I am the one who threw gasoline back on the smoldering fire. I was away for a month and came back and checked in and decided to respond to posts that I had missed.
Its amazing how emotional people can get (me included) over brakes. I like drum brakes, they have a history, they are not appreciated for their benefits, although I admit they have some drawbacks as well.
Since the weather is terrible in many places of the country I will add that one disadvantage of drum brakes is when they are used in a semi they have a tendency to get stuck in the applied position when the rig is parked in freezing weather, this does not apply to cars unless the parking brake is applied.
FWIW, I dont believe there are any semi truck trailers in the USA that have disc brakes on the trailers.
I like music from the 40s, 50s and 60’s much better than todays music, but I am not going to argue with the young people today. My iPod, my music. Your iPod, your music. OK?
Rick, there’s a reason it happens on trucks and not on cars. On truck trailers, the brakes are designed such that they’re engaged when the air compressor is off, called a “normally energized” design. So when the truck is parked, the shoes are always engaged. It’s a safety feature so that if the truck loses power it applies the brakes rather than losing the brakes. Car drum brakes are designed “normally deenergized”, which means that unless they’re applied they are not engaged. Thus, when cars are parked their shoes are not engaged unless through the parking brake linkage.
In short, truck brakes are always applied by default when the truck is parked. Car brakes are always not-applied when the car is parked unless intentionally applied using the parking brake system.
Here is a thought, If you had to drive a vehicle with non power brakes would you rather it be equipped with drums or discs?
I would take drums with non power brakes.
If a vehicle were designed from the ground up to have non powered brakes, I don’t think you still have to compromise and have drums. You can gain lots of mechanical advantage that eliminates the need for power brakes. The brakes in a tractor (and other HD vehicles) are non powered discs that will control the tractor and full tow weight of thousands pounds down a steep grades.
The NEW 2016 Tacoma has retained drum brakes in the rear. With a lower percent of total braking done by the rear, better off road protection, integration with a solid axle design and simplicity use as a parking brake, Toyota felt they work fine…on the rear where much less braking is required and is more of an “after though” used more for steering control that sometimes cause more harm then good otherwise.
Here is a thought, If you had to drive a vehicle with non power brakes would you rather it be equipped with drums or discs?
I would take drums with non power brakes.
My motorcycle has non-powered disk brakes and there is no way I would go back to any of the non-powered drum brake motorcycles I have ever owned.
Why not just agree that disc brakes are better in most automotive applications, but drum brakes have their place too–it all depends on the application.
