Disc brakes vs Drum brakes

[Gnayed]

The disc brakes work on a hydraulic pump mechanism, which will amplify the energy transferred from the foot to the braking power of the caliper pistons. Which I suppose a conventional drum-brake only uses a cable mechanism to expand the internal brake shoes to stop the drum housings which are attached to the wheels.

 

Disc brakes definitely have better braking power than the drum brakes. This can be seen with certain cars which are fitted with front disc/rear drum. As during the braking, centre of gravity (CG) will be shifted to the front, and most of the weight of the car will be landed on the front wheels. Hence, front wheels have better traction during braking and thus disc brakes are fitted on the front to utilise the braking power and holding traction.

 

To really feel the difference? Try riding an ah pek motorcycle with both drum brakes and one with a disc brake.

[Wrxblue]

The evolution of brake drum to the design of brake disc is that the latter has better fade resistant and more compact, lighter and fewer parts to produce and easier to install ABS, EBD etc...its choosen eventually because of technological advancement.

 

In theory,

 

For a brake system with similar size brake pump and piston and everything equal ie:similar application force then to your suprise the brake drum will have better braking effect generating more brake torque.

 

The brake drum has a leading and trailing edge brake shoe and hence has more surface contact to the drum facing while the brake disc pads only have that 2 sides contact patch with the brake disc.The only way brake disc can be better is the contact patch is bigger ie: bigger disc and bigger brake pads and also better friction materials on pads that will generate higher brake torque.

 

But the brake drum system is heavy as most is made from cast iron and alot of parts inside. But the advantage is also that the brake system is protected from environment. This point is proven in commerical offroad vehicles where brake drum system are still used.

 

For passenger cars and road going commerical vehicles:

 

But then because we need more light weight and also equipped with more advance brake technology the brake disc system is being used in most modern cars nowadays.

 

 

To convert a brake drum to brake disc system, unless you can calculate and ensure that the brake force application is the same and does not affect the brake distribution of the vehicle and change the braking characteristics of the car then it is then possible.

[Se3h3ng]

in SG, how fast can we go?? i think tt 2 drum and 3 disk is more than enough unless u are a dare devil to defy the TP or u wan to make ur car look nicer...

[Zyrofillica]

2 drum 3 disk?! Your steering wheel also got disk brake si bo?

[Se3h3ng]

sorry sorry, wrongy type... haha

[Whoope3]

Lol

[Jonathann80]

jus to remind u that make sure u get a compatible set of disc brake to swap.

[Clarencetey]

Cars with four disk brake normally comes with ABS EBD.Because EBD will brake the rear wheel more if there is load at the rear.Rear disk brake will be at its advantage.

 

Cars with four disk brake will definitely brake in a shorter distance with the help of ABS.And that depends on the tyre quality and the brake torque.

 

My car is a Hyundai verna 1.6 wih four disk ABS can stop from 100km/hr to 0km/hr in about 41m(Hyundai claimed figure).But the 1.4 with drum brake(no ABS) can't brake as fast.

[Law_ong]

cars with drum rear comes with EBD and ABS as well and can brake as well too..

[Landex]

the reminder may hav come 2 yrs too late.....

[Contax]

never too late to learn

[Dynaway]

Difference between them is disc brake is more chia as compared to brake drums and it makes the outlook of your ride nicer especially with 16' - 18' rims However, heard that if the conversion from brake drum to disc brake is not done properly it will affect your ABS

 

i beg to differ

 

surface to surface area of contact comparison, the Drum(Leading/Trailing) brake system would be more effective(Jia) than compared to a Disc Brake.

[Leeweekiong]

drums tend to heat more over long distances... like going down slopes

[Furrynadz]

for low speed city driving, drum brakes more efficient (better grip)

for high speed > 100 disc better

[Octopus]

Cars with four disk brake normally comes with ABS EBD.Because EBD will brake the rear wheel more if there is load at the rear.Rear disk brake will be at its advantage.

 

Cars with four disk brake will definitely brake in a shorter distance with the help of ABS.And that depends on the tyre quality and the brake torque.

 

My car is a Hyundai verna 1.6 wih four disk ABS can stop from 100km/hr to 0km/hr in about 41m(Hyundai claimed figure).But the 1.4 with drum brake(no ABS) can't brake as fast.

 

My experience is different from yours. Tested 2 cars, both 1.6l on the emergency brake.

Car 1) Front disc, rear drum. Come with ABS and EBD.

Car 2) Front disc, rear disc. Come with ABS but not sure if got EBD.

 

Car 1 gave me more confident in the emergency braking test, I felt it stopped faster than car 2) which has all round disc brakes. Not really a fair comparison because the tyre used, weight of car, etc are different.

[Quantum]

My experience is different from yours. Tested 2 cars, both 1.6l on the emergency brake.

Car 1) Front disc, rear drum. Come with ABS and EBD.

Car 2) Front disc, rear disc. Come with ABS but not sure if got EBD.

 

Car 1 gave me more confident in the emergency braking test, I felt it stopped faster than car 2) which has all round disc brakes. Not really a fair comparison because the tyre used, weight of car, etc are different.

 

tot drum brake got stronger brake power? wonder why heavy vehicles all are drum brake but motorbike disc brake?

Edited April 4, 2009 by Quantum

[Hermit]

Usually, as we know, the front brakes will wear out faster due to the fact that they are doing most, if not all, of the work in stopping..

 

With a bit of googling, you can find that when the rear is discs, they can wear out as equally fast (leading to cost incurred in replacements) even though they are not doing much work..

 

This is because, the sediments (dust, stones, roadkill) are 'kicked up' by the front tires can get accumulated at the rear pads, resulting is uneven wear and such.

 

However, the best thing I'd like about drums is that - my rear rims are always free from brake dust

[Renegade777]

Cars with four disk brake normally comes with ABS EBD.Because EBD will brake the rear wheel more if there is load at the rear.Rear disk brake will be at its advantage.

 

Cars with four disk brake will definitely brake in a shorter distance with the help of ABS.And that depends on the tyre quality and the brake torque.

 

My car is a Hyundai verna 1.6 wih four disk ABS can stop from 100km/hr to 0km/hr in about 41m(Hyundai claimed figure).But the 1.4 with drum brake(no ABS) can't brake as fast.

 

 

You should have tried testing during raining/flooding then you will know which one will brake better.

 

Edited April 4, 2009 by Renegade777