I guess it's subjective?
I think ceramic pads work fine hot or cold.

Carbon pads definitely don't grab until they get hot.

I just put a set of Motorcraft 'Severe Duty' pads on my truck.
Good feel, no squeal.
So far they are very progressive.

 

The semi metallic pads on my truck are very grabby, especially when it's cold or damp out. Not sure why that is. But they work great. No clue what they are. Whatever Les Schwab used in 2005 when it had it's brake job done.

 

Matthew
I think that's the organic component of the pads.
Organics are always grabby when damp
Until heat from use dries them out.

 

Yep. Rusty's brakes were really good for the first stop today, and then I remembered all of the rain. Once they dried out all was back to usual.

 

They've got metal flakes in the compound, that's all I know. All I know is I want whatever is on there again. Relatively low dust, low noise, good wear, great stopping power. They never fade going down hills when getting warm.

 

So it sounds like a modern ceramic is the best bet for pads. What amour rotors? Plain steel vs drilled & slotted? I've seen some places offer them. Are they worth it for towing?

 

Slots and holes increase surface area, and = more area able to shed heat.
Slots and holes in the friction surface also reduce swept area, and also means less mass to absorb heat.

Larger diameter rotors will give you more swept area, more torque arm, and if the manufacturer knows what they are doing, will be made light enough so they do not significantly increase gyroscopic inertia. (which you both have to accelerate and decelerate)

There is a big difference between an F1 car, a one time panic stop and riding the brakes down a mountain with an overloaded trailer.

In a perfect world, beryllium would be plentiful and non-toxic.

 

Drilled rotors are just a recipe for fatigue cracking, I wouldn't touch them.

Slotted rotors are however very good at breaking the boundary gas layer between the hot pads and disk, well worth using.

Don't forget the brake lines themselves are a big factor in pedal feel and stopping power, replace the flex lines with proper braided units.

And super dot4 fluid too

 

We used to be able to get DOT 5.1 fluid pretty easily.
I think it was Valvoline SynPower.

Now that standard seems to only be available from Motul for around $15 for 500ml.

 

I like ceramics for everything but work trucks. Anything that's going to tow, haul, work, etc gets semi-metalics. They deal with the heat better than ceramics do.

Bendix and Wagner are great brands. Spend some money on good pads, $30-60. The only thing that ever get the $10 pads is something I'm selling. They'll be doing brakes in 10k miles...

 

Recently did a brake job on my moms car. I got wholesale closeout Raybestos PG pads/shoes. Two wheel cylinders. $35 to the door gotta love wholesale closeouts. $10 of that was shipping. The place I bought it from, several people won't like though.

After looking around at the Les Schwab website, it appears they use Raybestos PG plus pads and shoes. If that's what they used in 2005 when my brake job was done, then that's what I'll get next time.

 

As an aside, and an update, I'm sitting at the muffler shop today. Good news/bad news kinda day. Good first: I have my quote for the exhaust. Bad news: the MC filter I installed after swapping the head bolts blew its seal, and now I have to foot the bill for an oil change. Also, the old positive cable is bubbling, so that's on the near-future list. Any ideas on why other than corrosion that this is happening?

 

What's an MC filter?

 

I would say MotorCraft, as in FL1A

 

How much compression do you have?
How old is your starter?
Do you have an inductive (clamp on type) Ammeter?

Have you considered a gear reduction high torque starter?