Finally ordered a set of Disc Brakes

[Dave Young]

I’ve been keen on putting a small drum Ruckstell and disc brakes on my ‘26 RPU for a number of years now and finally pulled the trigger on the brake set after acquiring the Rux last year. Any tips or advice regarding the brake set up would be appreciated. It was ordered from Lang’s.

[KWTownsend]

Dave-
Typically a '26 would use large drum...

[John Dow]

I installed a set on my '23 touring 4 years ago and couldn't be happier. In fact I wouldn't drive a T without them.

[dobro1956]

The disc brakes are made by Birdhaven / Texas T Parts. If you have any questions or issues, I would contact them directly. I also have a set of the disc I will be installing on my 27 touring in the next few weeks. If you have any questions or just want to talk Ts give me a shout, We can travel this road together

[John Dow]

The only tricky part is successfully bleeding air from the lines.

[Norman Kling]

1.Two things to remember about any kind of auxiliary brakes you install on a T. One is to be sure the parking brake works and the transmission brake works.
2.The other thing is you still only have the rear wheels with narrow tires to stop your car, so observe all precautions you would with the standard brake setup. You do however have the two extra sets of backup brakes and also if you should have a problem with the drive train behind the universal joint, your hydrolic brake and parking brake will still work.
Norm

[Dave Young]

The small drum was my preference for appearance sake on the ‘26. Those big buggers just look…

[Oldav8tor]

Do a search of the forum, there have been some good discussions on disc brakes, recently on bleeding techniques.

[jsaylor]

The only issue I had on my 27 Tudor, that most will have on the 26-7 body, is the master cylinder will interfere with the floor board. From under the car, I traced a line around the master cylinder and hose to the reservoir. Use a router to cut a 3/8" relief into the floor boards. I saved my original floor boards and made new ones out of 3/4" plywood. Also, the brake light switch may interfere with the starter switch as you try to screw it and the hose onto the already attached and bled master cylinder.

[Mikey1968]

Just finished this project before winter rolled in on my 26 Touring. I used the pressure bleeding method. The master cylinder interfered with a wood support on the floorboards. My floorboards are the new solid wood ones I got from Lange's if I remember correctly. I carefully pried off the support and moved it over. I used the more time period looking EZ Fill reservoir and painted the calipers satin black using paint specifically made for brake calipers. Search this forum for the bleeding ideas and the EZ Fill reservoir. The reservoir required no drilling; I mounted it to the steering column mount using a longer bolt and an extra nut to space correctly. I also replaced both my hubs as one had a very worn tapered hole and the other was for a wood wheel redrilled for my wire wheels. My axles and bearings seemed fine but I did need axle taper shims to make the fit perfect. I needed two different thicknesses. Took trial and error to get the right combo.

[Original Smith]

Why go to so much trouble? If someone would continue to make Rocky Mountain brakes the way they started out to be in the mid '60s we wouldn't need all this nonsense that we now have. The nice thing about the real thing is nothing needs to be modified!

[GG Gregory]

Original Smith, I agree. You’d think if someone who goes through the trouble of making Rocky Mt brakes they’d go the extra mile and make them like to old ones…that would actually stop in reverse!

[Les Schubert]

A issue with any external band brakes is that when driving in the rain they don’t immediately work! In that few seconds while things are drying out you can cover some distance. In my experience you will end up driving in the rain sometime, so increase your following distance!

[Oldav8tor]

Original Smith's username gives it away. He is one of many in the hobby that prefer to keep things as original as possible. There's nothing wrong with that viewpoint but it's not the only one. There are others, including myself, that value originality but consider safety to be foremost. I have disc brakes that stop well, work in reverse and when wet and don't require frequent adjustment because they are hydraulic, not mechanical. Based on the options available today, I think disc brakes are the best choice. In the unlikely event the disc brakes fail, the original transmission brake still works. You can also set the original brake drums aside and save them for the next owner in the event they want to return it to original for whatever reason.

[Dave Young]

Thanks for the tips about the floorboards and alternative reservoir.

[Mikey1968]

Obviously, I'm in the safety camp....I put power front slotted disks on my 68 Cougar, swapped the anemic 10" rotors for 11" drilled/slotted and SVO calipers and master cylinder on my 86 Capri 5.0L HO, slotted rotors on my 89 Mustang GT, power front disks, 4 pt roll bar and 3 point belts on my 74 Bronco and swapped the single pot master cylinder for a power dual set up and installed 3 point belts on my 64 F250 (no front disks available, darn it!) No one EVER has chastised these mods yet. So yes, disks on the 26 Touring that has a Ruckstell just makes sense. If not only to save me but lil Johnny that unexpectedly darted out chasing his ball.