Upgrading brakes, is it mandatory? And are there any other solutions?

[torqueaddict]

Guys after uprgading my power plant I had a thought that it might be a good idea to upgrade the breaks at the same time.  Now my thoughts are just if I'm going to a stroker kit do I need too, and what all option are there? Are Baer and these aftermarket companies the only option or is there a  newer dodge set up that bolts right in? Thanks guys in advance for the help. The car is a 72 chally that has power disk in the front and drum in the rear. The motor is a 440 stroked tO 500 with some nice hp. I'm not going to be. Racing but I will speed and may smoke someone from light to light. I hope this explains what I am looking for. Thanks

[brads70]

This is a good upgrade from stock. Not very expencive either? I had this before I did the Viper/brembo swap.

http://www.moparaction.com/Tech/archive/disc-main.html

A good set of brake pads would go a long way too. Look into firm feels brake pads?
http://www.firmfeel.com/carbonme_e.htm

[dodj]

IMO, just replace the rotors with a good drilled and slotted set and ceramic pads. If you are not auto xing, you don't really have to worry about over heating your brakes. At least I never have. A little tail happy before I put the wilwood adjuster in the rear lines though.

[Chryco Psycho]

if you have power steering you can adapt hydroboost , it will increase the stopping power !!

[wiging19]

I went the route of the mopar action upgrade and was very happy.  Even had the 11.75 setup.  My car came with drum brakes all around and it made a huge difference.  Before the change I experienced several sliding stops in my convertible and I was really concerned about how it would handle in a high speed emergency stop.   My opinion is that these cars were not designed to stop like today's cars and anything I could do to bring it more into line with a modern car was a must do.  I trust my driving but other people can be unpredictable.   I'd hate to have my prize possession wrecked because I couldn't stop in time to prevent a rear end or avoid an accident in front of me.
 

[HP2]

If you currently have 10.5 discs, you aren't going to notice a huge increase in stopping power by swapping to 11.75. There will be some advantage because a larger diameter rotor has more leverage, but not a lot. However, repeated stops will begin to show a difference with the bigger rotors better able to absorb the heat.

Just like tire compounds, pad compounds also matter. OEM type materials tend to provide decent all around use, but if your putting a lot of heat into the system, you may need harder compound pads to maintain bite.

The 11.75 rotors with Wilwood calipers provide larger diameter rotors, less unsprung weight, and a wide choice of pad compounds you can tailer to your driving style. Pads for Wilwoods tend to run around $45-50 a set. Viper calipers can do the same, but the pads tend to have a wider range of prices and can be more expensive.  I have no experinece with carbon metallic or ceramic pads on the OEM single pot caliper set up so will defer to others experience with them.

[72bluNblu]

The stock 10.8" disks and 10" drums aren't bad as long as everything is in good condition. Carbon metallic pads and shoes will help improve the stopping distances some, and provide a more confident "feel" for harder stops. The stock systems tend to be a little biased to the rear brakes, so an adjustable proportioning valve can help dial in the balance and add more control to any panic stops you might have to make.

I upgraded my '72 to the later 11.75" mopar rotors in the front and 11" mopar drums in the back. Definitely makes more positive stops now, its not a "night and day" kind of difference but it definitely stops better. Any little bit helps, especially if you're upgrading the power or driving the car daily.

The upgrade outlined in the Mopar Action article above is basically just what I did, since you've got a '72 I think you still have the old 2 piece style rotor, so you'll need to upgrade to '73 up spindles to go to the larger disks. The 11" drums are a bolt on item, you just need to pull the axles. Still, using all OEM mopar parts its not that expensive, especially if you source your spindles from a FJM car that are still fairly common in the junk yards.

[Road_Runner]

IMO, just replace the rotors with a good drilled and slotted set and ceramic pads. If you are not auto xing, you don't really have to worry about over heating your brakes. At least I never have. A little tail happy before I put the wilwood adjuster in the rear lines though.

How difficult was it to install the brake bias adjuster?  How much fabbing did you have to do with the lines, etc.? The one panic stop I've had to do so far in the Barracuda the rears locked up right away & kicked to the right a few feet, not exactly confidence inspiring.

Later, Jim

[brads70]

How difficult was it to install the brake bias adjuster?  How much fabbing did you have to do with the lines, etc.? The one panic stop I've had to do so far in the Barracuda the rears locked up right away & kicked to the right a few feet, not exactly confidence inspiring.

