Boondock

Well this set lasted 15,000 I guess. According to Big O when they rotated my tires I am down to 15%-10% for the fronts. I bought the rotors and pads at the same time at autozone I believe. I am going to look for a receipt and see if they had warrentys. I think they did as the rotors were $70 a piece and the pads were $45 or so the middle set.

I have searched on the forums and have found a couple that sound ok.My problem is the shaking when I am on the brakes..... Truck doesn't pull either way just started shaking again after 5k miles or so. I have never been hard on brakes in another car so I don't know if what I bought was junk or what....

Anyways I am going to get some better stuff this time.....
This is what I have found so far
http://www.tirerack.com/brakes/brake...eet+brake+pads

http://www.dieselperformanceparts.com/products.cfm

http://www.egrbrakes.com/index-main.htm

The egr stuff is high $$$. I would rather not pay $500 for some brakes but if that is what I have to do I might do it. Have better stuff to spend that much coin on.

Should I upgrade to Stainless lines? How much will that help?

BTW never tow more than 4Klbs and just the weekends I tow.

Thanks

Vintage Empire

I'm in the same boat. I bought pads @ AutoZone and they lasted 15k. I figured I would get about 30k miles out of them.

Can someone recommend good heavy duty truck pads?

2500

shaking could be caused by wheels out of alignment and/or balance. or a wharped set of rotors. new rotors should have plenty of material to true.

best way to verify brake pad remaining is to look at it yourself when wheel is off. compare thickness when new to current thickness to get the real scoup.

that's one of first thing I did after buy my 97 CTD. yanked off frt wheel and checked out how thick brake pad lining is. mine was almost new, so naturally left it alone.

if you really have only 10% remaining... that's DANGER signal! don't wait replace right away. don't let brk pad go metal to metal. will destroy your rotors in nothing flat.

Boondock

They also said the rotors are down to min thickness and they have never been turned or anything and since they are at min they would have to replace them.

Had alignment around 80,000, new wheels and tires 14,000 ago or so, and just got the tires rebalanced today. Have 94,000 on truck now.....

Clayten

You might want to change the calipers. If they are hanging up you will warp the rotors and get no milage out of the brakes.

2500

impossible! if you just had new rotors installed with new pads and have never hit metal to metal. your rotors should still be at close to new thickness.

if it was me, I'd yank off wheel and inspect myself. or take CTD to another brake place.

Boondock

Which rotors should I get?

Is the cryo ones worth the extra $65 from DPPI? Or any others?

Any other place to get calibers?

2500

I'd take the old rotors and brk pads back to autozone for a replacement or refund. if indeed you only got 15k miles and have never gone metal to metal contact.

still can't believe only 15k mile with new rotors and pads. I can believe new pads is needed for severe service, but it's really hard to believe new rotors are needed.

Steve C

Probably need to call BS on the shop for the min thickness remark. But, best to take 'em back to AutoSlown and have them measure them - can't hurt.

Alignment and balancing are not an issue so long as your shimmy only happens under braking.

Dunno about the calipers - haven't done a set of these yet- , but they're usually rebuildable - kits are probably cheaper too.

Personal opinion here, I love stainless lines, and anticipate installing a set here soon. Also, if you haven't done so lately, flush the brake fluid - mine looks like tar (just bought the truck).

All best,

s

Oh, take a look at your

Buckshotmckee

I'd say go back to the factory pads. I did a search on here and that seemed to be the way to go. If the front rotors are warped it could be from a couple of reasons, driving habits or the rear shoes aren't adjusting like they should and the front pads are doing all the stopping. This would also account for the early wear out. I got 85k out of the factory front pads and about 40-50% left on the rear.

Kemble

I Have the exact same problem as you have described. My front pads lasted about 8k miles for stock replacement, and 10k for the extreme duty ones.

But since my truck has been down for almost 2 months I have found out why this is. The rear shoes are not helping very much at all. The fronts are working themselves to death. I am going to upgrade the wheel cylinders and do a complete rebuild on the rear brakes.

You might want to check the adjustment on the rear shoes.

torquefan

I have been working on these trucks for years and fighting brake problems since the beginning. I have learned several things.

Raybestos came out with a new line of ceramic lining several years ago. It's called "Quiet Stop". I tried these linings on a problem truck (95 3500), and found they lasted twice as long as any previous pads, and never ever caused a problem such as a brake pull. The part number for your truck is PGD459QS.

New rotors would be an asset to you, but I've found that after installation they need to be machined ON THE VEHICLE to be perfectly true and to avoid runout problems as long as possible. After installing new rotors on 4WD trucks like ours I always measure runout, and there's always at least 2 or 3 thousandths at least. You don't feel it immediately, but if the rotor starts out with some runout, it gets worse. These rotors can't be properly machined on a common bench lathe, because the splined hole through the hub is not perfectly centered. Find a shop with an on-car lathe. It's a pain, but it's really worth the trouble.

Lastly, I've found a big cause of uneven wear, and the annoying brake pull. On the caliper, the slide pins are located in 2 rubber slide bushings. If you remove the pins and the rubber bushings, you will likely see a large buildup of rust in the bore around the outside of the rubber bushing. Hone all that rust out with a die grinder, right down to shiny metal, then replace the rubber bushings. If you leave all that rust there, the pins will slide just fine cold, but will seize every time the rust gets hot. When rust gets hot, it expands about ten times as much as iron does.

Sorry this is so long, but I hope it helps.

Marine

My second set were Napa Premium Pads. They lasted about 80,000. miles, but they do wear your rotors. Last brake job I had was at Midas (I was in Vegas) and they said next brake job I do, I will have to get rotors.
It's kind of a trade off- long pad life/ short rotor life, or long pad life/ shorter/rotor life.

PS- next rotors I get I think will be the ART's.

torquefan

For the 2000 model year they changed the brakes on Ram trucks. I have noticed the same as you- they last a lot longer than brakes on pre-2000 trucks, but they are a lot harder on rotors.

Boondock

Thanks for the info guys. I think I am going to get the slotted rotors and new pads. Take my old stuff in and try to get them replaced and just sell the old stuff on ebay if they replace it......

Any other suggestions on which rotors and pads? Should I get the cyro ones and the hawk pads or what?