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From: Billy-Jack Ebare
Email: TOPAESIRCAT@EXCITE.COM
Remote Name: 199.71.135.2
Date: May 27, 2002
The problem you had Kenny is probably the same problem I had with my front brakes. I live in Canada, and where I live we get really bad, snowy winters so I have to put my 58 in dry storage for up to 6 months out of the year. Even though I rebuilt my wheel cylinders every year and replaced the brake fluid. By the third month of driving the car the front (usually, sometimes the rear also) brakes would begin to lock up. After 6 years of this I finally got tired rebuilding them and opted for an easier solution. The one I found was to convert it to disc brakes. Although this may not be for everyone, I found it to be the best solution for me personally. If and when I decide to sell the car I have kept all the original hardware to change the car back to the original drum brake set up. This way if the person who buys the car decides that's what they want to do, they can do it without any trouble. I know that I haven't eliminated the problem totally because I still have the rear brakes to contend with, but in my opinion the rears haven't given me half the problem the front has, so I think I can live with that. I still contend that the brake systems on the forward look cars are inferior. I've talked to Chrysler mechanics who worked on them back when they were new, and they say they had a heck of a time with them.Even road test reports at the time stated that they were troublesome. To be completely honest though the main reason I decided to change them to discs is because of the safety factor. If one brake line breaks your a goner. I know the emegency brake would stop you if you if you had to use it, but that's a slim hope, if someone stops suddenly in front of you. Could you imagine what a nightmare that would be if the brakes failed when my family and I were enroute to a car show (we attend a lot of car shows south of the border). Believe me, that's one worry I don't need! I agree that if I was able to drive my car daily, as in not having to put it in storage for six months out of the year I probably wouldn't have had the trouble I had with the brakes on the car. But I still wouldn't trust em!
