Brake pad recommendations?

[mongoose]

Going to have to replace the brake pads on the front of my 99. Can I get some recommendations of what people have found to work the best?

 

[me4osu]

Warner Super Duty

I got them at O'reilly for $52. 00 and installed them about two weeks ago. They work great and made with the rubber backing stuff that keeps them from squealinig.

 

[Steve Campbell]

Carbomet pads seem to be popular...

However, almost any high quality pads will work well... unless you have some unusual circumstances. (High gross weight-jack rabbit stops-lots of hills etc. )



How many miles out of your first set? Make sure you properly lube all of the moving parts for "pull free" operation in the future.

 

[DennyDay]

Brake Pads

Now have 113k miles on a set of CarQuest lifetime pads, they still had 40% left on them when I checked them Saturday. I keep the rears adjusted, every other oil change and do have a Jake brake.

I put the CarQuest pads on at 3000 miles because of a bad pull to the right, it cured the pull problem. I only got 30k miles on the OEM set on my '97.

 

[hammersley]

Lubing Parts

Ok I think I know, but I really want to be sure of the correct procedure that is recommended by Steve when he says: "Make sure you properly lube all of he moving parts for "pull free" operation in the future. " For example do you clean off everything first - and if so how good of a job, and with what stuff.



Thanks

 

[tgbol]

I just put the Carbon-Metalic pads front and rear on my '01. 5. A big improvement. I haven't towed yet, but I do go down a pretty good grade everyday and use a lot less pedal pressure to stop.

 

[rkressg]

Brakes

I use the NAPA Lifetime Semi-Metallic pads. They have about 6,000 miles on them. They squeak when I stop, but show no wear. I do extenxive heavy hauling and towing. The pads cost me $65 (Friend who works there), but they list for around $100.



I use NAPA pads on all of my vehicals (except my GMC Syclone), and have never had to replace them. I have a 94 Town and Country with 140,000 miles, replaced OEM pads at 35,000. So NAPA have 105,000, and the van is driven by a woman.

 

[Joe Mc]

hammersley I copied this for future use originally sent by LSMITH I had replaced calipers, pad and both front hoses to get the dreaded pull return after a few thousand miles.



I have had the same components replaced on my truck plus some and the pull would not stop. What I found was rough mating surfaces on the caliper and knuckle were responsible for the pull on my truck. Take the caliper off and use a fine cut file to smooth them. Lay the file flat against the caliper slide surface and take the high spots down, about 50% of the surface smooth is plenty. Do that on the top and bottom slides of the caliper, then do the mating surfaces on the knuckle the same way. Be sure to keep the file flat against the surfaces to maintain the angles of the surfaces. Clean the caliper pins up and polish them if necessary with 800 or finer sandpaper. Lube the pins and slide surfaces with brake lube, and be sure to remove any spacers the dealer tried to bandaid the pull with. Reassemble and your pull should be gone. All together this should take you about an hour in the driveway. Let me know how it turns out for you if you get a minute, I have been pull free for over 25K miles and think it is gone for good. Hope this helps.



Also, when asked what type of grease he replied:



the brake lube I bought was listed as "synthetic brake and caliper grease", Napa has a brake lube called SilGlide or something very similar. Just make sure the lube you buy and use is specifically for brakes and you are all set. Next, I took out ALL of the spacers on mine. Keep this in mind, if you still have a pull you can put the spacer in one side or the other to help tame it. Start with them all out, it is a bandaid approach to a truck built out of geometry anyway. Eliminate the brake pull and you are well on your way to a quality driving experience.



I haven't had the chance to try this yet but can't wait - hope it works - makes sense though

 

[BillGotthelf]

I have owned 5 different dodge diesals and they all ate front pads. I got the longest life out of my disc pads by cleaning the slide pins of all grease and dirt and cleaning the holes they slide in also. Use synthetic grease (hi-temp) when reinstalling. The little fix that seem to triple my pad life was to "polish" the slide pad areas that the caliper slides back and forth on. These areas pick up rust, dirt and crud. I polish them with a 3m abrasive disc and them sand them down with 400 paper. I do both surfaces-the caliper and the mounting bracket. This has worked on all my diesals. As far as pads I have tried almost every brand out there and the new Wagner thermo quiet heavy duty seem to hold up the longest but Performance Friction Carbon Metalic are the best at stopping. Both have lifetime warranties but both pads must be worn equally to collect on the warranty. If the caliper binds the pad against the piston will have a very short life. Good Luck.

 

[mongoose]

Thanks for the tips guys! i'll have to go shopping now!