The Wagner Thermo Quiet brake pads on the front of my '06 aren't. They have about 35K on them and it's starting to get embarrassing with the squeal. I'm looking at alternates like the Hawk LTS and others, but will still have the Wagner's on the back - 25K miles. There is plenty of pad left, rotors all look like new, but this truck now hauls a 35', 12,000 5th wheel RV instead of a 25', 5000 pound TT.. I'm not going to put exotic rotors and calipers - so am interested in what others are using (no OEM junk either - they are why I have the Wagners, new rotors and calipers)

 

Hawk HP SuperDuty brake pads are supposed to be good for heavy towing, but I've read at diesel stop they can be hell on stock rotors. >80% of the time towing, use SDs; <80% towing use LTS pads. Non-cyro powerslots aren't exotic rotors, and have a good reputation. I have cyroslots and Hawk LTS pads waiting to go in still...

 

I just ordered Hawk SuperDuty for my 2011 F350 gasser. Has 25000 miles on it, was disappointed last week driving over passes in CO towing heavy.

Will install the Hawks front and rear and completely flush the fluid over to DOT 5.1 (non-silicone) in the next week or so.

Rotors are cheap compared to almost crapping my britches with an emergency stop leading to soft brake pedal when towing over 10000+' passes in the San Juans...

 

Well since I only tow 10% of the time, will probably order up the LTS. I also don't have the San Juan passes, only the Adirondacks/Pocono's and Blue Ridge mts. Thanks for the discussion

 

I have about 20k on a set of Hawk LTS pads and couldn't be happier....great stopping power even with 37in tires and no noise or noticeable brake dust.
I had Thermo Quiets before and couldn't take the squealing anymore.
I don't tow anything heavier than a 20ft bass boat and have no problem stopping with the setup.

Rob

 

OK - received my Hawk LTS pads and of course they came without the installation kit/anti rattle springs and pin boots. NAPA had them so now I'm up to ~$105 for front pads plus a $10 buck tube of fancy grease since the one I had went missing after a major shop clean up this past week. That Installation Kit doesn't include a 'map' of how the 12 individual tin pieces are installed and the ones on the truck might be right - and then, they might be wrong. The boots are a no brainer. I believe I have the anti rattles attached to the pads correctly, but if someone has a write up, sketch or a link to one, would really appreciate it. The project 'happens' tomorrow morning, one way or another .

Thanks,
Dave W

 

The clips push the pads away from the rotors, when they're installed in the bracket correctly you should be able to squeeze them onto the rotor, and they'll push themselves away. So basically the clips face inwards.

If you've never done the brakes on this truck I'd buy a second can of brake cleaner, everything was red with baked on brake dust after a mere 42k on my truck, some of it took some scrubbing to get clean.

 

Thanks for the photo - that will help.

I did figure out how the 4 larger anti rattle spring are attached - took a while. It's the two little ones that are attached to the little nib on the pads. I have installed them on the pads, one per axle side, but am not sure if they go on the back or front side of the rotor. There may not even be any currently on the calipers. This is the second set of brakes - the OEM's hung up, destroying the rotors in 36K miles and with the calipers wadded up with dirt and crud and turned in for the core charge return.

Like I said in the OP, the existing Thermo-Quiets - aren't!!!

 

Update after a visit from TS Irene and some cleanup.

The new Hawk brake pads went on easily. The 4 year old, 36,000 mile Thermo Pads were less then half gone. The outer pads were pretty well rusted in place even with a liberal dose of silicone grease which is probably why I had squeal. The guide pins were nice and loose. I'm not sure that the smaller two anti squeal springs are in place correctly but they are installed on the outer pads, right or wrong, all they are is a supplement to the bigger and they were evidently never on the originals - or someone before me made a choice. I did make one error - Hawk says to clean the rotors with 130 grit paper or similar (I hope they mean 120). I had my die grinder with 180 grit roto-locks and forgotI then doubled up the break in stops and times. These brake are a fair bit better then the last, even with the used rotors and my minor screw up.

A lot more crusty rust then expected, but I do live in the rust belt.

One brake hose, driver's side has to be replaced. Both will be changed and be here tomorrow from Rock Auto. The damaged hose - the ABS signal wire has rubbed a gouge about half way through. I'll do a reroute of that wire.

