Drum brakes and disk brakes are two popular types of brakes used in car and bikes. The main difference between disc brake and drum brake is disc brake is very fast and stops the vehicle immediately but drum brake takes slightly more time to stops the vehicle. Disc brake normally used in emergency condition when driver want to stop the vehicle immediately.
Today we will look at the difference between drum brakes and disc brakes. I’ve listed about various differences to help you understand in simple, easy-to-understand terms.
Before we move on to the differences, let’s first have an overview of drum and disc brakes.
Brakes are mechanical parts used to apply pressure to the wheels and stop the engine over very short distances.
Table of Contents
Drum Brake:
A brake that utilizes the friction produced by a set of shoes or pads pressed outward against a rotating cylindrical part called the brake drum. This brake is used in buses, scooters and other vehicle systems.
Learn more about drum brakes here.
Disc Brake:
This is the latest type of brake, where the caliper presses a pair of pads against a disc or “rotor” to create friction.
Learn more about disc brake here.
List of Differences Between Drum Brake and Disc Brake
In the below table I have pointed out all the differences between drum brake and disc brake.
| Drum Brake | Disc Brake |
|---|---|
| The drum brake uses a cylindrical drum. | Disc brakes use disc-shaped rotors. |
| Used for trucks, buses and scooters. | Used in modern bicycles and cars. |
| Slowly apply the brakes. | It’s fast and instant braking. |
| Drum brakes are cheaper than disc brakes. | However, it is available at a higher price. |
| Slow heat dissipation. | aster heat dissipation. |
| Performance degrades at high temperatures. Performance does not degrade even at high temperatures. | Good braking even at high temperatures. |
| Drum brakes use an expanding hydraulic cylinder to force a friction material against the inside of a rotating drum. | Disc brakes use a clamp called a caliper to hold the friction pads against the rotor disc. |
| Drum brakes have a complicated structure. | The disc brake design is simple. |
| Low breathability. | Better ventilation than drum brakes. |
| Drum brakes are approximately 20-30% heavier than disc brakes. | Disc brakes are lighter. |
| Drum brakes with poor fade resistance. | Disc brakes with excellent fade resistance. |
| Here it is difficult to change or replace the friction linings. | But ere changing or replacing frictional pads is not difficult. It is easy to change. |
| In drum brake Non-uniform wear of frictional force. | Disc brake has Uniform wear of frictional forces between pad and disc. |
| Drum brakes are self-locking. | Disc brakes are not self-locking. |
| Low maintenance cost for drum brakes. | Maintenance effort is higher. |
| Mechanical drum brakes. | They operated mechanically and based on BS technology. |
| This is inefficient and takes longer to stop the engine. | isc brakes are more efficient here and stop faster than drum brakes. |
| Difficult to inspect drum brakes. | Checking disc brakes is easy. |
| No fluids are used in the braking system here, so no maintenance is required. | Disc brakes use fluid and require maintenance. If you use it for a long time, it is necessary to check the disc brake fluid. |
| Drum brakes have a short torque transmission time. | isc brakes have a long torque transmission time. |