Posted by Caleb in Kansas [172.69.68.132] on Tuesday, February 18, 2020 at 10:52:25 :
In Reply to: Re: 318 posted by Keith in Washington [172.69.70.38] on Monday, February 17, 2020 at 10:51:35 :
I agree with the brake fade on drums. When I had the automatic in my 1/2 ton, I had to be extremely careful about when and how I applied the brakes, it was a one shot deal with any hard braking which was compounded by the auto. My brother came to visit shortly after I finished the build (and about 2 weeks before attending my first VPW Rally), We took the truck over to the local Sonic on one of their classic car drive ins and I warned my brother about the brake fade. Long story short, on the way home, unknown to me, he had ridden the brakes coming down the street to my house. By the time we pulled in the driveway, they could not fully stop the truck coming down the 3-5% grade leading to my shop. I distinctly remember the blood draining out of his face as he helplessly drove the WC into the shop....through the closed garage door. Before I even got out of the truck to assess the damage, I laughed so hard that I couldn't even breathe. My brother told me that he peed a little. The damage was mostly confined to an obliterated garage door, though we were able to beat it out enough to get it re-hung, only damage to the WC was some scuffing on the top of the nose above the grille.
I alleviated some of the fade by grooving the front pads to allow some of the trapped gasses to escape under hard braking, but the real fix was replacing the 300HP 'Vette 327 and TH350 with a bone stock 130HP 350 and a 4 speed. I am about due for new brakes, the brake shop was not tooled to match the shoes to the drums so I have struggled with keeping them adjusted properly with wear. I have been looking at going to 4 wheel discs when I tear the truck down again to freshen it up and swap in the 4.236 Perkins. The cost of replacing all of the drums and shoes is prohibitive for a hobby vehicle and I have also struggled with leaking wheel cylinders so it is worth the effort of machining the hubs and building caliper brackets to be able to use off the shelf parts from the local parts store.
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