Front brake wear - inquiring

[JEmmons]

Question for the daily drivers whom don't tow that much: How many miles are you getting out of the front brake pads?


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1998 RAM Cummins Diesel 2500 4x4 club cab/long bed, auto with 3. 54 rears. Horton electric fan clutch, fuel pump up 15%, K&N air filter, Kitty and muffler MIA. Rhino liner, Centerline comet III,s (16x8), Kelly 285/75/r16, Smittybuilt nerf bars, Lund bug shield, auxillary back up lights, Combo Pyro/egt gauge on a-pillar, Pioneer system w/ 12-disc changer, two amps and a pair of Rockford 10" under seat. Factory OEM fog lights.

 

[Grey Wolf]

Only 214,000 out of the first set?

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'93 LE W250 5spd 3. 54 White Reg Cab
215,000 Miles 04/29/01

 

[illflem]

20k out of the stock set. Napa premium pads have over 100k. The trick was to start adjusting the rears by hand at every oil change and relubing the caliper pins about every 20k with silicone grease. Relubing can be done without even removing the tires or jacking if you do one pin at a time. My daily drive is into a town with one stop light, I don't use the brakes much...

 

[JEmmons]

214,000?!! Now that is impressive. What is the secret? 20,000 sounds more in line. I got 35k out of the factory and have been using the standard duty 8800gvw from NAPA. I'm getting 20k. I just changed them and checked the rear ones. Sure enough, there was a lot of room, maybe to the point where they were not even making contact. Got the rears set now so hopefully I can get closer to the 35k mark out of this set. Thanks for the help illflem.

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1998 RAM Cummins Diesel 2500 4x4 club cab/long bed, auto with 3. 54 rears. Horton electric fan clutch, fuel pump up 15%, K&N air filter, Kitty and muffler MIA. Rhino liner, Centerline comet III,s (16x8), Kelly 285/75/r16, Smittybuilt nerf bars, Lund bug shield, auxillary back up lights, Combo Pyro/egt gauge on a-pillar, Pioneer system w/ 12-disc changer, two amps and a pair of Rockford 10" under seat. Factory OEM fog lights.

 

[drawson]

I just change mine for the first time and they probibly could have gone at least 10K more. Just passed 100K.

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EAT'M UP
97 2500 Club 4X4 3. 54, Forrest Green/Driftwood, LSD 5 speed, & Psychotty Air System, TST #11, 370 HP injectors, timing at 16 deg. , 16CM2 housing, AFC spring kit, TST EGT gauge & 0-60 boost gauge in A Pillar, Cat-be-gone, 4" Dynomax Bullet muffler, Crome 4" turn down, 2 Electric Fans, One inside/ One out front, AmsOil Through out, Geno's trans filter kit, AmsOil Bypass system, Lund Winter front, Leer Cab Level Shell Driftwood , 255/85R16, South Bend's Hypo Clutch*NRA/USPSA member and proud of it*

 

[LSMITH]

Mine is a daily driver, in heavy traffic most of the time. I got 42K out of the OEM pads. Have another 20K on a set of preformance friction pads and they are about half gone.

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99 2500 QC 4X4 AUTO SB 24V LARAMIE SLT 3. 5 LSD 285-75-16'S SPA Boost/EGT Rancho 9000's Everything but leather NRA Member Great Lakes TDR Member

 

[Joe G.]

Bill and I are kind of trying to outlast the other on stuff. I have him on batteries and maybe on brake pads. 100K on the last set of pads. I have NAPA premium pads on it now but they are kind of new. No observed wear so far, but you never know. Being a kind of a perfectionist nut on service is the key to long lasting stuff.

Bill, if you take the job at Forestville, I'll make it a point to run down there to see you. #ad

 

[illflem]

Joe, the reason our trucks are lasting so well is because we both live in rural settings, tune into our trucks and have the best year made,'95. If I go out to the highway by my house and turn north the next stop is the Canadian boarder check point about 100 miles, turn south and it's 60 miles to a stop light in East Wenatchee, all on two lane road. This is what the Cummins loves, to get out on the highway and cruise non-stop at a steady rpm. I can't see how they can last long in stop and go traffic without problems, there is just to much weight to get moving and stopped all of the time. If I ever live in a place with city traffic I'll drive a Toyota and save the Dodge for long trips and heavy loads. Haven't touched my AT except for service yet(5x), 132k, how about you? Also rear end, front end have only had one oil change, transfer case four times, that's it. Original rear drums, pads and all four shocks.

