changing Front Brake Pads For Towing TT

ROBERTSUNRUS wrote:


:) Hi, Vented rotors are rotors that have a gap with cooling fins in the middle. They are much better than solid rotors. I think what you really meant was that drilled and slotted rotors are for racing. I'm sure that your Sierra has vented rotors and you are happy to have them.

Of course that's what I meant. Thanks for catching that. I've never seen a rotor that wasn't vented.

Sam Spade wrote:

2012Coleman wrote:
Not sure why some feel the need to talk about race cars, traction, and wasting money.

And I'm not sure why some seem to feel obligated to try and analyze the motives of others who post comments.

The reason IS......that trying to "make your brakes better" often is a simple waste of time and money. Many people don't think it through far enough to realize that.

Pointing that out is an attempt to help someone out. If not the OP of this thread, then maybe someone else.

I appreciate that. More often than not slotted and drilled rotors cost far more than standard ones. Case in point, the link to AutoAnything. $283 for my truck. I paid $150 for rotors and pads from NAPA. What would I gain by spending another $133.00? If someone feels they work well for them great, but just peruse car and truck forums. Very few people will say they gained anything by putting them on.

Save the money, you don't need anything fancy. Get a fresh set of blank vented rotors and good quality semi-metallic brake pads. Last year I replaced my rotors and put on some Wagner ThermoQuiet pads. I ended up experiencing total brake failures with the trailer. I had to stop the entire weight of the truck and trailer from 60 to 0 mph on a few occasions. The truck handled it well and it was mostly a nonevent. While it did take a lot more effort to stop the combo, there was no brake fade, warping, overheating, or bursting into flames during the events. The trailer averaged 8,200 lbs according to the scale tickets at that time. The stock setup is more than enough when the trailer brakes are setup correctly. It's adequate for when they're not.

2012Coleman wrote:
My Tundra went through rotors fast -

Tundras chew through front brakes if you do any sort of towing, as evidenced by many posts in the Tundra forums. I was running through a set every 15k miles with the typical pedal pulse that everyone describes as warped rotors.

Turns out rotors don't warp. What happens is that pads can leave tiny deposits on the rotors when they get hot. Those deposits tend to attract more deposits. The end result is pulsing in the pedal that gets worse over time.

After replacing the brakes with factory pads/rotors a couple of times, I went to after market: cheap rotors and EBC Yellowstuff pads (I first tried expensive rotors because, before I researched, I thought the rotors were the problem...but I mated them to OEM pads and they were shortly ruined).

30k miles later...15k of which was towing 8k pounds...and no pulsing (...with OEM, I had moderate pulsing by 10k miles that became unbearable by 15k). The only downside is increased brake dust--there are probably better pads in that regard than Yellowstuff.

My point: pulsing / "warped rotors" is almost always a pad issue.

2012Coleman wrote:
Not sure why some feel the need to talk about race cars, traction, and wasting money.

And I'm not sure why some seem to feel obligated to try and analyze the motives of others who post comments.

The reason IS......that trying to "make your brakes better" often is a simple waste of time and money. Many people don't think it through far enough to realize that.

Pointing that out is an attempt to help someone out. If not the OP of this thread, then maybe someone else.

My Tundra went through rotors fast - the stock ones warped on me twice. The ones I have now stay much cooler So my vented, drilled, and slotted rotors were not a waste of money. I spent less on them than a stock pair, and since I've been driving the truck a while, I pretty much can tell when the braking performance improved. Maybe you guys with 4 wheel rotors don't need them, but I'm very happy with them and these are a great deal. And yes, we are talking about a truck pulling a trailer which is what I do. Simply sharing my experience in regards to the Original post. Not sure why some feel the need to talk about race cars, traction, and wasting money.

Sam Spade wrote:

myredracer wrote:
The braking was much improved.

While I understand that this discussion is about a truck pulling a trailer and that is a bit different...............

ALL modern vehicles have ABS.
IF you can stomp on the brakes and activate the ABS or lock up the wheels, then you don't NEED " better brakes".

Now if you are driving a race car, that's a different story.

You beat me to it. When the tire traction is the limiting factor it's the limiting factor period.

2012Coleman wrote:
I got vented rotors and ceramic pads at Autoanything.com Your application seems to be priced at 183.19

:) Hi, if this is what you bought, (in this picture) these are vented rotors that are also drilled and slotted.

Campfire Time wrote:
Vented rotors are a waste of money. They are for high performance racing applications and heat levels that most towing situations never come close to. Unless of course you just want to look cool. ;)

Pads are another matter. Cheap pads are just that. For towing I've found the semi-metallic pads far better than ceramic, which these days are usually OEM. I'm always willing to try something new though. I recently put a set of Napa Adaptive One Brake Pads on my Sierra. They are ceramic with different formulas for the inner vs outer pad. Wow, pretty nice so far after about 2 months. Noticeably better stopping power, towing or daily driving.

:) Hi, Vented rotors are rotors that have a gap with cooling fins in the middle. They are much better than solid rotors. I think what you really meant was that drilled and slotted rotors are for racing. I'm sure that your Sierra has vented rotors and you are happy to have them.

myredracer wrote:
The braking was much improved.

While I understand that this discussion is about a truck pulling a trailer and that is a bit different...............

ALL modern vehicles have ABS.
IF you can stomp on the brakes and activate the ABS or lock up the wheels, then you don't NEED " better brakes".

Now if you are driving a race car, that's a different story.

Vented rotors are a waste of money. They are for high performance racing applications and heat levels that most towing situations never come close to. Unless of course you just want to look cool. ;)

Pads are another matter. Cheap pads are just that. For towing I've found the semi-metallic pads far better than ceramic, which these days are usually OEM. I'm always willing to try something new though. I recently put a set of Napa Adaptive One Brake Pads on my Sierra. They are ceramic with different formulas for the inner vs outer pad. Wow, pretty nice so far after about 2 months. Noticeably better stopping power, towing or daily driving.