New to me sand rail with drum brakes, locks front brakes,.

[wildwestrider]

I'm new to the forum. I Just bought a Sand rail equipped with drum brakes all around,..It doesnt stop well, as the right front locks up with anything more than very light braking.

Are rear disc brakes WITHOUT an emergency brakes a good or bad idea??

I have an opportunity to purchase a rear Disc conversion kit for $180,....A decent deal,...but.....no emergency brake. I have heard that another texas sand rail owner converted to rear disc without emergency brakes,....and added a hydraulic park lock or something similar...............The state inspection shop he used,....flunked it. Apparently the thinking is that if there is a hydraulic issue,.............then the hydraulic E brake could become inoperative also.

Any thoughts?
Brian

[BuggymanJohn]

Check with Neil @ Hawkeye Buggies. He may be able to steer you in the right direction on the e-brake issue with mods to your kit. Definately use an e-brake..not the park brake tho the law specifies a park break last I heard. JB

[BrianB]

First off if one wheel only is locking up you need to adjust your brakes. Four wheel drum brakes are plenty for a rail as long as you have them adjusted correctly. If you plan on getting it inspected then you must have mechanical emergency brakes that are operational. Hydraulic line loc is not considered a mechanical emergency brake. If you do buy rear discs I would suggest a set with the emergency brake option. Also you may put those on and your right front wheel still locks up because its not adjusted correctly. Throwing new parts at the wrong end will do nothing except look pretty. Good luck with the project and if you need assistance there is always a buggy owner close by to help.

[wildwestrider]

First off if one wheel only is locking up you need to adjust your brakes. Four wheel drum brakes are plenty for a rail as long as you have them adjusted correctly. If you plan on getting it inspected then you must have mechanical emergency brakes that are operational. Hydraulic line loc is not considered a mechanical emergency brake. If you do buy rear discs I would suggest a set with the emergency brake option. Also you may put those on and your right front wheel still locks up because its not adjusted correctly. Throwing new parts at the wrong end will do nothing except look pretty. Good luck with the project and if you need assistance there is always a buggy owner close by to help.

I did tighten up the adjustment on the left side wheel thinking that the shoes were not contacting their respective drum at the same time as the right brakes.........seemed to help a small amount.

Looks like I have other issues as well.....worn ball joints and maybe tie rod/center link issues. Probably just need to pull both front drums off and clean, check and adjust everything.....maybe try the front to back wheels cylinder swap trick.

Brian

[Ken]

Hi Brian,
Welcome to the club. So where are you located?

My philosophy on the original drum brakes are, if it ain't working right, I am not likely to spend much time or money trying to repair them. There are too many inexpensive upgrade systems out there, for me to waste energy (and $$) on 30+ year old systems. My rail has disc front and drum rears. As long as the rears don't cause me a hassle they can stay.

The TDPS Inspection Paragraph 20.03 Parking Brake states (link to TDPS page):
The parking brakes should be so designed that when once applied, they shall remain applied - despite exhaustion of any source of energy or leakage of any kind.

So technically, a "Line Lock" valve would not be sufficient. However, this is all I have and I have never failed a safety inspection and no it's not a family member testing my rail.

Ken

[wildwestrider]

Thanks all, I'm replacing the torsion arm / Ball joint assemblies now to get the front end tightened up, and then will trying the wheel cylinder swap front to rear to see if things even out. Also replacing the front brake hoses as it was pointed out that one had a bulge,....indicating a possible collapsed hose internally. I think I will next try an adjustable proportioning valve If the above doesnt fix things.

Brian

[Texasbuggys]

Rear disc with ebrakes are pretty reasonably priced now days, add a 2lbs residual valve when doing the disc and it will help hold the line pressure and keep the pedal feeling tight.