How much do front brakes matter?

EastMT

EastMT

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I found a sandrail that I am interested in. It does not have front brakes.

How much do you rely on your front brakes?

Would this be a deal breaker for you or would you just figure in the cost of adding front brakes?

Thanks

 
Depends on the weight of the car. Lots of older (30 yrs ago) sandrails didn't run front brakes. We used to take a stock VW drum and cut the brake shoe area off to make them lighter and retain the 5x205mm VW bolt pattern. 

 
L.R.S. said:
Depends on the weight of the car. Lots of older (30 yrs ago) sandrails didn't run front brakes. We used to take a stock VW drum and cut the brake shoe area off to make them lighter and retain the 5x205mm VW bolt pattern. 
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Ahhhh the Ol' hillbilly bubs. I ran those on a couple cars too...

 
I would think no matter the Sand Car you can add front brakes,  personally i really like them,  I have had people cut in front of me and slammed on the brakes, is seems the front digs and stops really quick,  even if you have a single master cylinder, you can T off all 4 brakes into one master. To keep the pedal moving very far you up the size, for example you can go from a 3/4 to a 1'' and move more fluid with out excessive pedal movement,   on some older SU sand cars i have even seen the rotor drilled and tapped into the rim like a motorcycle,  

Should be pretty easy to add brakes, I would think you can weld a brake tab to the spindle, and unless the spindle is very odd non (VW-Link, VW-Balljoint, Combo, King Kong,) any of those should have a bolt on hub setup, 

Do you have any pictures of the car,  

 
You get a lot more braking force from front brakes. To prove this to yourself, go try to stop your car or truck from like 40 mph by using just the E-brake and see how hard it is to get it stopped. 

 
At the speeds we are driving now versus those old VW days, I wouldn't go without front brakes every again.  They have saved me plenty of times from stuffing the car into a hole.

 
L.R.S. said:
Depends on the weight of the car. Lots of older (30 yrs ago) sandrails didn't run front brakes. We used to take a stock VW drum and cut the brake shoe area off to make them lighter and retain the 5x205mm VW bolt pattern. 
Click to expand...
Thanks for the info.

 
J Alper said:
I would think no matter the Sand Car you can add front brakes,  personally i really like them,  I have had people cut in front of me and slammed on the brakes, is seems the front digs and stops really quick,  even if you have a single master cylinder, you can T off all 4 brakes into one master. To keep the pedal moving very far you up the size, for example you can go from a 3/4 to a 1'' and move more fluid with out excessive pedal movement,   on some older SU sand cars i have even seen the rotor drilled and tapped into the rim like a motorcycle,  

Should be pretty easy to add brakes, I would think you can weld a brake tab to the spindle, and unless the spindle is very odd non (VW-Link, VW-Balljoint, Combo, King Kong,) any of those should have a bolt on hub setup, 

Do you have any pictures of the car,  
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 The people cutting in front and slamming on the brake is a good thing to take into consideration. I am pretty sure it is a common spindle/hub as I have seen some with front brakes and some without.. I do have pictures but I would like to keep those to myself until I make a decision on this particular car. Thanks for the suggestions.

 
Dockmaster said:
You get a lot more braking force from front brakes. To prove this to yourself, go try to stop your car or truck from like 40 mph by using just the E-brake and see how hard it is to get it stopped. 
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Thats a good point, thanks.

 
Cookie said:
At the speeds we are driving now versus those old VW days, I wouldn't go without front brakes every again.  They have saved me plenty of times from stuffing the car into a hole.
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Front brakes is it then. I don't want to risk getting stuffed.

 
I had an alumicraft sand car, 4 seater, with a 2180 vw motor. It had no front brakes. Worked just fine with the vw motor. I swapped the motor out for a mild turbo 2.5 Subaru and couldn’t stop the car with the new speeds the car could go! I put front brakes on and it would stop on a dime. Just remember, not only do you need a spindle hub you can set up with brakes, you will also need new front wheels for the hubs. 

 
As stated in a pervious post, you can add them fairly easily if you get the car for the right price and have the skills. 

 
What is this rail set up like?   If it is old-school, don't sweat it.

But, you have to be able to lock up the rears?

Wgat sort of motor?

In the desert....you need fronts.

 
I drove an entire weekend without brakes. Just made sure I was leading. We didn’t go slower because of it. 

 
Big_Daddy_Jp said:
I had an alumicraft sand car, 4 seater, with a 2180 vw motor. It had no front brakes. Worked just fine with the vw motor. I swapped the motor out for a mild turbo 2.5 Subaru and couldn’t stop the car with the new speeds the car could go! I put front brakes on and it would stop on a dime. Just remember, not only do you need a spindle hub you can set up with brakes, you will also need new front wheels for the hubs. 
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Thanks for the info about the hardware and the need for new front wheels.

 
I like to stop when needed.  It goes fast enough to need to stop. 

 
Front brakes are nice, but not necessary. Adjust speed according to stopping and visual distances. :biggrin:

Dockmaster said:
You get a lot more braking force from front brakes. To prove this to yourself, go try to stop your car or truck from like 40 mph by using just the E-brake and see how hard it is to get it stopped. 
Click to expand...
Cable/motor activated e-brake (possibly drum with tiny shoes inside the rotor hub) is a little weaker than hydraulic, especially considering most cars/trucks don’t have 4 piston rears with 60-70% of the weight back there. :biggrin:

 
I had 2 cars without fronts, added front brakes to the 2nd car, and now have them on the current car.

1st car was a super light turbo vw, never really felt like I needed them

2nd car, mid weight v6 car, didn't have them, it was ok. I added them any ways and I was better for the "oh chit" situations, but never felt like I really needed them on a normal ride.

3rd car is a fairly heavy turd, I would not drive it with out front brakes. 

It all depends on the car, the weight, the tire set up, and what the driver intends to to with it. I would not shy away from a car that does not have front brakes, as long as you like the rest of it. They are easy enough to add...

 
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