Later, Jim

I installed a Wilwood adjuster but didn't need it. It's wide open and I've never adjusted it. Keep in mind I used the truck rear wheel cylinders . The idea for those wheel cylinders is to take away some rear brake to prevent lock up. Works great!
Stock bore is 15/16" and the trucks is 7/8" (Raybestos WC37236, DORMAN  W37236). 
Read this post.  http://www.cuda-challenger.com/cc/index.php?topic=66387.30

[Road_Runner]

I installed a Wilwood adjuster but didn't need it. It's wide open and I've never adjusted it. Keep in mind I used the truck rear wheel cylinders . The idea for those wheel cylinders is to take away some rear brake to prevent lock up. Works great!
Stock bore is 15/16" and the trucks is 7/8" (Raybestos WC37236, DORMAN  W37236). 
Read this post.  http://www.cuda-challenger.com/cc/index.php?topic=66387.30

Awesome!  I really appreciate the info.  I was going to leave the brakes stock, but now I'm definitely going to the larger 11" discs on front & earlier/larger drums on back.  What size rear drums are you running?

Thanks again, Jim

[brads70]

I used the small ( 10 1/2" ?) drums on the back. My car was originally a /6 car with the small rear end , I just bolted the original rear drum brakes onto the 8 3/4 rear with the truck wheel cylinders.

I have a nice clean pair of 73-74 e-body spindles with the pin style caliper adapter for the larger rotors for sale if anyone needs them?
http://www.cuda-challenger.com/cc/index.php?topic=84268.0

[dodj]

How difficult was it to install the brake bias adjuster?  How much fabbing did you have to do with the lines, etc.? The one panic stop I've had to do so far in the Barracuda the rears locked up right away & kicked to the right a few feet, not exactly confidence inspiring.

Later, Jim

Exact reason I looked into reducing the rear brake bias.
Installing the the willwood adjuster is quite easy. I removed the line going to the rear brakes from the proportioning valve. Decided on a spot to mount the wilwood adjuster (which i got from the local dodge dealer) and then cut and double flared the rear line at that spot. I decided to mount mine just below the proprtioning valve. I then bought an eight inch (maybe it was 10"?) pre-made brake line and bent it to fit inbetween the proprtioning valve and the adjuster. Bleed the rear brakes and then went out to a relatively deserted stretch of road and did repeated hard stops. Kept cutting down the rear brake force until I was happy with it. Quite a few turns actually, i was surprised at how much it had to be restricted to get the rear brakes to work well.
Scott

[wiging19]

I had a problem with my car kicking hard to the side when I was hard braking.  I replaced the springs in the rear and it went away.  One of the springs was catching inside the drum resulting in uneven braking.  I replaced the brakes and drums previously.  Just didn't think to put in new mechanics on the rear brakes.  Soon as I corrected that problem (after 2 years of trying other tweaks) it worked the way I expected.  In the mean time I bleed the brakes several times, replaced the lines, proportioning valve and cylinders.  Did everything but what needed to be done.  Finally doing the right thing as an after thought of since I replaced all those other items might as well replace the other stuff.  Probably not your specific problem but thought I'd mention it just in case.

[73EStroker]

Anyone with lots of HP can get over a 100mph in a jiffy. You NEED boosted brakes! This can be either vacuum (not good with long duration cam) or a hydraboost. I set up my hydraboost for under $200 for everything. Brads70 has all the details from me and is adapting his, not sure if he is finished yet. I use the Cordoba discs on the front and 10" drums on rear. I cannot remember the width of the rears but they are the wider ones on a 73 340 Rallye car. These brakes will pull me down from over 120mph. Granted I would not do it continuously as they would heat up and fade but on the road what else do you need? A friend of mine has a 69 Cuda FB 340 car since brand new. It has 4 wheel drums and manual brakes. At 100mph it has more stopping power if you put your hand into the wind!!

[wiging19]

It has 4 wheel drums and manual brakes. At 100mph it has more stopping power if you put your hand into the wind!!

  Been there done that.  Growing up in old 1960 engish cars brakes disappearing were a normal part of life growing up.  Which explains my near phobia concerning the reliability of brakes today.  In a car with a 1300 cc engine it was scary enough.  The one time my challenger brakes failed due to a leak I almost started producing donuts I was so scared.  That kind of intensity didn't go over well when I was a teenager and definately wasn't anything I thought I'd have to deal with as an adult considering my focus reliable braking in my older years.