Drum brakes on Civic EJ8

[Vtakk]

Hey im just curious. I have an EJ8 Coupe with front disk brakes and rear drum brakes. What are the odds of having drum brakes on the rear? are they strong as machined disk brakes?? is it safe? strong on the braking??

[mugen_ctr]

when u mean strong as in the stopping power? No they aint as strong as disc type..... i found the brakes on the ej8 very front bias, making heavy braking feel uneasy.... but on a daily basis, its fine

The brakes are fine for a daily

If ur wanting to go furthur down the track, definite recommend you go rear disc brakes, sure u can get upgraded shoe pads for drums, nothing wrong with that, its just that i prefer the looks of the discs lol

I went rear disc not to long ago, never looked back at drums

[Mikecivic78]

correct me if I'm wrong, but drums will fade quicker than front brakes under hard driving, so ur rear stability under breaking will suffer.

Still can't believe Honda were so tight as not to put rear discs on the ej8. In 1998 they did tho'

Ask Big Tone if he's had any probs.. He is running rear drums on his B18c7 Ek1... on the track that is.

@ mugen_ctr: always interested in reading ur posts, keep up the good work. Just wanna ask: How much was conversion? Did u diy? I sold my stock ej8 for my em1, so I didn't get around to doing that.

[mugen_ctr]

correct me if I'm wrong, but drums will fade quicker than front brakes under hard driving, so ur rear stability under breaking will suffer.

Still can't believe Honda were so tight as not to put rear discs on the ej8. In 1998 they did tho'

Ask Big Tone if he's had any probs.. He is running rear drums on his B18c7 Ek1... on the track that is.

@ mugen_ctr: always interested in reading ur posts, keep up the good work. Just wanna ask: How much was conversion? Did u diy? I sold my stock ej8 for my em1, so I didn't get around to doing that.

Ended up using a dc2 for a donor of parts, so in the end ended up using the dc2 master cylinder+booster, RTA, Calipers and rotors....... the master cylinder i believe is the biggest improvement on ek's, since the dc2 has a much bigger master cylinder than the ek's all up, making for stronger brakes, but as for the braking distance, i have no idea lol, only can assume its slighty better distance than the ek4 braking distance....

The price all up for the conversion, everything needed to work was some were around 300, just parts, the job was diy, was a pain to do it, being a noob at tools, but in the end we got there, an got the abs to work as well lol

[Mikecivic78]

DiY always ftw that's my motto. I imagine it might have taken a while though. So 300 all up including dc2 master cylinder/booster? That sounds pretty cheap. Nice one.

[trism]

if you have a look, and do some research, youll actually find out that drum brakes have just as much stopping power as discs, if not more. theres plenty more surface area on a brake shoe than a pad.

They have problems, just like Mike said, with fade. A big solid bit of metal retains a lot of heat, as compared to a thin rotor.

So for daily driving, with the occasional spirited squirt, going to discs over drums isnt going to make a difference.

however, going to discs, changing the prop valve, upgrading the master cylinder are all good things to do if you track your car, or if you flog it often.

Ive done a lengthy post regarding this, have a bit of a search for i.

[mugen_ctr]

DiY always ftw that's my motto. I imagine it might have taken a while though. So 300 all up including dc2 master cylinder/booster? That sounds pretty cheap. Nice one.

yeah, 300..... at first i though it was a bit much, but considering the master cylinder an booster, its not bad price, took a good solid 2 days to get it up an running, but im happy with the results

The ej8, u dont need to change the prop valve after much reading, as they use the disc brake prop valve if im not mistaken, ive kept mine as it is, an it works well, the brakes feel very balance under heavy braking, an when wet, but considering that i have the dc2 booster an master cylinder in, that might attribute to the better feel and stopping power.

As trism said, drums are fine lol, Though one thing i notice that i can actually say is that the drums on ek/EJ are overrated, there stopping distance isnt as well as id hope at first, but i guess good pads an fluids would change that

[mocchi]

i need to change my prop valve, after rear disc conversion from drums seems like rear brakes arent functioning as efficient as they should. feels like no grip at the rears when braking.
(eg 3040 pv). if i dont forget, i will add some pics of rear disc before and after pv 4040 change.

[liberx]

Drums don't require as much pressure to operate, due to their "self energising" nature - hence need for different prop valves. Also this causes them to not be as linear in their performance, making them tend to lockup at times, and not be as effective at others. It's not a matter braking power, but predictability and fade resistance.