how much better is a disc brake front end?

[heep70]

Enough bashing. Back to the subject please. Thanks

[390Nut]

Doesn't the clamping action on the disks provide better stopping power compared to the outward pressure on drums? Also the better airflow over hot stuff to cool down?

Technically, yes. Brakes of these types work by transferring kinetic energy from the moving part (drums or rotors) to the non-moving part (shoes or pads). This transfer creates heat in the form of friction. The faster the shoes or pads can absorb and dissipate that heat, the more braking force their is. If the parts can't dissipate the heat fast enough, you get brake fade. The significant difference is the fact that disk brakes use a clamping force from a relatively fixed position rather than outward pressure from a moving position (inducing more flex in the entire system) . The other key factor is that there are TWO surfaces being acted upon, instead of one, and being open to the air they cool much more rapidly, allowing greater energy transfer in a quicker manner.

Hence the reason why disk pads are generally smaller in surface area then drum shoes, and still provide as much if not more energy transfer.

Enough bashing. Back to the subject please. Thanks

That's what we're doing, Greg, really!

[heep70]

That's what we're doing, Greg, really!

Kewl

The discussion is very interesting about the two types of brakes.

[OldRedFord]

Im planning to go to disc brakes front and back on my 72 in the future, but for now Ill keep the drums. I dont plan to change till my truck is running fater then 13.5s .

[nytreeman]

My power drums on my 1 ton dump work fine stop great but I always have to keep them tight and they do fade on the downhill unless you give them a pump here and there along the way dont want to be riding them hard with 4 or 5 facecord of wood on the back!....but discs aredef easier as far as changing the pads and no adjusting.
I wouldn't mind the change to discs,except for the fact that mine is a dually so its a little harder to come across the necessary parts

[AlleyCat]

My power drums on my 1 ton dump work fine stop great but I always have to keep them tight and they do fade on the downhill unless you give them a pump here and there along the way dont want to be riding them hard with 4 or 5 facecord of wood on the back!....but discs aredef easier as far as changing the pads and no adjusting.
I wouldn't mind the change to discs,except for the fact that mine is a dually so its a little harder to come across the necessary parts

To do the disc swap on an F250 you remove the drums and backing plates then install the caliper anchors and rotors.Does anyone know if an F350 works out the same way?

[390Nut]

Going to have to wait for someone who knows the F350 trucks better for a good answer.

I do know that the F350 has a thicker diameter kingpin than the F250, and the radius arms are heavier (along with different frame mounts and bushings) but I do not know if there were changes between the years.

With that said, `67-`79 F350 all used the same kingpin, so it's possible the same spindles were used that whole time.