Heavy Duty Brakes?
I am prepping a "new to me" TV and looking for some pre-season advice. My tow vehicles have always been trucks I bought new, so was very aware of prior maintenance etc. My new TV is a 3500 Silverado...
Forum Discussion
ScottG wrote:mapguy wrote:
If you go to a semi metallic pads -you will give up long life for a very minor performance upgrade.
Kind of agree. You may loose service life but in that case Of Hawk pads, the performance is much greater.
In my own application, I will gladly give up 75% (exaggerated) of service life for 25% better braking.
Pads are relatively cheap and in an emergency, I'm not concerned with saving $30~$60 bucks. Just want to stop fast.
If I put many hundreds of thousands of miles on my rig I may feel different but with only 5~6K a year and lots of mountain towing, excellent brakes are a good investment to me.
Scott -my comments are directly aimed at the OP's vehicle, a 2500hd/3500 Classic Series GM truck. I have a 2006 2500HD/Duramax. The performance of the OEM brake pads is very good and last a long time, too. These trucks do need regular maintenance of the caliper pins and pad fitment to maintain the excellent stopping power. The ongoing pin and pad fitment maintenance is where most fail....on these trucks.
For me, a balance in performance and longevity is a requirement for my truck. It is driven every day -sometime loaded, sometimes empty, sometimes towing a 14k toyhauler to remote mountain locations mainly in Washington, Idaho, or Oregon. Many of these remote mountain locations require going over dirt road passes that make Stevens Pass/ US2 seem flat.
