Brake Advice Please?

[mberry]

I would like some opinions as to what I can replace the brake pads with. I'm not thrilled with the OEM pads since I almost wrecked the truck yesterday. Almost didn't stop in time. Added a few gray hairs to my head in the process.



This is my situation:



I live and drive in the hills north of Reno, NV to and from work on US395. One long, steep hill on the offramp.



I pull a 3500# boat now and then and haul dirt/firewood/rocks around from time to time but mostly drive around town and commute. Boat trailer has brakes.



What I am interested in is finding the best combination of price vs. stopping power and pad life. I am on a limited budget as well. I have read some of the old threads but just wasn't clear on what people really thought. I am leaning towards Carbon Metallic since they seem to work well.



Here's where I apologize for the long post and ask for everyone's opinion. Thanks in advance.



Oo.

 

[LSMITH]

I use the Performance Friction Carbon Metallics from AutoZone. They do work a lot better than the OEM pads and are under $40 a set. They have a lifetime warranty too. I am on my second set of them and am very pleased with them. I got over 40K miles out of the last set, and had a caliper haning for a long time in those miles. Properly maintained I would have gotten over 50K out them easily. Hope this helps.

 

[PSL53]

brake pads

I put carbmet pads that I got from Sam Peterson, do a search for his number. I paid a bit more than $40 bucks, but got the bushings and lub to do the job right. I'm very happy with the pads.

Hope this helps

Peter

 

[Riflesmith]

I installed Iron Claw Copper Top pads 4,000 miles ago. They stop the truck much better than the stockers and it stops very straight as well. See the TDR link for Mr. Bob's Distributing for details. Oo.

 

[RThompson]

I posted a while back on the same problem. Feels like when the truck is loaded there isn't enough braking on the back axle. The mushy pedal feels like same brake that I had on a GM product a few years ago. Changing that truck to Raybestos Brute Stops on the front helped but I still had the feeling that back axle needed more line pressure. Guess manufactures don't figure that loaded weight factor is any concern, just so truck stops ok empty.

 

[mberry]

Thanks for all the advice. Anyone else have an opinion?

 

[lschultz]

We put the pads from Sam Peterson on my sons 99. They come with everything you need in the box. Got some for my truck too but the pads do not need replacing yet. My sons squealed lightly after a while but thats has stopped. He can not believe how good they stop. Do a search and you'll find the info on Sam. Don't have it with me right now.

 

[mberry]

I sent Sam an email today. Thanks to all for the info.