New brakes for '11 F350 PSD?

[Orcusomega]

Well, the TV is in need of new front brakes, so I was wondering if anyone had good experiences with aftermark pads and/rotors?

I tow my 35' TT pretty regularly, and believe an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure 🙂 Especially brakes!

Anyone have good/bad experiences? Ive used ceramic pads/vented rotors in cars but I'm not sure how that translates to SD trucks...

Thanks!

[SLE]

I gave Rotor-Pro's a call and they set me with there heavy duty pads and slotted and cross drilled rotors for all four corners a fantastic price for my F250. So far I've been happy with them but I only have about 8k miles on them. Thus far I have not noticed any dust on my polished rims! I don't remember the exact price, I think it was around $300-$400 shipped. What I do remember is they were about $50 cheaper than buying only front rotors and pads from the local dealer!

[ksss]

I put EBC Sport Rotors front and back on my 3500. I went with Hawk SD pads. It has been an outstanding combination. I read a ton of feedback on the combination and it was nearly all positive. I don't see near the brake fad I had with OEM. My second option was to go with the EBC brake pads with the EBC Rotors.

[JustLabs]

One of the jobs a rotor has, is to act as a heat sink temporarily pulling heat out of the pads.

That's one of the reason I don't turn them,I want all the beef I can get.

[jus2shy]

Personally, for towing, I'd go for semi-metallic type pads. More bite even though they tend to make a good amount of dust. They also don't last as long as Ceramic brakes.

Ceramic pads are great for lighter duty vehicles. They don't dust as much and have a far longer life. But they don't have nearly as much "bite" as a semi-metallic would. I've noticed on my wife's old Subaru, when I switched her to Ceramic, it took a little more effort to achieve the same stopping distances. I'm taking it that this would not be desirable for a Tow Vehicle :).

Generally I avoid organics. This is just the bottom-of-the-barrel choice in my book. Doesn't last as long as semi-metallics and doesn't bite as hard given its shorter life.

Also, no need to replace your rotors right away. I don't know what your rotor costs are, but for 5 or 10 bucks a pop at the local parts store, I have always turned mine. There's a spec for minimum thickness on the rotor before they're condemned and I like to maximize the life out of them. I've never had a turned rotor crack on me in my lifetime.

[JustLabs]

Orcusomega wrote:


I will replace the rotors and pads (I don't know how they were treated, and for the price, better to replace them since they are basically off with the removal of 2 extra bolts).

If I'm changing pads,I'm also changing rotors. They're cheap enough that it doesn't make sense to turn them.

[kmfvfr]

Ron3rd wrote:
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.

That stinks as I was going to try them with a slotted rotor. I hate the

stock rotors on the front as they warp badly and way too soon. I am open to any suggestions.

[gmw_photos]

JustLabs wrote:
I generally go OEM for pads.

Me too, as I have found a few times over the years that some aftermarket pads can be more aggressive on wearing to rotor.
And at least in the world of motorcycling, often, OEM pads have the best braking "feel". The idea runs along the line that the OEM designed the pads and the alloys of the rotor to work together.

YMMV.

[Orcusomega]

Ok, I am going to look into OEM brakes - I don't really have any significant complaints, but dont have any complaints about the OEM pads. Dusty, yes, but i dont really care about that much... I will trade off clean for safe 🙂

I will replace the rotors and pads (I don't know how they were treated, and for the price, better to replace them since they are basically off with the removal of 2 extra bolts).

Thanks for all the help!

Bob

[Orcusomega]

Garry&Gayle wrote:
How many miles did you get out of the original brake pads?

Right now there sis 75K on the clock, I have put about 20K on it, and the previous owner the rest. He did a lot of cross-country towing of a TT, so it has seen a lot of hard braking I would imagine...

Bob

[AH64ID]

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.

[JamesBr]

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.

[Turtle_n_Peeps]

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.

[AH64ID]

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

[Ron3rd]

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.

[JustLabs]

I generally go OEM for pads.