Powerflite
Well-Known Member
I have original manual disk brakes in my '70 Satellite wagon. I hear they are the same as what was used in the '70 Barracuda/Challenger. I recently put a hitch on my wagon, attached a lightweight teardrop trailer, loaded it up with reasonably lightweight camping gear and 6 people, and went camping. I was surprised to find that the brakes were not able to stop the car well. I mean, they worked and stopped the car, but would never have been sufficient in an emergency situation. They just required way too much stopping distance to be really safe.
I have taken this car camping many times very similarly equipped, but without the trailer and never noticed an issue before. My question is whether I need to upgrade to a different braking system with larger rotors or is there likely something else not working as it should? The pads are semi-metallics and like I said, seem to work fine without the trailer and all the gear. I have also considered adding a booster to it, but I don't know that pushing any harder will really solve the problem here because I can really stand on the brakes and it doesn't seem to improve the stopping distance much. The rear brakes are original 11" drums that are working fine, without any axle oil leaks to inhibit them.
I have taken this car camping many times very similarly equipped, but without the trailer and never noticed an issue before. My question is whether I need to upgrade to a different braking system with larger rotors or is there likely something else not working as it should? The pads are semi-metallics and like I said, seem to work fine without the trailer and all the gear. I have also considered adding a booster to it, but I don't know that pushing any harder will really solve the problem here because I can really stand on the brakes and it doesn't seem to improve the stopping distance much. The rear brakes are original 11" drums that are working fine, without any axle oil leaks to inhibit them.
