These brakes work

[Patrick L.]

I have not had the drums off this little roadster for at least 5 years. Every year someone tests these brakes to the limit. This morning was one such day. A dumb@#@% woman pulled right out in front of me this morning and I locked up all 4 and came to a tire screeching halt and we missed by 2 feet. She just kept right on going without even a glance, oblivious.
There are some that like to say these brakes don't work. They do !

[mhsprecher]

When they are done right, they do work very well. Sorry yours got put to the test!

[40 Deluxe]

You need a paint gun mounted to hit the side or back of their car. Leave them a little memento of their stupidity.

[Patrick L.]

Originally Posted by 40 Deluxe

You need a paint gun mounted to hit the side or back of their car. Leave them a little memento of their stupidity.

Paint gun ? I've thought about an M60.

[Mitch//pa]

she was to busy texting to worry about u

[Terry, NJ]

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Since I bought my last coupe with mechanicals, I am astounded at how well they work. I will take them every time! And I own two A s with hydraulics.
Terry

[Ron W]

I think the effectiveness is directly proportional to the panic level when applied! Ron W

[RandyinUtah]

I spent the time and money last fall to upgrade to cast iron drums from Brattons and complete overhaul of the rest of the system and yes they work great. Moo

[Kahuna]

With hydraulic brakes, you'd have missed her by 4 feet

[40 Deluxe]

Kahuna, once all four tires are sliding, having hydraulics or mechanicals makes no difference. What would make a difference would be wider tires. If you could lock up all four 6:00X16 tires with mechanical brakes, he may have missed her by 5 or 6 feet! Or, if one had the presence of mind to modulate the brake pedal to stay just shy of lockup, maybe miss her by 7 or 8 feet.

[Henry1953]

I like the paint gun idea. Maybe I will keep one in my Honda as well. I encounter so many stupid drivers since I drive at least 1000 miles per week.

[Ted Duke]

Originally Posted by Kahuna

With hydraulic brakes, you'd have missed her by 4 feet

Wow, Wouldn't have been that lucky when my 1998 Dodge Dakota blew a brake line yesterday. I stopped. I didn't hit anything, but it sure was unexpected.

[Synchro909]

Originally Posted by Patrick L.

I have not had the drums off this little roadster for at least 5 years. Every year someone tests these brakes to the limit. This morning was one such day. A dumb@#@% woman pulled right out in front of me this morning and I locked up all 4 and came to a tire screeching halt and we missed by 2 feet. She just kept right on going without even a glance, oblivious.
There are some that like to say these brakes don't work. They do !

I had a guy run into me a few years ago. He stopped like he was supposed to , looked straight at me, then pulled out. He said he didn't see me
After we exchanged names etc, he said he worked for Holden (GM cars here). I suspect his life is so wrapped up in new cars that he just didn't recognise what he saw as a car.
I locked up the wheels that day but there was no screeching, only a not very loud scraping sound. I prefer screech so the other idiot gets a fright.

[Larry Jenkins]

Often been said.. Properly adjusted Model A mechanical brakes are superior to hydraulics.

Any one who has thoroughly gone through Model A mechanicals knows that.

Larry

[bbrocksr]

Originally Posted by Larry Jenkins

Often been said.. Properly adjusted Model A mechanical brakes are superior to hydraulics.

Any one who has thoroughly gone through Model A mechanicals knows that.

Larry

Larry , What Vince said!

Have you thoroughly gone through Model A mechanical brakes yourself or are you repeating what you've heard on this forum

Why is it that new car manufacturers don't know that mechanical brakes are superior to hydraulics? Seems as though they replaced mechanicals with hydraulics. Were they wrong?
Bill

ps. If you really think mechanicals are better than hydraulics, You've got a lot to learn.

[mshmodela]

When people lose their license for txting and driving like a DUI, it will stop fast.

