another aspect that Dave touches on in this is the fact that brake competence has two parts , grip ( stopping power) and heat storage within the metal drum or disc . and related to that cooling rate And I would add feel of pedal . . Heat storage is set by the weight of the metal getting hot . Done I personally think the Buick drums from around 1960 are the very best overall brakes ever made Try that , 300 affectionato , as in 12 “ x3” ( 300 are 2.5) and the cast iron drums are embedded on beautiful finned aluminum castings . That soaks up heat AND rapidly throws it away , probably faster than any disc today can — because for a given temp there is obviously way more surface dissipation area, more bulk storage in metal and — those beautiful aluminum fins .. There is a fellow road racing a 30O B today with those drums , zero issues . And they do not really need boost , nice proportional feel of drums imho goes away with boost , , discs just do not have that feel . Plus disc front with drum back equals lots if bad compromises . They do not play well together across the pressure range . One is self energizing one is not . No balancing valve can fix that . When you put discs inside the 14 or even 15” wheels those discs are the size of what is on a 68 dodge dart ,— all the positive things about discs ONLY come when they are BIG , — for a given pad the farther out from center obviously the more braking torque,( small discs have very limited stopping torque , directly proportional to diameter ) so small diameter heavy car = disaster, nothing to do with hills. —- yet. Just whoa power . Even more important , there is way less metal in a snall disc to hold the heat on a down hill . Less metal = real hot — real fast . Instant fade But drums can be made wide , like the 3” buicks , added fins all over — and yes heavy . These cars are not cobras or Ferrari , any talk of unsprung drum weight on a 5000 lb car is bs for 300 guys - or Buick guys . I have a 60 electra 225 , 4 of thise drums, — no car I have ever driven ever came close . A tad over boosted , but your control as driver is bulletproof. At this point I have to say my 2013 grand Cherokee hemi with huge discs has the worst brakes I have ever ,dealt with , on off feel , and so bad I feel really insecure driving it . Over-boosted , touchy at first then feels like not going to stop even standing with two feet on pedal . Lets call it Toyota / grandma design “feel good to soccer mom “ marketing driven brakes. Even worse , the pedal goes down the harder you press ( thats ok) but braking whoa does not go up. Immediate terror if used to good brakes The problem with Buick drums to mopar is 5” bolt circle wheels So when putting discs on a 300 , have done that , I now go for 17” wheels , or just forget whole idea of putting discs on our cars . You get less… If another 20 years, Buick on 300F lurks in mind.. The real reason conversion is prevalent is that getting “ total cintact” 12 “ 300 brakes ( two leading shoes in front) to work right is simply way beyond the average brake guy ( including me when I first started in this) , yet a clear memory of a brand new v8 stick 60 dodge unboosted drums was 120% positive . The reason , determined much latter , was incompetence on the 300 “ brake restoration” , — later fixed up Grabbing , pulling , low pedal , rapid drop of pedal with miles, — with all new parts , several times with bad results, —- all this IS in the competence of guy doing it . If a guy says to you, those chrysler brakes were aways a dog , “ they all do that” find a new smarter guy . Carl K did ok with them But dont put toy discs on a big car. Will bite you one day If having grief , find that 1960 factory publication on “ new three plat-form brakes” … Follow it EXACTLY , especially shoe to drum fit . Even dealers had grief, 57-60 why that came out . And if your brake parts are still useable ( 50 % lining) don't charge them or turn / change drum arbitrarily . Well worn in is terrific , just restore wet side . Good subject , really jkg On Feb 5, 2026, at 10:19 PM, 'dave mason' via Chrysler 300 Club International <chrysler-300-club-international@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote: -- For archives go to http://www.forwardlook.net/300-archive/search.htm#querylang --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Chrysler 300 Club International" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to chrysler-300-club-international+unsubscribe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx. To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/chrysler-300-club-international/1118CB38-A5C1-44A4-A453-C0F0F33E6D6B%40gradyresearch.com. |
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