Rear Drum vs Rear Disk

[Guest ttoude]

Had my z about a month now and I been itchin real bad to hit the spot and get a "feel" for this car. All good marks for a stock trim car. with one major shocker. Drum brakes! very little effort, no fade, good feel and modulation. 10 laps of Heat may change that but after an hour at the spot, my only concern was that I didn't bring enough water. I'd like to hear from the guys that has opted to keep the drums. pros cons etc.....

[J__]

well the stock z breaks are more than adequit for everyday driving and light autox/track. But if u want the best out of the car in terms of breaks, rear calipers and front upgrades are the way to go.

 

some good things come to mind to upgrade would be easier to service, marginal performance gain, more choice in performance pads, and just looks nicer.

 

cons, cant really thing of any? just u'll get ur hands dirty and have to source the parts. for me, bleeding the calipers were a pain because i used 85 maxima calipers and the way it sits, the nipple was not facing 12noon so some air was still getting trapped inside. took me 2 weeks to figure out the problem. Now i have to bleed it while 1 side of the caliper is loosened and tilted up. No biggie but still a pain.

[Kevin.pk]

I don't think there is a disk setup that weighs less than the stock drums.

 

I think upgraded shoes with good working equipment should be adequate depending on your goals.

[Guest ttoude]

I'd like to hear from the guys that has opted to keep the drums. pros cons etc.....

[rxsleeper]

Well, depends on what you want to do with the car. I still run drum brakes on an SCCA ITS race car because it is not permitted to change them. With a little work, and change in linings, you can make them work VERY well. If I was permitted to change I might go to discs. Not for any performance gain but for ease of maintainence, greater selection of pad material, and reduced costs (maybe). In short, the drums will work great for street or track, just depends on what you want to do with the car.

 

Lots of information can be found by doing a little searching through this subsection of the forum on various shoe linings, adjustments, venting, and repair on the the drum brakes.

 

YMMV

[johnc]

Drums

 

Pro

 

1. Lighter then any disc brake setup (12 lbs. 9oz. including backing plates, springs, shoes, wheel cylinders, clips, drums, etc.)

2. Well balanced with stock front discs and calipers.

3. Cheap to maintain.

 

Con

 

1. Lots of maintenance (mostly adjusting) needed for best results on a race track or at an autocross.

2. Can loose some function if raced in a hard rain.

[Guest ttoude]

I'm really not sure what I'm gonna focus on yet, trackwise. and I will consult local scca rules before I make mods. I'm a "If ts not broke...." & "Minimalist" kinda guy so if I can avoid a mod I will. So with this new info unless they become an performance issue they are stayinBut thank you for the input and I will contunue to search the topic.

[RedNeckZ]

I am now running rear disc brakes with the 300zx front brakes. Most of my drum expertise comes from running with the Colorado Z club on the Stapleton and Second Creek tracks. The Second Creek track was a very heavy braking track and was very hard on the stock brake system of the Z. I have boiled the brakes on the track and come off the track with no brakes at all. I found the new system that I have on the car now on this site while looking for a cure for this problem. I also have had to use the stock brake system during the time I was running in the SCCA BSP class (Alabama) of the Solo II program. During this time I didn't have a problem with the brakes. So you can use them on the street without any problems. Depending on how you drive on the track and what class you plan on driving in, you may have to live with the stock system or can go to the all disc system. Improvements can be made with the rear drum brake system. You can get improved brake pads for the system (cost $) and install some kind of air flow to the mounting plate to improve cooling. Some racers cut holes into the backing plate to improve cooling of the brakes. Since going to the new brake system I haven't had a problem with the overheating problem. Good Luck with deciding which way you are going to go, Rich.

[z-ya]

I'd stick with the drums. Once you switch to rear disc then you need to start screwing with front-rear bias.

 

On my time trial racer I run rear drum, vented front disc (Toyo calipers, 300ZX rotors), and a 280Z booster. I use Porterfield R4 compound all around. The brakes are just about perfect. As John said the drums require a bit more maintenance when used on the track.

 

Pete

[Guest Rolling Parts]

...one major shocker. Drum brakes! .....

 

 

Since the Z won National championships with rear drum brakes, it should not be a "shocker" that drum brakes work remarkably well in the car. There is no reason to change the braking system unless you are having problem with them. The 1st gen Z is relatively light so massive rear braking potential is not really an upgrade. I kept the stock rear aluminum drums.

 

Modern 4,000 pound V8 cars need a lot of brake swept area to come to a halt. Grafting massive Corvette-like brakes onto a 2,200 pound Z are just not needed to work just as well.

[johnc]

FYI... fluid boiling problems are caused by the front solid rotor, not the rear drums. I've seen 1,000+ degree rotor and 650+ degree caliper temps on the front of an ITS 240Z.