmobiles, not so much.

I've still got the stock manual drum brakes on my 62. It does require defensive driving, but frankly I've never felt unsafe. My 67 Delta also has drum brakes. I'm changing to discs primarily because I plan to use it as a daily driver in the DC metro area. Traffic is bumper to bumper and if you leave a car length ahead of you (or even less), some entitled @$$hole will dive into that space.

 

I grew up with drum brakes and still have them on my current car still and they work very well. The only time drum brakes are an issue is if you go through deep puddles in the rain or if you ride them. Under normal driving they are a great system and easy to maintain.

 

As oldcutlass said, drum brakes work well unless you drive in deep water. I see you are in Houma, which is close to where I grew up in S.W Louisiana (Lake Charles) so I know it rains a LOT and there can easily be a foot or more of water during the typical afternoon thunderstorms. I suspect you're not driving your car to work, school, etc. as I did back in the day so you may not have to experience driving through deep water on a regular basis and your drum brakes may not be an issue at all.

 

I am happy with premium Abex linings from Ott's Friction Supply, new hardware on my 66. The drum brakes have to slow me down from 119 mph on the drag strip.

 

If your 72 442 kept its original 350, I'd say you'd be fine with keeping the J50 power drum brakes. But since you're planning to put a 455 in it, I'd consider changing to a front disc brake setup. You could do 4 wheel discs but IMO it's not necessary unless you are planning to,race the car or drive it aggressively.
Remember also that your manual transmission can be used effectively to reduce speeds without using much brake.

Edit: my first 72 Cutlass S had drums on all 4 corners and it performed just fine.

 

I'm a drum guy on my classics with no issues. Disks are better but as mentioned above drive like you are met to and you will have no problems. On long steep down hill twisty mountain roads I keep a watch for over heating and loss of vacuum on my antiquated braking system, but so did my Dad when these cars were new.

 

Yeah, ONCE before letting the brakes cool between runs. Try driving that car in stop and go driving for an hour...

Look, the reality is that disc brakes WILL stop better. The questions the OP has yet to answer is what kind of car and how is it used? If this is a weekend cruise night car, the drums will be fine. If it gets used more frequently, I'd consider upgrading.

 

its a documented 1972 W29 with a 4 speed. He's planning to put in a 455 and store the original 350 according to his other thread that you commented in...

 

Given the THOUSANDS of threads on this site, I have neither the time nor the desire to keep a running track of what car a particular poster is talking about in any given thread. Helpful hint: if you are asking for free help, make it as easy as possible for people to provide it.