Drum brakes

A drum brake is a brake that uses friction caused by a set of shoes or pads that press outward against a rotating cylinder-shaped part called a brake drum.

The term drum brake usually means a brake in which shoes press on the inner surface of the drum. When shoes press on the outside of the drum, it is usually called a clasp brake. Where the drum is pinched between two shoes, similar to a conventional disc brake, it is sometimes called a pinch drum brake, though such brakes are relatively rare. A related type called a band brake uses a flexible belt or "band" wrapping around the outside of a drum.

The modern automobile drum brake was first used in a car made by Maybach in 1900, although the principle was only later patented in 1902 by Louis Renault. He used woven asbestos lining for the drum brake lining, as no alternative dissipated heat like the asbestos lining, though Maybach had used a less sophisticated drum brake. In the first drum brakes, levers and rods or cables operated the shoes mechanically. From the mid-1930s, oil pressure in a small wheel cylinder and pistons (as in the picture) operated the brakes, though some vehicles continued with purely mechanical systems for decades. Some designs have two wheel cylinders.

As the shoes in drum brakes wear, brakes required regular manual adjustment until the introduction of self-adjusting drum brakes in the 1950s. Drums are prone to brake fading with repeated use.

In 1953, Jaguar fielded three cars equipped with disc brakes at Le Mans, where they won, in large part due to their superior braking over drum-equipped rivals. This spelled the beginning of the crossover of drum brakes to disc brakes in passenger cars. From 1955 to the 1970s, disc brakes gradually replaced drum brakes on the front wheels of cars. Now practically all cars use disc brakes on the front wheels, and many use disc brakes on all four wheels.

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