Brake Upgrade

[Smitty]

wife was asking about brake upgrades for my '71 short bed. The daughters are used to driving their Honda's. What upgrade would be recommended for this truck. Including converting the rear to discs? Suggestions appreciated. This I would be the next money tossed into the bottomless pit after the new 350 HO goes in next week. After all you do have to stop after you go. I think the thought is about how treacherous freeway driving can be. Especially in the advanced age and slower reflexes. Building a nice truck for the next owner.

Thanks again for your inputs once again.
Smitty

[Greasey Harley]

71 c10? It should be disc front and power brakes already, right?
I would start with replacing the worn out parts and making sure everything is in good working order. I don't think there is anything that needs upgraded. Those systems stopped pretty darn good originally.
Disc rear? ain't gonna really help on a daily driver. Rear brakes are 30% of your stopping ability, a good set of drum brakes should handle that without any problems.

[72c20customcamper]

Factory disc brakes are more than adequate. I may get some flak but rear discs are not needed on truck not used to tow or having a heavy load in the bed. If I'm not careful I can lock up the rears fairly easily on my 68 with manual drums all around

[Smitty]

Thanks Greasy,
Was thinking of maybe upgrading the calipers on the front. Realize that the drum rears should serve the purpose. The truck these days isn't a daily driver, since I'm retarded. I mean retired. It only sees the outside of the garage on sunny days. And that isn't often with the virus circulating. Do appreciate your input. I don't question the functioning of the current system. Just saying it requires more fore thought and awareness than when you're driving a Honda. As the rest of the family is familiar with. But if the wife wants to foot the tab for any improvement who am I to argue?

[68Gold/white]

I agree with post 2 and 3!!!
I am a fan of disc brakes on these classic pickups, BUT they are only needed on the front!!!
I would NOT even use a different type of caliper. Buy a rebuild kit for your old calipers, or get reman units

My 67 and 68 C-10's, both LWB's will get manual front disc conversions (using factory parts), with the stock rear drum setups. THe 67 is getting ever closer. I may start a build thread on it here...soon?

[Steeveedee]

This is easy. If the wife actually wants to pony up some money for brake upgrades, go to ABS, at least for the rear. Front disc and rear drum are fine, but ABS is the only thing that would make the truck more drivable...uh, stoppable, over what the Hondas would offer. The as-designed brakes on your truck are safe enough, but the ABS would be a real upgrade. If it's a 1/2T, you could (maybe) dog-rob an Astrovan for what you need.

[Mike C]

Best thing you can spend your money on is some great street brake pads from Hawk, EBC, or or someone equivalent.

The factory disc/drum combo is an excellent setup with 12" x 1 1/4" rotors and 11" drums in the rear. You need no more rear braking because the light weight will lock it up. My brake bias improved with 235 tire in front and 255 tire in back because of better traction.

Replacing the booster may help if your power assist is weak due to age.