When did they begin using disc brakes on...

[Bonekrosha]

What year did they begin using disc brakes on NASCAR Plymouths/Dodges ?

[MAGNUM4342]

1974

[Bonekrosha]

Many thanks...

[bbowser]

Wow, I'm surprised it was that late. Can you imagine Martinsville or North Wilkes in a 73 Charger with drum brakes? Talk about nerves

[MAGNUM4342]

Brake wear-out was a major problem in those days and probably accountable for at least a third of on track and pit road accidents.

[1972coronet]

Those early disc brake calipres caused a lot of drag ( by nature of their function ) , which is why 99% of race cars ( Stock Car , 1/4 mile , etc. ) had drums until the early-mid seventies .

[MAGNUM4342]

Very true John. Even the Petty team tended to shun them except on the smaller tracks. IIRC, they only used disks on the front end, and only onshorter tracks during most of the seventies. On restrictor plate races they continued using drums all the way round.

[Glued_FIngers]

Does anyone know who made the drum brakes they used before 75? They were GIANT 4" brakes weren't they? I saw them on a old cup car in a field that had been turned into a dirttrack car. Who made them? I know Hurst Airheart made the big 4 piston brakes they used for a long time into the 80s and early 90s. But I am trying to find a set of those drums for a vintage road race build