What are the advantages of upgrading to Hydraulic Braks

[CaliforniaBorn36]

Originally Posted by BobR35

Just thinking about upgrading my brakes to hydraulics. Driving it a lot and realizing if you're going drive often and be safe it would make sense. My'35 brakes work well but not good enough for traffic these days. Just saying......

This statement confuses me, but then maybe I do not understand. Mechanical Brakes and Hydraulic brakes both stop the car by forcing the brake shoe against the drum, they just use different mechanisms to apply pressure. SO, why do people imply that hydraulic brakes are safer? I can lock up the mechanical brakes on my '36, (don't ask how I know). So, the only way to make them safer would be to increase the contact patch of the tires so there is more resistance to sliding and therefore better stopping. Oh, and I don't have to worry about brake fluid or loss of pressure in the system. If one brake rod were to break, I would still have 3 functioning brakes.

Please help me understand why hydraulics brakes are perceived to be safer. I understand that the use of hydraulics multiplies the force applied to the pedal, (requiring less force from the driver), but aside from that is there something else I am not considering?

Brakes stop the tire from rotating, so bigger braking surface stops the tire faster, (important with higher powered vehicles, and maybe at higher speeds). Tires stop the car from moving in it's current direction, (so a larger contact patch will improve that action). I could put bigger brakes on a car, but unless I increase the resistance of the tires, I am just going to lock up the brakes and skid sooner, No? Locking up the brakes is not desirable in an emergency situation.

Always interested in learning. Also thinking that many people make this upgrade without understanding it's limitations as well.