I thought the English guy Allen50h said all his english friends that were imported to Canada to warm seats were surprised that brake systems here were so poor.
You might think if that were the case the technology for those superior braking systems would not be in use in Canada and at least Manitoba where all the undercover englishmen are.
With those people behind a wheel I want to make sure they have good brake systems that don't have too many moving parts.

 

Wow, you should really give it a rest.

 

This is a bit of an old topic, but I feel rather than starting the same discussion all over, Ill add my 2cents here:

Disc brakes do offer more stopping power than drums according to test and our experience. Some class 7 trucks in the us (like straight trucks) have them, but manufacturers are having a hard time figuring out a good way to apply them. From what I understand there are 2 different mechanisms for moving the brake calipers using compressed air and neither are without problems. One is a threaded caliber and the other I forgot. Hydrolic application is unpractical due to the nature of the brake fluid. It may be that you could stop a truck once from highway speeds with cold brakes better, but try going down a mountain fully loaded with them!!! There is less mass in the discs to absorb heat and more importantly- less area to dissipate the heat! They would have the same contact to the rim which serves as a heat sink, but less area across the disc itself.
Also, brake shoes tend to be bigger than pads, allowing for longer life and resilience.
I dont think disc brakes are a good option on vehicles as heavy as we have them here in the US. I dont know how it is in Europe, but if im not mistakes, the weight limits are more stringent there than here and we all know what a difference 20k lbs. can make going down a 9% grade :shock: