'75 Duster B body front brake upgrade impressions wanted

cudamark said

That's kind of my point. Once the brakes are locked up, they're not braking......the tires are. Getting a good balance between front and rear is the best you can do in a non-ABS vehicle. Changing the modulation, pedal effort, brake fade, etc. can help in overall performance, but, IMO won't change your stopping distance if you can lock up the brakes, both front and rear.

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Just because a particular set of brakes can be locked up doesn't mean that they're already the biggest that will benefit you. Sliding and rolling friction are different values, the time of the application (impulse) matters. If you stomp the brakes as hard as you can and they lock up it doesn't necessarily mean they're too big, a larger brake applied smoothly can still get you more braking to the ground. That's the physics, not an opinion. Guys can lock the fronts with 10x2.25" drums up front, but the stopping distances will clearly tell you 10.95" disks get the car stopped faster.

And the 11.75's will get him stopped faster, I know because I have DONE that swap, and the next one past that. The 13" rotors on the front of my Duster still get it stopped faster than the 11.75's did, with 275/35/18's up front I was working those 11.75's.

And yes, they do have to be balanced front and rear for the shortest stopping distance, that goes for 10.95's with 10x2.5" drums, it goes for 11.75's with 10x2.5" or even 11x2.5" drums, and it goes for the 13" rotors I run in the front with 11.7" disks out back. But every one of those steps gives better braking performance, I've tried them all.