Our family 65-66 Mustangs all had factory drum brakes. They totalled about 500,000 miles with no serious problems. Only one had power brakes. It is all in how you drive them. One was a 200 six with the small brakes and that one went about 290,000 miles.

 

I have had to make several panic stops with my 64 F100 and 65 Mustang that has 4 wheel manual drums.

They stopped just fine.

Discs would be better, but so would 4 wheel discs and so would abs.

Don't believe the hype that 4 wheel drums are a death trap. Mustangs have millions and millions of miles on 4 wheel drums. When it comes time to do brake work I most likely will upgrade to discs but Im not throwing away good drum brakes because somebody on the net says they are dangerous.

 

I think you'll get replies from both ends of the spectrum. I just went through this decision process myself. I was ready to pull the trigger on an expensive front disc conversion made more difficult because I have 14 inch, four lug wheels. That really limits your options.
I was advised to change just the front wheels to five lug. Really? Who wants to carry two spare tires.
I was advised to change all four wheels to five lug. That would require new wheels, new tires, rear end/axle work, in addition to the actual disc conversion. Talking about mission creep!

Finally, someone asked me the following questions: (paraphrased)
1. Do I drive my car hard? (hot rod it?) NO, I don't. I really baby it.
2. Do I pull a trailer or carry a lot of weight in the car? NO, and I never will.
3. Do I live in a mountainous area? NOPE.
4. Do I drive my car a lot? Do I drive in a busy city with lots of traffic? Nope.
Small town, rural. To Sonic for burgers occasionally or the donut shop when the
grandkids are in town. I have put less than 500 miles on her since I got the car
two years ago.

So, I elected to keep my drum brakes. Tomorrow I am taking the car, 68 vert 200-6, to my mechanic to have a thorough going over of the brakes. He will bring the brakes up to better than factory. I already have power assist.

If you have 15 inch, five lug wheels, it will be an easier decision to go disc. But don't be afraid to stay with drums, just make sure they're up to snuff.

 

Couple more things. It will greatly enhance your braking if your suspension is in top notch shape. Good shocks, good leaf springs, export brace, sway bar. etc. Having a tight suspension increases the overall handling and enjoyment of the car and helps you steer straight and true in an emergency stop. If your suspension is not up to snuff, I recommend putting your money there, rather than a brake conversion.

 

I can only speak for about 200,000 miles with them in the range of 1 to 141 m.p.h. I only just upgraded to a dual master cylinder a few months ago as my master cylinder and whole braking system needed rebuilding.

Don't get me wrong, if I had a thousand dollars with nothing to spend it on.....I would go with the front disk brakes - or maybe build a 300 Blackout AR-15?

 

I have a 65 with a 260 2BBL and drum brakes all around. I drive my car as one would
drive that has one purpose in mind, stay out of trouble. I have, in the 4 years I have
owned my Mustang not had to panic stop, if I ever do I feel the brakes will stop the
car, but if someone pulls out in front of you, or in any way makes an accident
unavoidable, well its gonna happen. My simple rule.....stay away from everyone and keep an eye on whats behind you. I am happy to pull over and let the moron tailgating me go by. The main advantages of disc brakes from an engineering standpoint is they dont fade
under heavy use, they dont need adjustment, and they last a long time. I went 152K
on my Honda Odyssey when I replaced the pads, and they still had 3 mm out of
originally 8! One of my winter projects this year will be a complete inspection and
overhaul of my Mustangs' brakes.

 

You wouldn't know mine has drums. Stops straight and fast as my dd. Will upgrade in a few years, but not due to the lack if performance though.

 

One of the main reasons drum brakes get a bad rap is because folks insist on using really crappy shoes, drums, hydraulics and hardware. Sorry folks, but a $9.00 set of brake shoes simply don't stop as well as a $35.00 set. Off-shore drums don't perform as well as top quality domestic products. This is really critical for the six cylinder 9" setup, and the 6 cylinder crowd is perhaps the worst for cutting corners on their brakes. Sadly, brake specialty businesses are the worst offenders. They will install $9.00 shoes at a $35.00 cost. This observation from someone who had a Mustang repair/restoration business for twenty years.

 

One of the main reasons drum brakes get a bad rap is because folks insist on using really crappy shoes, drums, hydraulics and hardware. Sorry folks, but a $9.00 set of brake shoes simply don't stop as well as a $35.00 set. Off-shore drums don't perform as well as top quality domestic products. This is really critical for the six cylinder 9" setup, and the 6 cylinder crowd is perhaps the worst for cutting corners on their brakes. Sadly, brake specialty businesses are the worst offenders. They will install $9.00 shoes at a $35.00 cost. This observation from someone who had a Mustang repair/restoration business for twenty years.

