Why do I need Disc Brakes?
SAFETY, SAFETY, SAFETY. There is no worse feeling when driving than to be headed directly for a crash and not be able to do anything about it. The brakes in your Bronco are its most vital safety system. The stock manual drum brake setup that most Early Broncos came with is by no means the most reliable of systems. When in a panic stop situation, there are a number of things that can cause undesirable results in your braking. First, with manual brakes rather than power brakes you will find that you have to press the pedal quite a bit harder to get the Bronco to stop. You can often find it next to impossible to stop the weight of the Bronco from a high speed in a short amount of time. You will also find that you may tend to overcompensate by slamming the brake pedal as hard as you can causing the brakes to lock up and resulting in a complete loss of control. Which brings us to our next issue, brake lockup. Drum brakes as opposed to disc brakes are very prone to lock up during panic stops. This can cause you to lose your traction and slide all over the road. You will also find that drum brakes tend to pull the Bronco to the side when braking, again making it harder to control the vehicle. As a final note, though we have not covered ALL the reasons for switching to power disc brakes, it can be very beneficial to have disc brakes when driving in wet conditions. Drum brakes in wet conditions tend to fail because the water that gets up into the drum creates a slippery surface making it harder for the brake shoe to get a solid grip against the drum. You can sometimes find yourself hitting the brakes only to find that nothing is happening to slow your Bronco. So remember that even though power disc brakes may not offer a cosmetic improvement or "cool factor", they offer much more... safety & security for you and your loved ones. At TOMS OFFROAD we feel this is the most valuable upgrade you can perform.
