Brake pads

[TobyU]

If you have a nice smooth pedal with no pulsation and no warped rotors etc and you don't have bigger tires on an off-road vehicle then you really don't need to turn or replace the rotors when you put pads on. Many people believe this but it was just a thing the dealers and garages told people to sell service and parts. Kind of like the fact that Jiffy Lube and the quick oil change places convinced the American people for the past 30 years that it was imperative they change the oil every 3 months or 3000 miles. A huge percentage of people have now come to the understanding that this is all hype and it's not necessary to change oil nearly that much. Some people still swear by it and change fully synthetic oil every 3000 3500.
They might have greater peace of mind but a lot of people would say they're just wasting money.

 

[Plati]

If you have a nice smooth pedal with no pulsation and no warped rotors etc and you don't have bigger tires on an off-road vehicle then you really don't need to turn or replace the rotors when you put pads on. Many people believe this but it was just a thing the dealers and garages told people to sell service and parts. Kind of like the fact that Jiffy Lube and the quick oil change places convinced the American people for the past 30 years that it was imperative they change the oil every 3 months or 3000 miles. A huge percentage of people have now come to the understanding that this is all hype and it's not necessary to change oil nearly that much. Some people still swear by it and change fully synthetic oil every 3000 3500.
They might have greater peace of mind but a lot of people would say they're just wasting money.

Totally agree (rotors) and have done that many times over the years. Lately I just replace them because I'm in there and I like to take everything apart and make it all like new and then I'm starting at square 1. Plus I enjoy overkill or over engineering things. In my mind for my stuff its better to go overboard then underboard. Unless I'm on a boat.

Let the oil posts begin!

 

[Kevin Esplin]

Well I popped for the Duralast Gold and Duralast rotors, I’ll keep you posted in coming weeks if noise or dust is an issue. Drives me nuts to have chrome rims with back dust all over.

 

[TobyU]

Well I popped for the Duralast Gold and Duralast rotors, I’ll keep you posted in coming weeks if noise or dust is an issue. Drives me nuts to have chrome rims with back dust all over.

You're going to get some dust. Especially if they're semi-metallic but a lot of the new pads are ceramic. Ceramic pads have always been known to give less brake dust but they have a bad tendency to squeal like a city bus coming to a stop. I have it happened many times on customers cars to the point that I stop putting ceramic on. But they are good for less dust.

 

[edizzle]

i us the powerstop rotors and pads on all of my vehicles. the stang, my 2004 4Runner, my work vans and vehicles, etc. they are a good quality product. absolutely makes a big difference in temperature induced brake fade. are they the best, no, but absolutely serve their market.

 

[MostlyHarmless]

How are you finding those Powerstops versus stock? I hate the feel of the stock Rotors and Pads. Feels like I need too much pedal pressure and it’s not linear at all so I push a bit and get nothing then push more and get too much braking

Looking for something a bit more linear and stronger than stock

Marm

 

[edizzle]

havent really given it a good whirl yet. my tool for retracting the rear e-brake motor should be here today. i will report back when i have all 4 corners done.

 

[Plati]

What tool is that? Rotor not motor?

My tool for removing the rear rotor is a sledgehammer. Its ugly.

 

[TobyU]

How are you finding those Powerstops versus stock? I hate the feel of the stock Rotors and Pads. Feels like I need too much pedal pressure and it’s not linear at all so I push a bit and get nothing then push more and get too much braking

Looking for something a bit more linear and stronger than stock

Marm

Hmmm, maybe some cars are easier to feel differences or some people just feel the brakes more, but I have never noticed any difference in action or ability. I have once or twice felt hot brake fade that would have been less with other pads and/or rotors.
Brakes on my cars feel the same when they are down to under 20% pad left as they go with new thick pads. Every vehicle I've ever driven the brakes even feel the same the pants were down and they're grinding into the rotors. It stops exactly the same you just hear the noise and feel a tiny bit of vibration. New pads will often have a little bit of noise and a slight bit of roughness you can feel new pads will often have a little bit of noise and a slight bit of roughness you can feel when that fresh. But I have never noticed anything that is worth comparing or that would change my buying preferences. Now if I were dealing with a high performance car at high speeds or very hard driving, I very well might consider and upgraded quality pad and are rotor I see no need for daily driver normal vehicles. These cars all have more than adequate braking systems. Now people that tow any good amount of weight may certainly enjoy some upgraded stopping ability but or just using these vehicles by themselves I've never had the need.

 

[duneslider]

Hmmm, maybe some cars are easier to feel differences or some people just feel the brakes more, but I have never noticed any difference in action or ability. I have once or twice felt hot brake fade that would have been less with other pads and/or rotors.
Brakes on my cars feel the same when they are down to under 20% pad left as they go with new thick pads. Every vehicle I've ever driven the brakes even feel the same the pants were down and they're grinding into the rotors. It stops exactly the same you just hear the noise and feel a tiny bit of vibration. New pads will often have a little bit of noise and a slight bit of roughness you can feel new pads will often have a little bit of noise and a slight bit of roughness you can feel when that fresh. But I have never noticed anything that is worth comparing or that would change my buying preferences. Now if I were dealing with a high performance car at high speeds or very hard driving, I very well might consider and upgraded quality pad and are rotor I see no need for daily driver normal vehicles. These cars all have more than adequate braking systems. Now people that tow any good amount of weight may certainly enjoy some upgraded stopping ability but or just using these vehicles by themselves I've never had the need.

Just curious if you have ever used higher quality pads and rotors. On my jeep I have now used several of the "store brands" and all felt about the same and I felt they worked about the same. On a whim, I tried centric rotors and EBC yellow pads and it made a huge difference. It was way more expensive than everything I had used in the past on the jeep but it was significantly better. WAY more dust and noisier than anything I had used but stopping is better and I haven't experienced fade like I had previously in fact they seem to get more grabby when they get hotter. Previous to this I was looking at getting a big brake kit for the jeep to help stop the 35's, now I don't feel like it is needed.

I personally don't feel the brakes are that bad on the expedition, so I don't know that I will use anything special on mine.