I'm seeing recent builds, some from respected builders, with no front brakes. Every thing I've ever read says this is a VERY bad practice. A huge amount of a car stopping power comes from the front brakes. Under braking, weight is transferred forward reducing traction to the rear wheels further reducing brake function. It makes driving such cars dangerous to the driver and anyone else around them.
You won't get much of an argument for street driven cars. Show cars are another issue. Maybe let those builders know how you feel.
Dad's rule number 1 regarding vehicles: Make sure it stops before you make it go. Only ignored that rule once: took out a section of fence with a '66 Galaxie.
I had a friend that drove his 1950 Buick from California to Mason city Iowa back in the late 50s with only the parking brake’s, he needed to replace the rear brakes on his car once he got back but he got her done.
Well"! your right,,,,More now then ever! We got away with a few bad habbits in the 1950 n 60s,was a bit stupid even then. but so cool? We thought so. Today there are more then a few fools driving on the street with us,,who have no idea about what happens out side the bubble of BS they live in! < Was that too hard,humm maybe! Real world today that we drive around in>,unlike that of when I started in the 1950s!= Today all the cars around us have 4wheel disk n ABS or other way better stop fast braking with tires design much better! OH n head of driver in a cellpnone,,, When I put up a note about not using motorcycle tires on the front of hotrod or tractor/dirt track tire with no cross tread at all, and or ,no front brakes with big HP V8 now days.=I get all types of,;;;"'Your full of **** an I been driving for years with out any prob." That really is making God work over time,saving the ***! Me,even in high school in 1960,my hot rod had 4 wheel bakes that worked far better then cars around me. They were Ford 1948 drum brakes,but used on a hot rod 28A hot rod with Ford Thunder Bird V8 power. So those brakes were designed to stop a car near 3x+ more lbs. then my rod was. Today I can stop with the same set up with car around me with disk,but no longer have better braking then other n no ABS=must now use more space between me an car ahead* I drive Miami Florida,big town,big # of cell phones. One extra note,remember,the taller the tire,the less braking you have. A front wheel n brake shot of my hot rod today,I first got running in 1959.
Just imagine what your insurance company or State DOT would say if they found you driving with no front brakes.
I agree with you, I feel having no front brakes is stupid and unsafe. Downside is these people are driving these cars not only endangering themselves but endangering others and their family members! I would never build any vehicle that didn't have a brake on each wheel. .
Well, the first two are true survivors built in the 60s and before. It is not like the are freshly built hot rods. Things were looked at in a different light back then
"Few fools *** with no idea what happens outside the bubble of ,BS they live in" Not a direct quote but absolutely excellent / spot on ( wish I'd said it )
I get flack every time I remind people of this. It was sketchy when it was done back in the day. It's still sketchy now, except for there is a profound difference. When, not if, you have an accident involving a vehicle that does not have the required number of brakes on it, you will receive a citation from the law enforcement agency that responds to the accident. To make matters worse, when you are insurance company sees that you have received that citation, and ***esses your vehicle for value, to either total it out, or to fix it, and discovers that it does not have the required number of brakes, your insurance coverage will be void I'm not okay with knowing you are running around their highways and byways without the correct number of brakes. I've always been fine with people taking risks, so long as they don't involve anyone else. In this case you would be involving a whole lot of other people potentially. Dumber than that, if you survive the accident, you could end up paying for every single bit of the damage, and bearing every single bit of civil liability in the matter.
This sums it up, in a nut shell. Best comment I have read for a while.... Yes, things were looked at quite differently back then............ but we don't live back then. They are very cool examples of early builds, but if they are to be driven on the street in today's world, they should have front brakes. It's as simple as that. Public endangerment is not very smart.
I've never had a car without front brakes but I've had bikes. No worries I promise not to put it on my bucket list.
I wonder how the orange car turns with that acreman angle and the bottom car wouldn't stop much better with front brakes with those tires.
Most of us already know and understand that if you don't have much or anything for front brakes on a car or bike you know that you are going to be driving or riding far more defensively. Also I'd venture a guess that the three cars in post 10 do not have a lot of road miles. I have never knowingly seen a photo of the 27 at an outdoor event except Roundup as far as I know. Maybe back in the late 60/early 70's I saw it in indoor show coverage. At that time cars in ISCA indoor shows could compete for two years and then had to have changes made if they were going to keep competing for the same awards. That car didn't change and every thing on it probably convinced more than a few that it was making it's debut at Roundup. = no miles racked up and no worries about front brakes. Bad thing is that someone will see them, stick a car together with a rear end that doesn't have much for brakes to start with and then plow into something because it flat didn't stop. The T buckets may have disk brakes on the rear or big drum brakes that at least stop but looking at the cars again, I'd think that they don't get many actual road miles . Back when we were young, brave and a bit foolish in the early 70's No front brakes was no big deal except in states that had annual state inspection. Even that check was pretty minimal with a lot of inspectors. We also didn't have new 100K+ sedans with brake rotors twice the size of Grannie's turkey platter hitting the brakes in front of us then either.
The reduced braking power is only part of the problem. With no front brakes, if you have to panic stop on any sort of curved road the *** end of the car is going to come around unless you back off on the pedal which further reduces the already reduced braking power!
Have you tried a Speedway bike......Those things raced with no brakes . Put that on your "bucket list"
Not only do they get shattered knees , but they also get free acupuncture treatment if they're not careful. Brakes are so Overrated
Many years ago I drove my BBC powered ‘33 5w everyday as my daily driver and at Lions Wednesday and some Saturdays. I never looked at the front brakes because it seemed to stop just fine. When I took it apart to update it, I found that the front wheel cylinders were frozen and full of corrosion. I had been driving with rear wheel brakes only since I bought the car. I never had trouble stopping on the street or the drags. I guess I had a good combination; big Olds brakes, big tires, somewhat sensible driving habits and a lot of just plain luck. I updated the coupe with Corvair IFS with Camaro discs in front and Corvette IRS with drums in the rear. Needless to say, it stopped a whole lot better. Who knew? These days, as much as I love the look of spindle mounts on T buckets, I’d have to modify them and incorporate some kind of disc brakes.
Rode in and drove my friend's shortened T touring with bike wheels and no front brakes and don't remember any problem with the Lockheed brakes on the banjo rear stopping the thing; but that was 50 years ago and like it has been said traffic was totally different at the time. Car is still around in different form; but still the same bike wheels and no front brakes; guy says he drives it a lot; but he lives out in rock and cow country. Don't think Fred ever had front brakes on his '29 modified in it's many recreations. Don't laugh; Indy tires were cool at one time. Back in the day; we used to take the front brakes off semi tractors too.
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