I swear I downshift! I do! I swear on a stack of Good Sam Catalogs! I downshift!!!But we're spending more and more time on campgrounds up around 11,000' or more. Three times now, the grade was steep enough that - even tho' I'm in 2nd gear - I have to step on the brakes to take me from 45mph back to 30mph. And on these three times, the brakes have heated up too much for comfort.While I'm always on the watch for the small shudder that alerts me things are getting hot, I worry that the wife won't heed the warnings until it's too late.Our Class C is based on a 2007 Chevy platform. It has 80,000 miles and heck, I should do brake job anyway.That got me thinking, since the front end is opened up anyway maybe I should go for an aftermarket set of better pads and rotors. And perhaps do all four.Has anyone else done that?Upgraded the pads and rotors?It just strikes me as a decent investment of $500.

If you are talking about drilled and slotted rotors don't waste your money and stick with OEM rotors, as far as pads you could go with ceramic pads but they do have a tendency to be noisier than stock pads

I will agree on not wasting your money on those slotted rotors.As for pads you cant go wrong with Centric They are quiet and long lasting.

Yep, solid rotors. If you google slotted rotors vs solid you will find lots of reasons not to go with drilled or slotted rotors.

I put EBC green pads front and rear on my Ram 3500 4x4 megacab. They are organic and made in England. Lot less pedal and more braking. Dustier than stock. Used on lifted trucks with oversize tires. A little pricey but available from Pepboys, autoanything and Amazon to name a few. Very quiet by the way. I used my stock rotors.

Has anyone ever upgraded their brakes/rotors? | Good Sam Community

ericsmith32
Explorer
Aug 13, 2015
If your having brake fade I'd recommend a full brake flush while you're at it. I know with 2 simple reservoir changes there's a difference in our Chevy. Planning on a doing a full flush this fall and will do another in 5 years or 40k. It may be overkill but the brakes on all our cars work better than new. On our 04 chassis it looks fairly simple.. all the bleeders are accessible without taking the tires off. After I do that I will be taking the wheels off and lubing the sliders though.. highly doubt it's been done since new.
pconroy328
Explorer
Aug 13, 2015
Just poking around Rock Auto and the web, I only see replacement sized rotors. Nothing larger.

I think upgraded pads is probably an easy, and sensible first step.
I'll look at the rotors when the wheels are off this winter and then make a call. Maybe I'll just clean 'em up and call it good with the new pads.
j-d
Explorer II
Aug 13, 2015
For Ford, it happens to be easy. Tom took one step and another is to use still later model parts.

As Tom mentions, Chevy is different. IS there a model that offers bigger brakes? By that I mean heftier. Bigger diameter rotors that are thicker. Pads and calipers with more square inches and bigger pistons.
tatest
Explorer II
Aug 12, 2015
On grades where I need to hold 30 mph or less, I will be in first gear for engine braking. The braking force is rpm-dependent, roughly twice as much braking at 4000 rpm as at 2000.

Brake upgrades? I replaced the calipers with a later model that had less history of dragging due to corrosion in storage. But that's an E-series issue, maybe not a problem for Chevrolet.
pconroy328
Explorer
Aug 12, 2015
Thanks for the info!!!
time2roll
Nomad
Aug 12, 2015
+1 for EBC pads and solid rotors
Mandalay_Parr
Explorer
Aug 12, 2015
Maybe go down to first gear.
cmeade
Explorer
Aug 12, 2015
I put EBC green pads front and rear on my Ram 3500 4x4 megacab. They are organic and made in England. Lot less pedal and more braking. Dustier than stock. Used on lifted trucks with oversize tires. A little pricey but available from Pepboys, autoanything and Amazon to name a few. Very quiet by the way. I used my stock rotors.
BB_TX
Nomad
Aug 12, 2015
Yep, solid rotors. If you google slotted rotors vs solid you will find lots of reasons not to go with drilled or slotted rotors.
IAMICHABOD
Explorer II
Aug 11, 2015
I will agree on not wasting your money on those slotted rotors.

As for pads you cant go wrong with Centric They are quiet and long lasting.