Fitting Rear Discs to Reduce Costs?

Fitting Rear Discs to Reduce Costs?

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GasolineFire

Original Poster:

2,907 posts

180 months

Thursday 15th October 2009
quotequote all
Good Morning Fellas,

To the point, My first car has Drum Brakes on the rear wheels (as you may expect for a FWD first car).

However, I don't like Drum Brakes and would prefer it if the car was fitted with discs all round.

Would having discs all round save money on pads (rather than the fronts doing all the work and the drums a comparative sweet FA) by sharing the load all round... yes I know the bias would have to be changed.

I can do the work myself, if need be drag the Uncle (yes, he's a mechanic and not a painter&decorator) in if need be.

I reckon £400-£600 for the kit

If it's likely to halve=> the regularity of changing the front pads then it might be finacially sound and would give me peace of mind.

Opinion please? Random abuse, If valid, also welcome...

Cheers thumbup

Gas

GasolineFire

Original Poster:

2,907 posts

180 months

Thursday 15th October 2009
quotequote all
Given that the car I have has manufacturer brakes with are by and large considered as "poor" or "lacking feel" I thought I sound to address the issue and since my partner drives the car less "smoothly" than I do, and I'd rather her not end up with someone elses tailgate embedded in her face, upgrading brakes didn't seem like quite a daft idea...

When I said I knew the bias would need changing it's because Discs would be more efficient than Drums and so would need LESS bias... so that they don't lock up...

So no, I'm afraid your metaphor doesn't really help.

GasolineFire

Original Poster:

2,907 posts

180 months

Thursday 15th October 2009
quotequote all
LaurenceFrost said:
If you want braking performance then you never start with the rear brakes. They really are just there to keep it stable under braking.

As Sam says, if you adjust the bias to the point that they are only as effective as they were before the upgrade, it's really just an exercise in pointlessness.

The conversion would never pay for itself in rear pad saving either.

If you want to improve braking, then some different front pads is a much better place to start. If this is just to combat how your partner drives though, I think some advanced driving tuition would be the best modification of all.
That'll do it then. Thank you. smile