Seems like no matter which forum, there is constant bashing of Honda's use of drum brakes and people who complain of water being trapped and causing problems. And when that happens it's difficult to properly remove, repair and reseal the drum brakes. Hard to believe a company like HONDA would continue to produce a brake system that truely is sub standard.

I'm wondering if everyone experiences these problems or if it's just the Mudders and Submariners or Tech Geeks that can't cope without having the latest feature available. Do durms work BETTER for Trail or Work environments when only moderately used in water/mud? Is COST really the factor keeping discs off of all 4 on Hondas?

Would like to hear constructive thoughts on this, not just bash comments on Honda's "crummy" brake system.

 

to be honest, most of the time I would rather have discs. the only time that isn't true is when it's freezing out or trailering. Ever have a caliper freeze up on you? I have seen it and it nearly cost an atv and likely injury.

However, a little time spent servicing drums will save you a lot of trouble later. The people that have the most trouble are people that don't maintain them. This really isn't that much of a point anymore as there are discs on the front of most of their atvs now. the drum in the rear makes a nice parking brake that won't bleed down, but I would imagine there is a disc design being evaluated.

Honda could have easily incorporated discs some time ago, but I'll bet they wanted them to work better in all conditions than what they had before.

I've had Wilwoods on an atv and almost killed myself when the pin holding the pads came out. I grabbed the brake, the puck came out of the caliper, and I had complete (front and rear) brake failure. This isn't the type of thing Honda typically lets slip by just to say they have discs, yet a certain mfg still uses this set-up.

 

I have never had problems with the drum brakes on my Rancher but then again I don't drive thru mud or water that is very deep. The times I have driven thru standing water that was up to the floor boards, I removed the red caps on the front drums to allow any water to drain that might have got in. None ever has. In fact, I pulled the front whells and drums to have a look and they still look new other than brake dust.

Now my girlfriend's 04 Bruin has front disc brakes and they never have stopped that machine as well as the drums on my Rancher have stopped mine. Pulling the wheels on the Bruin and inspecting shows the front pads to be almost like new. The rear drum on the Bruin never has worked well......even with new brake shoes and turning the drum.

I used to own a 95 Yamaha Kodiak and the front drum brakes on that machine were junk when I bought it. Parts to redo everything set me back close to 500 bucks when I redid them.

If you maintain drum brakes....they will last and do a good job.

 

I 've been riding 3-4 wheelers since 1983 and I've owned most of the ATV manufactures drum style brakes and they ALL SUCK if you are even a CASUAL mudder.My last one was on my 2003 Honda Rincon which featured front drum style brakes.After 4-5 months of casual mudding,I would have to take the front drums off and do a complete cleaning if I played around in the mud for awile during the days ride.Let me tell you,this gets to be a pain in the butt and eventually,you just try to AVOID any muddy/wet riding areas.Thats NOT what I buy my ATVs for so needless to say,I will never own another ATV with drum brakes---PERIOD!

 

can i get an amen brother muddy4life! drums suck!!! if your idea of casual maintanance is two hours a month or two of cleaning , roughing the pads up a little and regreasing every were. i have to do it every oil change or more often than the oil. if mine was only a four wheel drive, i could have disc brakes. dumb design, the have to go threw yhe front axles! sucks for me![img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-sad.gif[/img]

 

no kidding

 

Well, just my experience, but my 2004 Rancher AT has over 1500 miles on it! About half have been in the swamp, lots of water and deep soupy mud! I have only had to adjust the rear drum brakes once. THe fronts still work like brand new and have not needed an adjustment. I have had problems on all my drum braked 3 wheelers & quads, ATC 70, atC 125, ATC 200S, and our TRX 250 (1987 model utility). They all sucked. I have had 3 and 4 wheelers with disc brakes and loved them but the TRX 400ex and ATC 200X wore out pads very easy. My ATC 250R and my TRX 450R hardly even wear the pads at all with alot of hard riding. I am impressed with my Rancher AT's drum brakes, best I have ever seen!

 

the problem i notice if the brakes seals go dry, and let water in, at that point the seals are ruined they need to be replaced, at 10 bucks a piece its worth to replace them, they seem to last about 1 year without greasing, riding in a good amount of water, really every 2 times you do your oil, regrease the seals, thats really all that keeps the water. believe me this comes froma guy, who has replaced brakes and seals one every rancher including my own.

i now grease them on a regular basis, a pain yes, but much much easier then cleaning them after they get filled with mud

 

Warranty replaced ALL the brake seals for me on my 2003 Rincon in the front ONCE,and the extended warranty would'nt touch them again.

Its just been my experience that if your going to do any mudding or riding in debree/water, than just stay clean away from drum style brakes,unless you enjoy your time off cleaning/adjusting instead of riding.

 

Yeah!.....Honda is heads and tails above the competition when it comes to Drum Brake Technology..LOL[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img]