BEEWARE

Hello all,

New to the site, very informative!!! Have a 2500 Ram and its time for brakes front and rear, what do you guys reccomend for Pads and Shoes? Tow a trailer thats about 10k, the brakes have always felt solid, peddle high and touchy but they just never seem to stop you fast enough ? Thanks Paul

justme-

Changing the rear cylinders to the 30mm (GM cylinders) is the best bet, and the only real solution for the soft rears on these trucks- search for GM brake cylinder, you'll find plenty including part numbers. Simple task to upgrade too.

infidel

I prefer Brembo rotors and Hawk pads from www.tirerack.com

For rear shoes the cheapest Napa ones seem to work and last as long as any others I've used. In fact a friend who has owned a brake only repair shop for 30 years recommended them.

Definitely add larger rear cylinders, you'll be very impressed with the braking improvement.
Napa #4637337 at about $13 each and an hour of your time.

justme-

Just want to add I ran stock rotors until this past fall- 140K miles replaced them with Brembos, and I have run several different front pads, from CAP Premium to NAPA, to Titanium Severe duty to Bendix. The Bendix seem to last longer while I noticed no difference in pad performance from the others. Bendix Titaniumetallic 2's- with lifetime warranty which gives you one replacement set when they wear out.

I have never tried Hawk pads, or needed to replace the factory rear shoes- they're getting done this summer with the cylinder upgrade on mine.

bent valves

Here is my experience with different brands of pads over the last 170K miles First, I seldom tow anything so most of my driving is empty or with a light load in the bed and half highway and half city for the mix. I downshift when slowing or coming to a stop so this may help out the pad life. The rear brakes are adjusted at every oil change and I am running the larger Chevy rear brake cylinders.

The stock Dodge pads lasted only 55K miles but that was because one caliper got hung up causing brake-pull and uneven wear. When I replaced them with Performance Friction (Stock # 0459-20) I cleaned up the calipers by filing and greasing the sliders and pins. These pads lasted 85K miles running heavy 19.5” wheels and tires.

Hawk severe-duty Truck Compound pad was next and they lasted only 32K miles with the same heavy wheels and tires. The wear was even on inner and outer pads and they stop very well.

So now I’m back to the Performance Friction pads and they should make it to 250K-mile mark on my truck. The only downside to the Performance Friction pads is it takes a little more pedal pressure to get the same stopping power as the Hawk pads.

BEEWARE

Thanks,

Bought the Truck with new brakes at 62 K just hit 100K and it doesnt need brakes but the brakes could use some improvement! Went out to Napa today and bought there premium shoes and the 30mm wheel cylinders thats happening in the next couple of days and for the front, I'm thinking of trying the Hawk sever duty, dont like the 32k brake job but I'm just not confident towing 10K and having a panic stop and not having enough brake!

Thanks again for all the impute, I'll let you know how everything goes..................Paul

Yellow Yota

Doesn't the trailer have brakes? My ride stops about the same loaded or not. As long as I have the trailer brake controller set right, it never feels like the trailer is trying to puh me.

slowflyer2112

Put third gen brakes on the front if you want a huge improvement. Very easy to do and cheap. Look up "Big Brake update" here.

high bid

From what I've read I don't think this is an option for everyone? At least that was what I concluded from the last thread info? No? Please let us know as I tow and would be interested as well. thanks.

Dave Miller

NAPA pads, shoes and rotors work for me.

I put NAPA Heavy Duty pads and NAPA premium drilled/slotted rotors on my 97 3500 about 5 months ago and am very happy so far.

Here is a link to a thread with post #6 showing a pic of rotor and pads on truck:

https://www.dieseltruckresource.com/...d.php?t=188987

My rear shoes need replacing so I'm getting Napa premium shoes next week.