Drum brakes on the rear or discs?

Yes.............a cost factor - not so much with the brakes but the retooling..........as for effectiveness - good drums will be as good as good discs in all but very wet and/or muddy conditions - other than that it is easier to change disc pads than drum brake shoes................rgds

I prefer discs. Drum brakes stop working in water - whereas discs dry out pretty quick after water.

Also, drum brakes often have self-adjusters that can lock up the brakes if you reverse back down hills - seen that a bit on 60series.

I just changed the shoes on my drums.... Go the discs everytime, WHAT A PITA!

Seen a F1 car with drums lately?

Drums suck, discs are the way to go for every reason.

I don't really buy the manufacturers' claims that discs are more expensive to put on the rear of vehicles - I think it's just a bit harder to make an effective handbrake on discs. That said, none of the vhicles with rear discs seem to have handbrake problems.

No! Not a cost factor on 4x4's..It's a safety factor..When we have old fashioned "drum" brakes we have old fashioned hand-brakes that actually work and can lock the rear wheels (if adjusted correctly) which is so neccessary for the small,trained minority of four wheelers,who have the ability to do a "key-stall" start in reverse,usually after running out of "puff' or traction when hill climbing..When Jeep™ planned the KJ wagon,they had the option of fitting "disc" rear brakes with the tiny,almost useless,inside drum for the hand-brake,or,fit drum brakes and have the inherent safety factor that could save lives in real off-roading situations,whereby the hand-brake actually has the ability to hold almost the entire weight of the vehicle on a steep climb.(No doubt,you are aware,at this point,in the climb,almost all the frontal weight has now been transfered to the rear axle,luckily,just enough remains on the front tyres to gain some steering)..As for the efficency in a commuter type emergency stop,the race car type braking abilty of the discs on the rear are to all intents and purposes,dissipated by the forces of the rear mass trying to move in a vertical circle,thereby,removing most of the weight (and frictional road surface area of the tyre) from the rear tyres and depositing it on the,already,heavily loaded front tyres..Maybe,one of the few areas where a disc set on the rear would be prefered,is where an in-experienced driver is using the brakes to descend a long mountain decline,where over-heating would start to take the toll.A good driver would,of course,use the gears to allow the motor the oppurtunity of slowing the vehicle on either braking set-up,with just occasional jabs on the brake pedal..Whew! Got that of my chest! RockyOne!MPG:3!