Brake Pads

[Cknight199]

dont worry, i had one guy in NAPA try to call my bluff that i had a fast ass dmax as i was chatting with my uncle getting him parts for his A/C at the store. i popped the hood and he no longer wanted to race his dmax that had a edge only on it :rofl:. woulda been a easy 100 bucks

Ohh that's nothing though compared to what happened to me yesterday. A guy in a 12 valve asked how much hp I have, I said 600 and I have the dyno sheet to prove it, he said his cummins was pushing 650 but he would have to turn the fueling up. He had a stock turbo, injectors, trans, no gauges, ect. When I asked to race he said he didn't want to blow up his new stock trans.

I was laughing so hard.

 

[MACKIN]

Pretty sure GM uses RAYBESTOS blue ceramics on the assembly line for pickups. There are some good brake pads out there, but there is also some REAL GARBAGE out there. Stick with good pads, not the crap from AUTOZONE and ADVANCE and you should be fine.

You guys could always be driving the older GM trucks where 25K miles of towing is considered good pad life.

Isn't that the TRUTH stay away from autozone advanced CRAP!!! I mean really a lifetime guaranty on pads? When I did the brakes all 4 corners I went and bought all parts from the GM dealer ship. Worth the few extra dollars!

 

[THEFERMANATOR]

Isn't that the TRUTH stay away from autozone advanced CRAP!!! I mean really a lifetime guaranty on pads? When I did the brakes all 4 corners I went and bought all parts from the GM dealer ship. Worth the few extra dollars!

I was using the CARQUEST Cmax's for people for awhile as most of my work I do at night(most of my customers are contractors and the only downtime they can afford is at night and need there truck the next morning for work). After replacing 2 and 3 sets of rotors for 1 set of pads I talked my customers into waiting and letting me get them RAYBESTOS pads(who happens to make them for AC DELCO). The RAYBESTOS blue's are the same exact pad as AC DELCO durastop's, but you can also step up to there RAYBESTOS advanced technology line which is some good pads as well. And since around 2000 GM has used ceramic pads on most everything. Also avoid at all costs the rotors from AZ and ADVANCE. They are cheaper, but it is for a reason. They are not heat treated like RAYBESTOS or OEM's and will not hold up to ceramic pads like GM put on from the factory. And I'm not sure about NAPA, but I know CARQUEST has started offering the lifetime replacement on brake pads just like the cheaper stores do. They just don't advertise it as a selling point like the other's do.

 

[SmokeShow]

so raybestos blues can be purchased from Carquest? Any idea on price? Ferm, what brand of rotor do you recommend?

I can testify that the cheap stuff is just that, cheap. It simply doesn't last, period. Stock brake pads and rotors made it to about 125-150K miles. At that time I replaced them with advance auto or o'reilly auto pads and rotors. Guess what, yep! Truck is down for brakes now at 176K miles. Pitiful.

 

[rms2012]

There's 173k on the original pads.
Looks like they could go another 50k or so.
The new Hawk pads are just sitting there.
Maybe I'll get some new rotors soon.

 

[vern]

Anyone ever use the Akebono brake pads ?

 

[THEFERMANATOR]

so raybestos blues can be purchased from Carquest? Any idea on price? Ferm, what brand of rotor do you recommend?

I can testify that the cheap stuff is just that, cheap. It simply doesn't last, period. Stock brake pads and rotors made it to about 125-150K miles. At that time I replaced them with advance auto or o'reilly auto pads and rotors. Guess what, yep! Truck is down for brakes now at 176K miles. Pitiful.

Last set of RAYBESTOS blues I bought for a GMT-800 was roughly $60 a set of the pads. Raybestos also makes good high quality rotors, and are the ones I use. If you sit the RAYBESTOS next to one from AZ or ADVANCE you can see the obvious differences between them.

 

[THEFERMANATOR]

Anyone ever use the Akebono brake pads ?

I tried them on my 95, and went back to the parts store and swapped them for RAYBESTOS 3 days later. They were HORRIBLE when cold, but stopped good once they were hot.

 

[Ne-max]

I have learned over the years of being a cheap ass that OEM parts may cost a little more upfront but will out last most aftermarket crap. Most of these part stores are battling so much for low prices that quality is gone. Its to the point where I even buy my batteries from dealer. Gm parts direct and Amazon are my best friends for most GM parts though. Wipers, pads, filters, shocks.......

 

[OregonDMAX]

I have learned over the years of being a cheap ass that OEM parts may cost a little more upfront but will out last most aftermarket crap. Most of these part stores are battling so much for low prices that quality is gone. Its to the point where I even buy my batteries from dealer. Gm parts direct and Amazon are my best friends for most GM parts though. Wipers, pads, filters, shocks.......

X2 you are absolutely correct.

 

[THEFERMANATOR]

I have learned over the years of being a cheap ass that OEM parts may cost a little more upfront but will out last most aftermarket crap. Most of these part stores are battling so much for low prices that quality is gone. Its to the point where I even buy my batteries from dealer. Gm parts direct and Amazon are my best friends for most GM parts though. Wipers, pads, filters, shocks.......

This largely the reason I started buying from CARQUEST. A good portion of what I buy from them is OEM parts inside there boxes. Over half the Toyota parts I buy from them are stamped AISIN right on them, and a lot of the FORD parts are stamped FORD right on them. The trick is finding who makes the parts for the OEM's, and CARQUEST carries mostly OEM supplier parts. RAYBESTOS makes most of the OEM brakes, GATES makes most all of the OEM belts and hoses, WIX makes the majority of OEM filters, VICTOR REINZ the gaskets, and so on and so on. They also carry DEKA batteries which are far and away better than the Johnson control crap you buy at most of them. NAPA used to carry top name parts, but here lately they have started carrying the lower end parts to compete price wise. There are still some things I buy OEM, but the stuff that I can buy aftermarket that is made by the OEM suppliers I will save the 40% or so and buy it aftermarket.

 

[Forever]

I figured I might as well change out my pads, even though they only have 30,000. I went and bought some GM (AC DELCO) factory pads. Thanks for all your help.

 

[03spoolindmax]

I figured I might as well change out my pads, even though they only have 30,000. I went and bought some GM (AC DELCO) factory pads. Thanks for all your help.

If you didn't get new rotors. I hope you at least machined them or they'll never stop right and most likely squeal.

 

[OregonDMAX]

x2 definitely have them machined or you will forever wish you did.

 

[Forever]

If you didn't get new rotors. I hope you at least machined them or they'll never stop right and most likely squeal.

That means having them "turned" right?

 

[bigjohn]

141,000 my brakes and rotors were replace .

 

[03spoolindmax]

That means having them "turned" right?

Yes

 

[Forever]

Yes

I had them checked and they said they were good. They didn't "turn" them because they don't want to mess the paint up. I should of had them turned before I painted them. :screwy:

 

[03spoolindmax]

I had them checked and they said they were good. They didn't "turn" them because they don't want to mess the paint up. I should of had them turned before I painted them. :screwy:

When I did mine I bought new rotors and painted the whole thing. Then machined them so only the surface where the pads touched didn't have paint.

 

[Forever]

They taped off where my pads touched.