better truck brakes?

[rwiegand]

Has anyone upgraded their truck brakes in a way that gave a big improvement or longer life?

It seems that I have another warped rotor after only about 10K miles. so I'm wondering about the possibility of heavier duty components that might also improve the current appalling stopping distance.

I have a 2007 F350 diesel dually that I run pretty close to the GCWR between the camper and trailer. It seems to eat front brakes. The electric trailer brakes seem to work, though I'm unsure how to test their efficacy at higher speeds-- at low speeds they will easily lock up.

[Grit_dog]

From the pic in your signature, that's a whole lotta camper and trailer.
An exhaust brake will fix your problems if you use it correctly.
However unless that 10kmi was all fully loaded and all steep hills, something else is the problem Imo. Even then, are you riding brakes downhill, starting too fast at the top?
How many times have you "warped" the front rotors? First time in this short of mileage ?
Are the rears and trailer brakes working properly? You live in one of the rustiest states with a 12 year old truck. I'd make sure the rest of the brakes are prefect or your front brakes will take the brunt of it.
I've run a few older super duty trucks as construction trucks in the Rockies and brakes seemed stout to me.

[snakyjake]

I'm not a brake expert...From my reading drilled/grooved rotors help with brake fade from pad dust and "gas", or maybe make it lightweight for racing. For trucks, I never saw how reducing surface area would make things better.

In braking you can either wear down your rotor or your pads, depending on what pads you put on.

I'd suggest looking at the newer, bigger, commercial, trucks and see what they do.

I also suggest looking at exhaust brakes.

[rwiegand]

I was wondering if anyone had experience with drilled/grooved rotors? It seems the pads are able to grab sufficiently to generate a ton of heat, so I'm not sure how much is to be gained by changing pads. I'm not wearing the pads out at all, the rotors are what's getting trashed.

[joeshmoe]

ticki2 wrote:

What was the problem that got fixed ? Perhaps it would help the OP and others .

X2 I'd like to know since I'm looking at new pads here pretty quick.
I take it OEM pads aren't the best as many of us have been trained to think over the years?

[jimh406]

I just read a little about the conversion, but I didn't look into the specifics.

[Shadow_Catcher]

I found a similar, or perhaps the same article and when I was having a problem changed the pads, which fixed the problem.

[ticki2]

jimh425 wrote:
EBC makes good pads. You could look into a conversion for bigger front brakes from a F450 or similar, buy after market discs, or buy a F450.

Are the discs interchangeable between F350 and F450 without changing wheels ?

[ticki2]

Boatycall wrote:
I recently did a LOT of reading about brake pads due to an issue I was having with my '01 F350 DRW. The issue is now fixed, but this article was extremely helpful. Takes "Waddaya think of these pads" opinions and guess work out.
There is an actual friction coefficient rating that pads are rated at, regardless of organic, semi-metallic, ceramic or carbon-metallic.

Worth noting, I had chosen EBC G-rated pads @$200/set, but before purchasing, problem was found and fixed.

Brake pad coefficient ratings explained

What was the problem that got fixed ? Perhaps it would help the OP and others .

[352]

jmckelvy wrote:
Some years ago I read a brake article which maintained that what we commonly refer to as a wrapped rotor is usually not really that. The article said that this is typically caused by pad material migration into the rotor surface after the rotor/pad have gotten very hot and the caliper maintains the pad clamped to the rotor. Something like a panic stop at a traffic light or similar. The material migration causes a slight increase in the rotor thickness at that point which causes the vibration as the brakes are applied and the rotor turns.

I cannot remember or locate the article.

To the original question I have gotten good results from Powerstop pads.

Wouldn't that be warped?

[jmckelvy]

Some years ago I read a brake article which maintained that what we commonly refer to as a warped rotor is usually not really that. The article said that this is typically caused by pad material migration into the rotor surface after the rotor/pad have gotten very hot and the caliper maintains the pad clamped to the rotor. Something like a panic stop at a traffic light or similar. The material migration causes a slight increase in the rotor thickness at that point which causes the vibration as the brakes are applied and the rotor turns.

I cannot remember or locate the article.

To the original question I have gotten good results from Powerstop pads.

[snakyjake]

You will either eat through pads or rotors, and I much rather replace pads. The pad differences switch between clean, fading, braking power, longevity.

Solutions for warped rotors might be cryogenic brake rotors. Bigger rotors would help.

Consider an exhaust brake upgrade.

[Boatycall]

I recently did a LOT of reading about brake pads due to an issue I was having with my '01 F350 DRW. The issue is now fixed, but this article was extremely helpful. Takes "Waddaya think of these pads" opinions and guess work out.
There is an actual friction coefficient rating that pads are rated at, regardless of organic, semi-metallic, ceramic or carbon-metallic.

Worth noting, I had chosen EBC G-rated pads @$200/set, but before purchasing, problem was found and fixed.

Brake pad coefficient ratings explained

[jimh406]

EBC makes good pads. You could look into a conversion for bigger front brakes from a F450 or similar, buy after market discs, or buy a F450.