Break Pads?

[ajholt7]

Anybody have some input on some good brake pads for my tow rig. 2002 F-150

[chpthril]

IMPO, OEM

[River Runner]

IMPO, OEM

X2 on that!!!

AJ, those aftermarket "break" pads your talking about may not "brake"!!!! LOL

[ajholt7]

There has gotta be a better brake pad than OEM.

[River Runner]

There has gotta be a better brake pad than OEM.

What is your concern?

[ajholt7]

I just want something really good.

[chpthril]

There has gotta be a better brake pad than OEM.

Depends on what your definition of "better" is. A typical over-the-counter aftermarket pads seem to be extremely hard compounded. This leads to noise and more then normal rotor wear. Expensive, high end pads, such as Hawk or Ferodo, tend to have a higher ceramic, less metallic makeup. This makes them hard, but less wear to the rotor, but they wear faster, which is what pads are supposed to do. In the end, OEM's have a good blend of metallic and non-metallic materials that give them long life, low dust, less noise.

My Chevy Trailblazer has 120K+ and I have only replaced the front and rears once. I got nearly 70K on the original rears and 90k on the original fronts and this vehicle has been towing trailers from day one. I did not turn the rotors at that point, and prolly will not the next.

[River Runner]

I just want something really good.

Stick with the OEM. You will get less noise issues and they wont tear up your rotors.

Aftermarket stuff doesnt perform any better. Dont believe the marketing hype.

[ajholt7]

does anyone know who makes the oem pads on my truck? Mine have 130k on them.

[Jetrey]

My 02' chevy duramax will not ever wear out my OEM brake pads, it seems. 180k miles of hard driving and pulling all the time and they still have good life left on them, I dont know what they are made of , but they are awesome. my 97 suburban went through pads every 15k, go figure.

[River Runner]

Whatever you do AJ dont get ceramic pads. They are a nightmare especially if your towing your boat. They work great when their hot but those first few stops on your way to and from the lake could be an accident waiting to happen.

[scoot18]

does anyone know who makes the oem pads on my truck? Mine have 130k on them.

130k on your OEM brake pads, why would you even consider going aftermarket. That is awesome. Stick with OEM, they may be a bit pricey but if your going to get well over 100k on them, isn't it worth the extra coin?

[ajholt7]

Thinks for all the advice. I will probably go OEM. I just wanted to see if anyone had used anything else that they just loved how well they worked. The life is not a big factor, I just want something that stops good.

[Wake Bandits]

IMPO, OEM

X2 on that!!!

AJ, those aftermarket "break" pads your talking about may not "brake"!!!! LOL

Stick with the OEM. You will get less noise issues and they wont tear up your rotors.

X3

Aftermarket stuff doesnt perform any better. Dont believe the marketing hype.

Dance with who brung ya, stick with Ford or the pricy Autozone if you must.

2001 and later GM trucks are almost lifetime brakes BTW.
140 K on ours, maybe 20% worn.

[Joeprunc]

Depends on what your definition of "better" is. A typical over-the-counter aftermarket pads seem to be extremely hard compounded. This leads to noise and more then normal rotor wear. Expensive, high end pads, such as Hawk or Ferodo, tend to have a higher ceramic, less metallic makeup. This makes them hard, but less wear to the rotor, but they wear faster, which is what pads are supposed to do. In the end, OEM's have a good blend of metallic and non-metallic materials that give them long life, low dust, less noise.

X2 well put Mike.

Also those typical over the counter pads has a lifetime warranty which sounds good...but here's the bad: They make them harder than OEM so they last longer (less people bring them back to claim warranty). Also because they are harder they will wear your rotors down more, producing more heat which usually equates warped rotors.

Hawks and other top brands will stop you the best, using brake pad material. Because its shedding more brake material you are going to have a lot more brake dust on your rims. I've got black rims so brake dust doesn't show .

Like Mike said OEMs are a great balance between the AutoZone's and top end pads.