Brakes, to boost or not to boost

[BigBlueIron]

Hello all,

Building a street rod rat rod whatever you wana call it.. Need opinions on power brakes, are they needed?? 1950 Ford F1, Front is converted to disc, rear will remain stock for now with new wheel cylinders of course.

Will I have good pedal with a manual type master or should I do the extra work time and money for the booster? A manual would be very easy to fab in, this will be mounted under the floor either direction I go and I'm worried about clearance with a booster.

I may occasionally tow a 20ft boat.

What are you experiences with manual brakes? Last truck I had a 74 4x4 had manual drums, I didn't think it was to bad.

Vacuum should not be an issue if I do go the booster route. This is FE powered just in case you were worried!

[Drew Pojedinec]

Neither of my vehicles (76 F100 and 63.5 Galaxie) have power brakes, nor do I feel I need them.

Either way, get REALLY good brakes for your trailer and I can't see any problems.

[TJ]

I agree that boost is not necessary with 4 corner drum brakes...that's what my '65 F250 has and I've loaded it to just over 8,000 lbs gross.  Drums will start feeling squirrelly if you touch them around 90mph though...should you go crazy in that F1.  However, since you have discs on the front and I'm guessing a proportion valve you may want to boost them.  Discs don't have the benefit of "self boosting" like drum brakes do.  Hopefully this link works to explain "self boost".

http://www.hemmings.com/hmn/stories/2013/09/01/hmn_feature19.html

[jayb]

I hate power brakes.  All my performance cars, most of which are converted to front disc or four wheel disc, use manual brakes.  If you get the right master cylinder, pedal pressure is no problem.  I've had excellent luck with Wilwood master cylinders.

[Lenz]

My '64 Galaxie has manual drums, not impressed at first, but after I got it back together and drove it for a few days they got better to the point where I feel they now work well.  Seems like lack of use had an impact on the level of braking performance.  You still need a bit more vigilance IMO though- I do leave a bit more room up ahead.

[ScotiaFE]

Also your choice of brake pad will help a lot with manual brakes.
A semi metallic material will give you good bite when cold
and work great when hot. They do make more dust and consume rotors faster
but they work good.
The low cost life time warranty parts store pads are not the best plan.

[gdaddy01]

I have a 1949 f-1 axle under the front of my 1962 ranchero , has a speedway motors disc conversion , manual master cly for maverick , no proportion valve , drums , eight inch rear , stops fine . I use the four speed to slow down a lot .   a lot has to do with where the hole in the brake pedal  is , for the master cly. rod . took some fine tuning on the rod to get it the right length .

[BruceS]

IMO you could probably go either way; both my cars have power brakes and I'm a believer in them.  Space is usually an issue but there are dual-diaphragm boosters that are compact enough to fit in lots of tight places - an example is an FE-powered Mustang or Fairlane with shock towers! Check these websites: http://www.mpbrakes.com/ or http://wilwood.com/.  They can provide advise on the correct master to use or master/booster combo. 

Bruce

[cjshaker]

Don't think I've ever seen a boat trailer with brakes, unless it's one of those big yachts.

Personally, I don't think power is needed IF the system is working properly and everything is in good shape. The only reason I kept it in my Mustang is because that's what it had and I didn't want to spend the money changing everything over. A friend of mine has a chopped top '50 F-1 with a Mustang II front end and small block, front disc, stock rear and no power brakes, and it stops fine.

[machoneman]

I'd go power, especially with a trailer. Easy to do in a new build and as mentioned above, many sources for modern and compact boosters that should fit anywhere. Long ago, towing a fully loaded open wheel trailer with the racer on top and lots of tools in the trunk, some close calls occurred where heavy power braking was needed.  Most of us I believe think never even think about braking power in a power brake equipped car yet if one even a small doubt about it, that's why I say power.

[BigBlueIron]

Thanks for the opinions guys, I think for now I will go without the booster and if I decide I can add it later.

My boat had surge brakes but who know when last they worked lol, I do have the benefit of a manual transmission so that will make all the difference NP435 with a AA 2 speed split. So an 8 speed twin stick! 70's big rig style should be fun, I'm really looking forward to driving it.

[Drew Pojedinec]

Yeah, many boat trailers I've seen have surge brakes. 

[Qikbbstang]

Road Racing a car with anti-lock brakes is greatly simplified, no worries about locking-them-up. Conversely boosted brakes on a non-antilock vehicle reduces the range of pedal pressure, there's less range to "feel" the brakes and an exponentially greater risk of "locking" up the wheels.  The last thing you want to do when pressing a car hard is lock up the brakes/tires.   The brain adopts really well to "this vehicles not stopping fast enough I need more pedal pressure.

Do have to say after driving a non-power brake ride and then driving power brake ride there's a tendency to hard brake.



 If you are going to race or drive hard where stopping is critical manual brakes are the only way to go.