[SeaSlugs]

Originally Posted by bbrocksr

Why is it that new car manufacturers don't know that mechanical brakes are superior to hydraulics? Seems as though they replaced mechanicals with hydraulics. Were they wrong?
Bill

ps. If you really think mechanicals are better than hydraulics, You've got a lot to learn.

well new cars since roughly 1976 and on have had at least front disc brakes, they do stop quicker than drum and can handle loads more heat, i wouldn't want to be in a model A with stock brakes trying to stop as hard as you can from 80mph...

plus most hydraulic brakes are self adjusting, people can barely handle changing their oil when their supposed to nowadays and greasing ball joints is unheard of. How many of you can honestly say you grease your ball joints every oil change? Tie rods? steering linkages?

Couldn't imagine being on the road now with brakes you must manually adjust!

But for a model A when your comparing drum to drum brakes, you arent gaining anything (if anything your loosing) safety by switching to hyd. Are the hyd people are installing a split system? If not then gimme mechanical brakes anyday!

[Larry Jenkins]

Originally Posted by bbrocksr

Larry , What Vince said!

Have you thoroughly gone through Model A mechanical brakes yourself or are you repeating what you've heard on this forum

Why is it that new car manufacturers don't know that mechanical brakes are superior to hydraulics? Seems as though they replaced mechanicals with hydraulics. Were they wrong?
Bill

ps. If you really think mechanicals are better than hydraulics, You've got a lot to learn.

bbrocksr..

Yes I have. Just completed a total restoration on all four brakes. For the third time on 3 Model As over the years. As far as to why modern iron are all hydraulics, it's mostly about cost.

On my second Model A, a 1930 Coupe, I designed and built hydraulic brake system. Worked OK, but I prefer well done mechanicals.

[updraught]

"If you could lock up all four 6:00X16 tires with mechanical brakes, he may have missed her by 5 or 6 feet!"

That's a wider tyre with a smaller diameter which will have a shorter, but wider, contact patch than say a 450 x 21. Does the 16 inch wheel grip better?

[40 Deluxe]

updraught, I'm too lazy to look up specs right now but there's not a big difference in overall diameter between a 4.50x21 tire and a 6.00x16 tire, but there is a noticeable difference in width. So in my opinion the wider tire will grip better.

[waxhead]

And I can still lock up my 650x16 tyres with cast iron drums, with Ted's brake floater system that are mechanically actuated. Not stating that the mechanical are better or worse than hydraulics as I wouldn't know from experience, but I can lock up my tyres with my brakes mechanically actuated.

There are a lot of threads on here regarding mechanical vs hydraulic brakes. I would love to see a real test showing a comparison in braking distance. Other than the pros and cons of maintenance/hydraulic leaks, adjustment blah blah blah, if mechanical and hydraulically actuated brakes can both lock up the wheels, I don't really understand how one can be superior to the other when it comes to braking distance.

[Mike V. Florida]

Originally Posted by waxhead

... if mechanical and hydraulically actuated brakes can both lock up the wheels, I don't really understand how one can be superior to the other when it comes to braking distance.

Neither can a lot of us.

If someone were to go from crappy mechanical brakes to good hydraulic brakes, they might figure that it is the hydraulic brakes that are better then all mechanical brakes, not just the crappy ones they had.

[JBill]

I can lock up all four wheels, but have to push harder than I'd like in order to do it.

[updraught]

I drive a 4wd and we know all about lowering tyre pressures to increase the length of the contact patch. Sometimes we go down to 10 psi or lower to get out of a tricky situation. This pretty much doubles the contact length.

I'd say there would be a reasonable difference between 35 psi and say 25 psi as to the grip you get under braking. Would be interesting to test?

[Patrick L.]

These threads take on a life of their own don't they.
I do like the brakes on these monsters. After-all, thats what they had at the time.
I certainly prefer rods to cables.
Self energizing brakes hadn't been discovered yet and juice was just starting to come into vogue. These 2 discoveries just make life easier.

Although I will say that juice brakes on older cars that sit all winter can be a royal PITA.