Deciding to convert your standard drum brakes with a disc brake conversion kit is not a small decision. But while the outlay may not be small, the rewards are going to be immediately obvious.
A new set of rear disc brakes could breathe a whole new life into trucks you thought might be past their best days. Check out the biggest benefits below.
1. Stopping power
Brakes work by turning energy into heat via friction. Disc brakes are so much better at dissipating heat than drum brakes that the vehicle will stop infinitely faster.
Discs are not only designed to provide greater friction but stay drier in wet weather, which means there is always going to be more fiction than when using a drum.
Those extra milliseconds of stopping power don’t just make your vehicle more responsive but safer.
2. Consistency
A drum brake not only takes longer to heat up but will actually overheat when used excessively. This means that in cold weather they will have less stopping power and in hot weather, they are more likely to fail on you.
Disc brakes, meanwhile, heat up and cool down with lightning speed leading to much more consistent performance.
3. Maintenance
To inspect a drum brake you need to completely remove your wheels, which is not the case with a good disc brake.
Not only that, but disc brakes can self-adjust, meaning you’ll be maintaining them less frequently anyway. Ask any mechanic and they’ll tell you that drum brakes are a pain to replace and repair.
All of the moving parts are hidden away inside the drum and they tend to retain lots of brake dust, which means it’s a messy job at the best of times.
Discs, meanwhile, are more minimal and practical. Indeed, replacing disc brakes could take as little as half an hour if you know what you’re doing.
4. Appearance
As they are a more modern product, disc brakes have a more modern and sportier aesthetic that is going to make a lot of visual difference on a 4×4 with big wheels.
A disc brake can also shine through the wheels in a certain light and the callipers can be painted to customise your ride.
5. Compatibility
If you have made any other 4×4 upgrades recently then your old drum brakes might not be coping well with all the extra weight of your new upgrades. If you have a lot of extra weight, your old brakes might not even be road-legal.
Disc brakes, meanwhile, are going to be far more capable of safely stopping your truck or 4WD vehicle.