[This message has been edited by illflem (edited 05-05-2001). ]

 

[sam peterson]

Did 3 2500's last week. One had 43000 and another had 109000. Quite a contrast. I have found that a lot of Ram owners replace pads a lot sooner than they need to. Nothing to good for a Ram.

 

[Joe G.]

Bill, Ya got me on the AT. My TPS (didn't know squat about it at that time) gave me trouble and that managed to damage things so that the bolts fastening the drive plate to the torque converter sheared off at 80K. Since then there have been several self inflicted wounds trying to get it right again. It now has a TST rebuild kit, DTT vb and DTT tc.

Four days a week I am in the Sacramento/Roseville area so I do have to use the brakes more there than at home in Eureka.


[This message has been edited by Joe G. (edited 05-05-2001). ]

 

[rich m]

for those of us that are in the "quick-wear" group (no speed comments from the peanut gallery, bill! #ad
) cross-drilled rotors are now available... my original front rotors went about 80K, with 2-3 cuts, and then were too narrow. Dunno how long these'll go, but the logic sounded good.

heat warps rotors. . holes allow better dissipation. (more wind)
Brake guy said that one of his clients was warping rotors every 15K. . now has crossdrills and has been OK for 45K so far (has an insanely long daily commute LV to LA daily in a 'Burb)... I say "cool" (no pun intended)
Compared to non-drilled, they were only like $30 extra, each... rm

 

[sam peterson]

I will be interested to see how the cross drilled rotors work on the Rams. I sold them to the State Patrol for a couple of years on a bunch of chevy caprices. We tempered them & stress relieved them, but nothing helped. They went back to the origionals.

 

[fest3er]

Originally posted by John Emmons:
Question for the daily drivers whom don't tow that much: How many miles are you getting out of the front brake pads?

Got about 30K on the OEM before the pads, rotors and calipers self-destructed. The delaer replacements have been fine so far. Just had the rotors turned and pads replaced at 90K. The pads were close to being gone.

If I had to guess, my driving is, perhaps, 70% highway with minimal braking: I might apply the brakes 10 times in a 500-mile leg.

The trick to long brake life is to downshift, *and* to start slowing sooner. Even in city driving, I don't often have brake hard.

Fest3er

 

[Grey Wolf]

Illflem is right most of my time is on the highway!

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'93 LE W250 5spd 3. 54 White Reg Cab
215,000 Miles 04/29/01

 

[Missouri Mule]

Around 30,000 on first set. Dodge (under warranty) replaced/fixed caliper and put new front brake pads on(They also did something to the rear). The Mule now has 114,000 with the second set. But I down shift a lot.

 

[Turbo Thom]

Well:
My front pads went 166K before the change and the rear in on 197K and still going. I tow a 12K lb. fiver but the trailer brakes work and I use an exhaust brake. That helps. I don't think I could tow without the exhaust brake again. Plus I allow room for stopping. Now I'm getting ready to change the front rotors, pads, and rear shoes and I'll probably sell the truck to a very lucky person.
Why am I doing this?
Preston

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96 3500, Black SLT, 5 speed, turbo diesel, , with US Gear overdrive, Rhino liner, Reese 15,000 lb. fifth wheel hitch, US Gear de-celarator exhaust brake, muffler elimination kit, Amsoil lub. , Mag-hytec rear cover, dual-remote by-pass filters, and Roadmaster Active system, AutoMeter Pyro & boost, Primeloc

 

[Champane Flight]

I have 74K on mine and have brake job scheduled for this weekend. Will check calipers,repack bearings and new seals. Local Napa has semi-metallic pads at 83. 00 for both front wheels. Does this sound inline with the average prices?

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95 Dodge 2500 Luverne grill guard,headache rack,running boards and Amzoiled. Soon to be mildly bombed. 84 Dodge d-150, 318 Hooker headers,Edelbrok intake,mallory ignition,Carter Afb,Accel coil,and Custom dual exhaust. Boat,fifthwheel,motorcycles,and shop. 72000 as of 3/1/01,not even broke in yet. Old Dodge 126000 miles and running better than new.

 

[Jerky]

Got 66,555 on the oem pads. Could have gotton more. After I got them off still had pad left. No power stops at lights unless it is necessary. Just Standard driving.

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1996 2500, 4x4, 5-speed, 3. 54, Full Amsoil with oil bypass filtration,
Rancho 9000's. 65,000 miles