I say the above to say this: No doubt disk brakes offer superior stopping power over the entire stopping spectrum. No doubt ABS is generally safer than non-ABS. Is the disk brake conversion worth the money. Probably, but that is not to imply that good drum brakes are unsafe. There are a multitude of safety features built into today's new cars that can't be found on Classic Mustangs. Knowing this, you simply have to drive your Classic with a different mindset. The aftermarket offers many ways to "upgrade" your Mustang to handle like a new car. If that is what you want, go for it; otherwise stay original and enjoy your Mustang for what it is. These cars are a joy in many different ways.
Best,
Al

 

Al.....SPOT ON buddy! DO NOT cut corners. Buy a cheap radio or bumper but get
the BEST brake components you can find!

 

This is just my opinion.
I have power front disk and rear large drums on the 69 mustang.
I have power all drum brakes, large rear drum on the 66 ranchero.
Both systems are new and adjusted correctly.
In no way does my ranchero perform as good as my mustang. I have done several tests.
The moment I have the time and money, I will change the ranchero to front disk.

 

My 1st 66 had four wheel drums .scary coming down a long steep hill application one okish application two got hot and sqiushy pedal application three no pedal serious fade.maybe the old three speed didn't help much either?

 

I was cruising in a '69 convertible with 4 wheel drums to a car show years ago. Was keeping a safe distance and not speeding. Traffic stopped suddenly - 70 to zero because of an accident. I had to panic stop and the car slid sideways as I swerved to avoid hitting the car in front of me. I barely stopped in time missing the late model cars in front of me that all had modern technology, ABS, and discs. I almost totaled my beloved car and could have done who knows what physical damage to my dad in the passenger seat or myself. This was in a convertible with just lap belts. I drove home from the show and pulled the drums and put in factory power discs. Definitely money well spent for me - for peace of mind and safety's sake.

 

No doubt that disk brakes are better. However, I put more than 200,000 miles on my 67 with non-power drums all around.
To answer your original question, drums are fine for driving to shows as long as they are properly maintained (like any brake system.)

 

In a single panic stop, the factory drums are about equal to factory disc. Of course, these are direct action brakes, with no ABS. Therefore, if you truly panic and press the brake as hard as you can, some or all of the brakes will lock, which gives you poor stopping and no directional control. Indianfiremach described what happens when you do that very graphically. You need to learn how hard to press to get the best results, and skidding locked tires ain't it.

I would suggest contacting car clubs in your area, and participate in an autocross. Any steering or braking situation you might encounter in an emergency will likely be simulated on a safe course with only cones to hit, and you will truly understand the emergency handling of your car far better than "learning on the job" when some texting teenager blows a stop sign in front of you. Make certain that your brakes are adjusted and in good condition before doing this, whether you have disc or drum brakes.

 

I'm banking on newly overhauled, power assist drums. I'll let you know how they work when I get the car back in the next day or two.

 

One car I had with front disks was scary to drive at 60 MPH. They would fade right away. The problem was they were undersized and it was a small Mazda. The problem with drums you have a new generation driving drums who were not brought up driving drum brakes. I was. You kept your distance, you knew it's limitations. You kept out of water. You pumped the brakes so they wouldn't over heat. We're use to powerful disk brakes now where you can drive up some one's poop shoot at 80 MPH.

I still have drums all around, my car stops dead straight with no hands on the steering wheel. I haven't had any issues in stopping.But I do plan on discs.

 

My 1966 Ford Galaxie 500 has 4 wheel manual drum brakes. No power assist. It stops really good, and we're talking about a car that weights 1000 pounds more than a '65/'66 Mustang. I do carry about 100 pounds of tools/ballast in the trunk to help weigh it down some so the rear brakes don't lock up so easily. I drive the car every day.




Z.

 

I think maintenance and water are the enemies of drum brakes under normal driving conditions.

Consider with my MANUAL drums and dry weather I can lock my tires up just fine. Manual discs would no doubt lock uo just fine as well but with repeated hard stops the discs would be better.

I figure a power booster would be more of an upgrade in one time braking performance as I could feather my brakes better.

Discs would be an upgrade in reliability no doubt.

 

Truth of the matter is, if it didn't say "disc brake" on the pedal and the brakes were equally well maintained, 99 of 100 people wouldn't be able to tell the difference.

 

The maintenance is the key. Despite the self adjusting aspect of drums, they really should be adjusted every couple of thousand miles. I used to adjust them so the brakes dragged after adjustment more than most folk did, and let them burn off a bit of lining the first few miles. The shoes wore out a bit more quickly, but I believed they stopped better.

The advantage of discs is that even with no maintenance, they are always in perfect "adjustment" until the pads die.

I'm converting my 4 way manual drums to all power discs, because that last few feet of stopping power may make the difference between missing a collision or not (and they look really cool!)

John

 

Most guys I speak with that say they need discs, are also having some sort of problem with their drums. spongy pedal, pulls, etc. Mine work just fine. Given enough push on the pedal they will lock all 4 up, no problem. I have no plans to change them.