Mountain truck/daily driver brakes

[sndmn11]

The oil change, tire, and alignment threads have been enlightening for me and it seems there are some folks on here who are well versed with vehicles. I am curious what thought there are on brake pads, and I suppose rotors too, on what is probably a lot of people's use case for their hunting truck. Mine is a 2005 Ram 1500 with stock size tires and does not tow. Is there an earth shattering difference in brake pads and rotors for such a truck? Here is what I have found from Rock Auto. I was told to look into ceramic due to longevity, but probably have 50k-70k on the Napa ultra premium semi-metallic I put on a few years ago.



The puzzler in that parts list is that Wagner does not make an OEX for the front of my truck.

 

[NB7]

I had a '00 Dodge and my son has a '12 Dodge. I've ordered stuff from Rock Auto for both, including brakes and rotors. I always just went with something middle of the line, I didn't want to buy the highest dollar stuff, but felt better not buying the cheapest they had to offer either. Always ended up with good products that lasted. But as a disclaimer, I never had to constantly use them on steep mountain roads, so there's that. Hope the rest of it helps

 

[Scorpion]

The Power Stop Z36 is a noticeable upgrade from stock, have them on my 2014 Ram 1500. Would recommend them. Be sure to


Replace the flex hoses from the calipers as well, I didn’t and ended up having a hose collapse and cause it to trash the caliper, pad, and rotor.

 

[rickjames80]

I work on the side for a concrete company, so I change a fair amount of brakes. The extreme duty or anything that says police package do hold up better. We notice more issues with the cheaper rotors. They seem to warp sooner/more often. On personal rigs we go mid grade pads with higher quality rotors, but the price between mid and top pads is usually minimal.

 

[BRTreedogs]

I put power stop rotors, calipers and pads on my tundra and probably would again. But my calipers were siezed and I got them from auto anything on black Friday.

I've put several sets of cheap drilled and slotted rotors from ebay on several cars and had much better luck with not warping vs stock.

I use ceramic pads just for less brake dust.

I can't say that any of these upgrades have increased stopping power but they do seem to last longer.

 

[sndmn11]

The Power Stop Z36 is a noticeable upgrade from stock, have them on my 2014 Ram 1500. Would recommend them. Be sure to


Replace the flex hoses from the calipers as well, I didn’t and ended up having a hose collapse and cause it to trash the caliper, pad, and rotor.

Do you think I'd need to do replace hoses if I just got the pads and not the whole rotor kit z36? My rotors are well above discard thickness all the way around.

 

[WV Mountaineer]

I’m sure there is a difference in rotors. Because there is a huge difference in longevity of the gold pads over the cheapo pads.

 

[BRTreedogs]

Do you think I'd need to do replace hoses if I just got the pads and not the whole rotor kit z36? My rotors are well above discard thickness all the way around.

I probably wouldn't and didn't 2 years ago on my 05 tundra.
I would move the hoses around and look for, swelling, cracks etc.

That being said if you do calipers you have to bleed the entire system anyways.

 

[Oldffemt]

I have no experience working on dodges, but had a dodge company truck for 5 years.
I have 460k on my current daily driver (ford super duty) and have had several other vehicles go well over 300k (Chevy, Toyotas, Subaru, jeeps). I maintain all my own vehicles because there’s just not a trustworthy shop in my county. I can tell you from lots of experience, you get what you pay for with brake rotors. If you go cheap, they’ll likely warp fairly quickly especially if you drive mountain roads regularly.

I used to work in a Toyota shop, they would run brake pad “specials” and put supposedly high end (semi-metallic) pads on, knowing that the pads they were using were too hard and would destroy the rotors and people would have to have the entire system replaced inside a year. Brakes are a system, you need to do your own research and make sure all the components you buy are compatible. For gods sake please don’t trust the guy behind the counter at the parts store to check for you, they won’t. Fwiw, I wouldn’t use rock auto parts again if they were free.

 

[browning2480]

We have had good luck with Detroit Axle rotors. Have a slotted set on my Tahoe and they are holding up well. Son has had a set on his Jeep WJ for a few years now with no issues. I just go with AutoZone ceramic pads because of the warranty. Wear them out and take them back for a free set

 

[PathFinder]

Hawk brake pads have been excellent on the three Tacomas I've had them on. Significant improvement in stopping ability without killing rotors.

Sent from my SM-G973U using Tapatalk

 

[pfred8]

I would look into Powerstop. They made a huge difference on my 13 Ram 1500. They’ll be on my current truck once the factory ones wear out.

 

[displacedtexan]

I'd definitely do Powerstop z36, the best bang for the buck in brakes there is.

Do pads and rotors. It's best to replace rotors with the pads. I don't like turning them, it removes mass.

Plus the drilled/slotted (whatever they do on the ones for your truck) will help dissapate heat on long or steep descents.

 

[JoeDirt]

I choose pads based on how hard my rotors are to change. Pads with more stopping power wear on the rotor more. If the said vehicle has easy to change rotors I might get some performance pads. If the vehicle has hard to change rotors I might go with something that offers a little more rotor life.

 

[displacedtexan]

I choose pads based on how hard my rotors are to change. Pads with more stopping power wear on the rotor more. If the said vehicle has easy to change rotors I might get some performance pads. If the vehicle has hard to change rotors I might go with something that offers a little more rotor life.

You just slap new pads on without touching the rotors?

 

[JoeDirt]

You just slap new pads on without touching the rotors?

Yep, if the the rotors are good there is no reason to change them.

Any indication of ridges, cracks, discoloration and vibrations when braking i change them.

 

[sndmn11]

I ended up ordering raybestos hybrid pads and we will turn the rotors since they are near the new thickness and well above the discard thickness.

 

[displacedtexan]

Yep, if the the rotors are good there is no reason to change them.

Any indication of ridges, cracks, discoloration and vibrations when braking i change them.

I've just never seen a pair of rotors that has been on long enough to wear out pads be dead flat.

Even if they were, they're still thinner than new.

 

[Marbles]

Depends on what you want. For me, stopping power and fade resistant win. Hawk LTS pads have worked very well for me.

For rotors, I prefer sold (no dilled or slotted). Brimbo makes well designed ones.

Lightly sand the new rotors. Bed the pads.

Ceramic sacrifices stopping performance for durability.

 

[JoeDirt]

I've just never seen a pair of rotors that has been on long enough to wear out pads be dead flat.

Even if they were, they're still thinner than new.

You must be younger, no one seems to turn rotors anymore. They can be thinner, the factory specs that out. There's a difference between being flat and warped. Rotors dont have to be dead flat the pads will break into a non flat rotor they will not break into a warped rotor.