Brakes, again - Diesel Forum

clev · 11-16-2009, 08:24 PM

I posted a message a few weeks ago, but with bike/deer wrecks, Travel trailer axle replacement, diesel fuel bowl rebuild, family visit, I've lost track. Anyway, I need to replace both front and rear brake pads. I was leaning toward Hawk Semi-metallic, but have been reading about Creramic pads. One thing that may be an issue is that ceramics may wear out the rotor prematurely. Anyone have any experience with this? My rotors are OEM and I assume the pads are semi-metallic. They've worked good for 96,000 miles, so I'm unsure as to SM or Ceramic. Also, I haven't pulled the wheels yet, and have not inspected the rotors. At 96k, will they need replacing or turned? If 96k normally wears them out, I'll order rotors when I order pads. Any ideas?

**MikeL46** · 11-17-2009, 06:43 PM

If you got 96K out of the stock brakes, why do you want to try something else?

Mike

blageurt · 11-17-2009, 06:51 PM

I would go with the Hawk semi metallic . . . Ceramic are more for high performance I believe. If you feel that you tow heavy enough and need the extra stopping power I would go for the fancy slotted rotors and then go ceramic. They are very expensive however like 200 per wheel .Your Stock rotors should be fine without turning them. I have never turned a rotor in my life. When they start to shake I just get new ones . . . Which worked out every 3 pad changes for me . I carry alot of weight however , always 1 ton or more and 90% stop and go driving . . .

rodperformance · 11-17-2009, 07:00 PM

hi clev I did as jack (fmvrt) ,performance fricction z rated front but i installed motorcraft heavy duty on the rear couldnt be happier also replaced fluid to ate premium blue dot4 ,8 months ago and now i feel more confortable with better stopping distance ,hope it helps

clev · 11-17-2009, 10:33 PM

Thanks for the responses. Yes, I got good service out of the OEM, but I've been reading a lot about the ceramics, which (I don't think) were available 10 years ago. Technology marches on with better products. However, I'll probably follow blage's lead with Hawk SM; I don't want to replace the rotors unless I have to. Rod, I'm sorry, but I don't understand what you mean: " I did as jack (fmvrt) ,performance fricction z rated"

rodperformance · 11-18-2009, 07:25 AM

Performance friction is a brand they make the friction material for the big three and others,they do only brakes also known in racing, (z rated) is one of the higher coefficient of friction%. Lets say. 0.45 is factory which I don't know ,by using a 0.65 cf %brake pad should stop better,like EBC pads yellow and green stuff maybe Jack will chime in and explain it in better words not so shure if ceramics have the stoping power of a carbon metallic pad cerametallic pad, perf frict vs hawk good luck

carringb · 11-18-2009, 12:41 PM

Most ceramic pads have a much lower coeffeceint of friction when cold. So the first stop in the morning, or when cruising on the freeway, can be scary long. I tried them, took them off within 10,000 miles. So far stock or top end NAPA have treated me the best overall. And I'm running 13,000 pounds just on the van when fully loaded, over 25,000 combined sometimes.

What does work well are Frozen Rotors. Mine are drilled and slotted, but slotted is best for most drivers. I can get 120,000 out of a Frozen Rotor, vs 20,000 on a pair of low grade $90 rotors (consider that expriment failed).

I tried HAWK once. Good, but did not really a huge improvement over stock. Best setup is a full-stock '09 E350 brake setup. Amazing brake power! Next go around I will try to see if all the components will bolt up to the older models.

clev · 11-20-2009, 04:50 PM

I was just on the Performance Friction web site, and they don't make a pad for my '99 E-superduty, 7.3 TD.

FMTRVT · 11-20-2009, 05:49 PM

Clev,

An E-Van doesn't have the same brakes as the F-Series, so what is a good choice for one is not the same as the other. Different rotors, different calipers, different friction material.

The E Van stock friction was made by PMI. It's a robust material with good wear and noise suppression properties, as well as good friction. If you can get stock, I would stay with stock if it was my van.

clev · 01-22-2010, 01:49 PM

Well, better late than never; it seems that every day brings something else to deal with. Anyway, I finally finished my research and ordered brake pads yesterday. I didn't get Ceramics because I read that they should not be used on rotors that were intended for Semimetalic. That may or may not be true, but as Mike posted earlier, "Why change?". I also did not choose the SuperDuty from Hawk, because everything I read stated that the Hawk superduty pads are extremely noisey and create 'a lot' of dust. I also called Hawk and spoke with a tech; he confirmed it. So, I chose the Hawk LTS instead of the Superduty. They're advertised as 30% better than OEM, and I've been satisfied with OEM. Those pads are HB334y.736 for the front and HB539y.650 for the back; $94 and $65, from Summitracing. They were out of stock, so I ordered from Jegs and they price matched. I'm not sure which post, but someone had asked about which pads to use on the front and back.