Rear disk update...

[Tom Schindler]

As many of you know, I swaped out the rear drums with Disk brakes on the rear of my 2002 Trac. (I know, I know, I will make a project on how to do it)



We had our first snowfall of the season, I want to share my thoughts.



The ABS system works fine with the disk brakes as good, if not better then the drums.



On a solid sheet of ice, I put the pedel to the floor. The Trac stoped as straight as an arrow without any hint of the rear brakes locking up. The ABS system is working flawlessly with the rear disks.



Needless to say, I am more then happy.





Tom

 

[shawn stonbraker 2]

Great to hear! I'm just glad I've got them standard on my '03. I hated changing pads on drum brakes! This is my first vehicle with disc rears.

 

[Tom Schindler]

Changing the shoes on drums bites. All those springs, levers, and clips suck.





Tom

 

[shawn stonbraker 2]

No kidding. The drums my Toyota had on it were incredible!! I started to try it once and said the hell with it and took it to a shop. After paying the labor on it, told myself "never again" and got rid of it before they needed done again. (got the ST)

 

[Gary DiPietroSr]

You guys are right, drums are tedius to replace. But if you want to try it, do what some mechanics do, change one side at a time and use the other side as a guide for proper placement of all the parts.

 

[Deleted deleted]

My wife's Mazda 626 went 130,000 miles without touching the rear drums, so I guess I don't see what difference it makes. Front brakes we replaced 3 times, but the rears never needed work.

 

[Michelle Widell]

I'll agree with Darin.. The disc brakes on the front of my ST I have replaced 3 times now (upper 80k miles), and the rear drums are still good. I've replaced drum brakes many times on other vehicles, and they take longer than disc, but still a no brainer..



(Not saying rear disc aren't a great thing to have, just that replacing drums isn't a big deal.)

 

[Tom Schindler]

IMO, drum brakes that last 3 times as long as disks tell me the drum brakes barely do any stopping.





Tom

 

[Michelle Widell]

yup, and i wonder how often the pads on rear discs need to be changed - that would be an interesting thing to know

 

[Tom Schindler]

On my Escort GT, both the front and rear pads went bad at around the same time, every time.



It does have alot has to do with the size of the front pads vs the rear, pad thickness, and caliper piston size.





Tom

 

[Shawn Hennessy]

It has more to do with weight distribution than brake component sizing. Heavy front wear/light rear wear is common on both rear drum and disc brakes for heavier vehicles like trucks, vans and SUVs.

 

[Gary DiPietroSr]

I have 124,000 miles on my E250 van and still have on the original rear shoes, just about ready to change them. Lost track of how many front pads and rotors that went on.