Inliners International Forums General Discussion Drive Train Drum Brake Upgrade

I searched this board and only came up with one mention of Praise Dyno Brake/Muscle Car Brakes.

Here is my experience with their products.

I have a 56 210 with a six and a glide. When I got the car in 1994 the brakes had recently been serviced with fresh shoes that were good factory replacements. I had them checked and adjusted right after I got the car as a precaution. All was as it should be.

I live in Houston and traffic is a mess. People cannot drive here. This car was not fun at peak traffic times. Stopping was on a wing and a prayer. Freeway driving was out of the question.

After driving the car in limited amounts and only when there was little traffic and after about two years I lost a wheel cylinder. Rather than patch the brakes back together I decided I needed an upgrade but could not afford a disc conversion. I had read about Praise Dyno Brake, which is now Muscle Car Brakes (same owners just new name), and called them up.

http://www.praisedynobrake.com/

I order their "brake in a box" which I think cost me $300 at the time for all four wheels.

Retail
Year Application F/R Number Size Price
51-58 Bel Aire, Impala, Kingswood F CHV-228-WC-C 11 X 2 $158.00
51-58 Bel Aire, Impala, Kingswood R CHV-9-WC-C 11 X 1 3/4 $158.00

I had it installed and the drums turned. They were well within spec for thickness.

That was about 12-14 years ago if memory serves. I've driven the car about 13,000 miles since then and I can tell you this.

This one upgrade took the car from frightening to drive in traffic and on the freeway to no worries at all.

She stops straight and true with no lockup. I had at least three different panic situations ranging in speed from 35MPH to 60MPH and every time I was able to confidently avoid a wreck.

Discs are much better. No doubt there.

But for those of you who either want drums for originality or simply don't want or have the money to spend on a disc conversion this is the way to go.

great post!!

Here's the punch line.

The car needs wheel cylinders due to not driving the car much and moisture getting into the brake fluid. Should be flushing it every 1.5-2 years. While inspecting it this morning we noticed that the leading edges of the front shoes have either broken off corners or cracked corners. We're talking about 1/4 in off each corner which is no real cause for concern,

I called the company and told them about the wheel cylinders and moisture in the system from not flushing the fluid and that I wanted to buy four wheel cylinders. They're high capacity units much larger than factory replacements. $28.50 each which seems like a good deal to me for a better performing unit.

I mention that I need some shoes due to the broken off or cracked corners. He says, "Lifetime warranty on our stuff. Ship them back and I'll send new ones for free if you cover the sipping."

I told him the car was off the lift and back in my garage at home. He says, "Buy the shoes and send me the old ones and I'll refund the purchase price when I get them." Fine by me.

Gave him my credit card info authorizing $238.50 for all everything with shipping, $99.50 of which will be refunded once he gets my old front shoes back.

"Oh, what color are the shoes, red or black?" he asks.

"Red," says I.

"Well, those are the original kevlar composite shoes. We have kevlar/ceramic shoes now that have a much higher coefficient of friction. Tell you what, I'll send you all four sets for all four wheels so you have a matched set. The car will stop even better. Oh, and I'm only going to charge you for the front shoes as we agreed. You'll be refunded for those once I get them back."

So for basically $140 I'll have four new high capacity wheel cylinders and their latest kevlar/cermaic shoes.

This is the kind of customer service all companies should offer.

Zeke,

Thank you for posting that. I called Praise Dyno Brake yesterday and ordered a Stage III setup for the rear brakes on my 68 Mustang. I was of the same opinion that you were, namely that discs (in my case, just for the rear axle) were just too expensive, but the stock Ford brakes were seriously inadequate. I had already put a set of Baer discs on the front spindles, so I only needed to upgrade the rear brakes. Thank you again for posting the information. This is what makes the bulleting boards such a huge help. I might never have found out about Praise brakes otherwise. I'll also be ordering a set for the Nova when that project gets a little farther along.