Oh yeah? I can guarantee you that if you are towing a maximun load those discs will be more useful then the drums.

And BTW, big rigs (18 wheelers) are converting from drums to discs because of the benfits of discs. And they weigh 80,000lbs.

I would never buy anything 05 or newer with rear drum brakes. FU gm and hello ford or dodge.....J/k I will just by an 04 used.


=Dave

 

Don't 18 wheelers use an air actuated piston caliper design?
Philip S.

 

They all use air braking systems

They were also all drums for the longest time. In the last few years they been converting to disc (yes, air actuated piston caliper).

=Dave

 

they did it for pedal feel mainly. if you drive an 05', they stop great. they also made the front brakes much larger (the reason 17's are now standard). another reason was warrenty issue's with the rear rotors....

 

What warranty issues do you speak of Zippy?
Philip S.

 

Then maybe I could upgrade my front brakes to the 05's. I have 17" wheels.
Would this be possible???


The warranty issues must have been with the damn parking brake. Could never get that thing to work right.

=Dave

 

What they did was add larger front discs, new stiffer calipers, and better master cylinder, then switched rears to drums. This equals a 30% better stopping distance, still 4-wheel ABS with DRP.

I like the looks and ideal of rear discs, but drums work just as good and don't need to be replaced for a long long time.

Pros of drum brakes
- Shoes last forever
- Parking brake uses the same parts
- cheaper to produce and replace
- Self energizing

Cons of drum brakes
- ugly
- They fade quicker due to less venting
- Sometimes need to be adjusted

Pros of rear disc
- Look better
- better venting

Cons of rear disc
- A small drum is needed for parking brake
- Pads don't last very long (most times they go before the fronts)
- Rotors are expensive
- Parking brake shoes drag and wear out
- Requires more fluid volume/pressure

 

But what about when you are towing something, especially if it is heavy?

Those drums will fade away on you very fast.

And what do the 2500/3500's have in the rear?

=Dave

 

First, when they switched to rear discs in 99 they changed the e-brake setup to drums that are inside the disk hub. That was a really poor design b/c the first time you use the e-brake one corner of one shoe wears out and they dont work after that. It only took them 5 yrs to fix it. Also one of my friends dads is a sugarcane farmer and he had a 99 Z71 and he used to complain that mud and rocks would get stuck in between the caliper and wheel. Personally, I'm glad they switched back to drums. And I think that rear ABS has been standard on most vehicles scince the early 90's, so I'm pretty sure the 05's are 4 wheel ABS equipped. Someone who knows for sure will chime in on this one.

 

Does anyone know if the front brake parts and master cylinder off the 05's are interchangeable with the older models?? I'm planning on getting some 18's and it would be nice to have the better brakes up front.