New brakes for '11 F350 PSD?

My understanding is that ceramic pads are nice and clean but for maximum braking you want something different.

I've been looking at EBC YellowStuff.

And you can get vented rotors as well ...

Hi,

I don't know if I would want brake pads that grip better than the stock ones. Why? Better gripping probably will mean increased heat. That is not a problem with a 3,000 - 4,000 pound car, it can go from 70 MPH to 0 in a few dozen feet, and not need to apply the brake pads more than 8 seconds in the process. So the rotors can not really heat up that much in the process of stopping a car.

As you know, stopping a trailer on a long decent is another matter, and engine braking is the best way to prevent brake wear and abuse, including overheating. Having a brake pad that can grip the rotor better, and thus slow you quickly might be OK, in that you will not need to apply the brakes more than a few seconds to scrub off a lot of speed, and then have a longer time without the brakes applied to allow cooling, yet I don't know - keep thinking about the stronger brakes heating up the rotors to much!

I would want a quality brake pad, and make sure I was not getting a cheap fake pad.

I do know that Ford sells the brake fluid with the highest "Wet" boiling point, and the price is reasonable, at the local Ford dealer. Buy the stuff rated for the 24,000 GVWR motorhomes, it will have a wet boiling point about 50F warmer than the other brake fluids.

Good luck on your decision.

Fred.

How many miles did you get out of the original brake pads?

I have not tried the EBC yellow for truck, but I have used EBC yellow for cars. If its the same compound I will say you will love the performance of the pad, they really do step it up from OEM compounds. But if the truck compound is like the car compound you will NOT like the amount of dusting they create. I also found they wear out a lot faster. But they do not tear up the rotors, so on a car I was able to get two sets of pads to a rotor before they where worn below spec and needed replacement.

A friend uses the Hawk Superduty pad. It has great performance in the compound, no noticeable dusting over the OEM compound, but when they are cold they can squeal a bit. Once they warm up they never seem to have an issue. I been considering these or a step down to the Hawk LTS when I am due for pads probably around fall/winter timeframe before my big trip to FL.

I generally go OEM for pads.

The Hawk pads I have on my Tundra are the absolute worst I've ever owned in terms of mega brake dust. Don't recall the model, but it's the one they recommend for towing. I'm going to take them off and go with OEM.

With the way ABS systems are calibrated I would stick to OEM brakes.

Brakes are always a trade-off. If you improve in one area it will hurt in another.

If you have a pad that will work really good when hot it will suffer when cold..............and the other way around.

If you have a rotor that is slotted or drilled so it will carry the off-gasing it will have less surface area to handle high load.

It's all a trade-off.

That being said, stick with OEM. That is your best bet. SD Ford trucks have some of the best brakes on the market in class, so my advice is to stick with them.

As far as Ford making some of the best fluid? That is utter rubbish. In fact, they make one of the worst, if not the worst fluid on the market.
That's not to say it's Ford fluid is bad; it's not. It's just that there are tons of fluids on the market that are better and to say they make a great fluid is totally wrong and incorrect.

On a side note. I would question why you need brakes so soon. That is not a very heavy trailer you're towing. At 75K my brakes look like brand new.

If the Hawk LTS dust that much, then I will keep looking at others.

For anyone lead to believe that the ABS system is calibrated around brake pad material, you are being flat out lied to. The ABS system detects wheel lock up, so if you are not locking up wheels (which none of the pads mentioned should any more then OEM pads) then you have other issues with your ABS system.

I would like a little more braking performance over the OEM pads. Even with how well the truck and trailer performs, it was actually a day not towing a trailer but having a heavy load in the bed where I wish I had a little more bite as I felt braking performance was not put to par. I would hate to have that feeling with the 5th wheel pushing on me.

As for ford fluid is a premium blend, you can get the same characteristics from other brands with the same or better dry and wet boiling points. Many times at a better price.

ABS systems contain algorithms for application that are based on the OEM brake pad coefficient, any change in cF will result in a change to the ABS performance. Not sure why you think different, but that's how modern ABS works. It's possible that 20 years ago it didn't matter, but on today's vehicles it does.