drums vs disc

Since I used a truck 5.7 hemi in my Javelin I decided to set it up to tow my car trailer or even flat tow my 77 AMX to shows so good brakes were required. The trailer already has brakes but flat towing another car would not provide the extra braking needed though they do make a setup to apply brakes on a towed vehicle for the motor home crowd. The faster your car is, the better your brakes need to be. If you only cruise around in light traffic than drums might be fine but I always look at it as the fact that I can only drive one car at a time and I can not predict what that other distracted driver is doing. It's also the reason I added a third hi mounted brake light in my roof spoiler so that other guy can tell when I stop so they don't hit me.

It all depends.

If you have never driven anything but power disc brakes, you will be convinced a manual drum brake car has no brakes. They will feel different, but they are also very good at stopping cars. If you learned to drive with drums, you will be comfortable with them, even in city traffic and even in a heavy downpour....or snow. They do behave differently when wet - and as has been said, you just let them drag a bit to dry them off - or tap them a couple of times. When they get hot, you will feel them get sticky - that's why using low gear is needed - It drives me NUTS to be behind a modern car going down a curvy mountain road and see brake lights all the way down - DOWN SHIFT, I mumble. Lots of times people have trouble with drum brakes because they assume they behave like disc...which they do not.

I am spoiled with my Rambler's brakes - they are the heavy duty versions, and they do stop her pretty darned well. Really, they are comparable to our newer power disc cars. In an emergency stop, they are more dramatic. She will nose down, shimmy a bit and leave a trail of smoke and rubber on the road (a reverse burn out), and the person who was right in front of me will have a surprised look on their face....but it's all good.

Your anti-lock device is your foot - when you feel it lock up, take your foot off and reapply.

The only time I had to stomp on brakes (and manual drums will make you stomp), to keep from killing someone (a kid on a bike who cut right in front of me), was in my Rambler - with manual drums. I didn't hit the kid.

Bottom line - choose what you are comfortable with.

I converted my '70 Newport from drums to disks and am glad I did. That car was SCARY in a panic stop situation. I converted the Gremlin from drums to disks - and stayed manual, no problem on that little car - because disks are simply better and safer. That was why they were mandated by the Federal Government for all cars sold in the US from 1975 to the present day.

However, if you ever look, you will see that big semis and buses still use drums to this day. I have always found that odd.