front pad recommendations

[machinehead]

well its 190K miles on my 96 K1500 i thought the brake job a couple years ago would be my last but I'm still running. so what brakes do y'all guys recommend. I'm not looking to go super performance or anything but i do do some occasional towing of my 8x12 enclosed trailer or a bed full of dirt. i do want some heavy duty pads that will do some stopping. I'm also either going to go gmt800 MC or a hydroboost conversion bc i hate the feel of my pedal and i can't lock up the brakes (or make the abs come on). I don't even remember what brand i have on it right now. i found my receipt from 2002 for some raybestos brute force. i don't remember much about those. so what is a good brand/model to go with. I've seen some pretty good prices on amazon compared to the auto parts stores, like performance friction at oreilys for $88 and $21 on amazon. not for sure if i want to plunk down the dough for EBC/hawk or the likes right now, but if y'all say that they are worth it i would not be opposed.

 

[RyanMerrick]

Welcome to the site.

Just don't go cheap on pads, go with a mid-grade or premium product and you'll be fine. I'd be more concerned with name brands on a performance cars, pickups are a different story (at least for me).

 

[House003]

I got the ceramic pads from oreilly and I like them a lot! Firmed up my brake pedal and also gave me a lot more bite on the rotors.. I can definitely lock up my wheels now and I don't know much about the boosters though.. I still have the stock one

 

[oohunter04oo]

I always buy ceramic. They don't make any where need the brake dust. I just ordered some AC Delco ceramics from rock auto for $45. I usually use napa ceramics.

 

[someotherguy]

I love ceramics because they don't dust my wheels. But high quality semi-metallics will give better braking performance night and day compared to ceramics. Always a trade-off. Towing, go semi-metallic.

Richard

 

[draginlow]

i have been running Duralast Gold brake pads "ceramics" on a few rides. there not the best top brand but work well with low dust. even on chrome rims they show little dust. have them on my dually that i tow a fair amount of weight and like them. they have a lifetime warranty too.

 

[Eskimomann209]

I have the duralast semi
And don't worry about the dust

Stops great
Lifetime warrant = frequent changes

 

[Keepinitoldskool]

I have the duralast semi
And don't worry about the dust

Stops great
Lifetime warrant = frequent changes

Same for me. Free pads for life.

 

[Chris6060]

I'm running full Raybestos brakes in the front. Remanned calipers, new rotors and pads and I'm nothing but impressed with them.

They do fade about as badly as the stock brakes do, but they're a big truck brake from 1994... I'm not expecting much more from them.. I think I need to disc convert the rears. I have the larger 14 bolt 9.5" rear end, with the bigger brakes but I'm not really even sure if they're doing their job 100%. I rebuilt them but did not replace the drums.

 

[someotherguy]

Don't fall for the disc rear trick. They LOOK good and generally they're easier to service, but that's about it. There's zip wrong with rear drum brakes, and the ones on the 9.5" 14 bolt are pretty big, lots of swept area. Where discs beat drums is resistance to fade, but on rear brakes, they are such a small percentage of your stopping power (30% or so) that it's not an issue. Keep them adjusted - a decent interval would be for example, at oil change time. If they're out of adjustment, your front brakes will work too hard and stopping distances will be noticeably increased.

If you want rear discs just to do it, then by all means. I'm not against them, semi-interested in it myself... Just choose your components carefully. You can easily end up with a combination that performs less than what you already have.

Richard