All totaled time wise - probably 2 hours with at least 25% of that time chasing "that other tool" in my shop which is about as far from the dry area where I was working and still be on the property.

Price wise -
Pads, $94. (Amazon - Hoerr Racing)
Installation kit $11 (NAPA).
Tube of silicone grease(NAPA) $10.
Two brake hoses (Rock Auto) $64


Part numbers for my '06 F350 SRW 4x4 fronts
Brakes - Hawk HB528Y.811 LTS
Brake Hoses - Dorman H620626 and 7
Brake Kit - Dorman HW5785
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Slapped my front pads on yesterday, 2011 F350 with 25k miles, installed the Hawk SuperDuty.

Messed around with all the little spring retainers. The two "bonus" retainers where on the bottom of my calipers on the outside pad. I reused the retainers, if I was to do it again, would use new ones.

Did not prep the discs even though directions said to.... short on time.

Burnished in the new pads, per directions.

Super pleased with reduced pedal effort for same braking force. My OEM pads were maybe 1/3 worn. I could never actually lock the brakes or engage the ABS on a good sticky road with the old pads. I am guessing that I will be able to with these SuperDutys.

Will finish rear install and complete flush of the old brake fluid replacing with Motul DOT 5.1 this weekend and report on final performance. But am very pleased with the front upgrade.

 

If you have reduced pedal effort for the same braking force I would keep a close eye on your rotors for extreme wear. Nothings free.

 

Put the new front brake hoses on yesterday - fairly easy job, but what a convoluted chassis designers @#$ dream. I found that my Russell Speed Bleeders were junk when I went to flush the old fluid, front and back. The front two sucked air, one of the rears didn't work, the other just went in the trash as I ended up replacing all four. FWIW, the bleeder size is 3/8-24 x 1-1/4" and are available at any parts store as a commodity part, even on the Dorman HELP rack for about $2 or less each. The brake system fasteners are frustrating - some metric, others are SAE(the entire truck appears to be a mixture).

I ended up using the Valvoline synthetic brake fluid. The wet and dry boiling point are better then DOT3 or 4. NAPA price is $4.99 a quart - and that truck, full flush and bleed uses over one full quart. After bleeding, I think I have a better pedal then I have ever had.

The hardest part of the job - off and on with those 80 pound wheel and tire assemblies along with those 8 lug nuts that need to be torqued to 150 lb ft

Rudiak - there is always a penalty and/or positive effect when you make a change, but well worth any penalty when you have a 12,000 pound 5th wheel hooked on and it stops better/easier

 

As noted above, I had to change the front rubber brake lines on my '06 Ford with the findings kind of disturbing. I decided to change both front flex lines out as a precaution. These are a fairly intricate assemblies with two lengths of tubing, a couple of brackets as well as some protective sheathing. But with that said, is what I found. Since our town recycles, I as a good neighbor decided to cut the rubber off and send the steel to the metals bin. I pulled the sheathing off and on both lines, found that rust chunks evidently had come loose from the brackets and had formed a solid, non flexing area and caused the line to crack at the center coupling. As these cracks were hidden, the NY State MV inspection process didn't find them last month.

So, if any reader owns a late model Ford F250/350 4x4 you might want to take a look by cutting the sheath cable tie and pulling that protective sheath away. My replacement lines should not have the problem as they are made a bit differently. And as far as total mileage on the truck, less then 74K

 

NOW - to pick up where I left this tale last September

Out for some errands a few days ago and when I got home, the right rear was extremely hot - to the point that the rotor was virtually smoking. I pulled it apart and figured the guide pins were rusted - they were nice and loose, but when I pulled the caliper off, the pads seemed to be hanging up. Lubed up the pad guide area and went to retract the pistons - kinda tight, but not impossible. Reinstalled the caliper, bled the brakes and went for a ride - still smoking hot. I ordered the Hawk LTS pads to match the fairly new fronts (less then 2K on them since Sept), new rotors, a pair of reman Centric calipers and two new outer hoses.

The calipers and hoses are due on Wednesday, I have the rotors and am gonna jack it up and change the rotors tomorrow or Tuesday, depending on the weather - any quick advice if the E-brake will be causing any problems? What to look for? These rotors will be set three for the rears with Ford doing the second under warranty - I just hope that my dealer used anti seize at 35,000 miles, but wouldn't bet on that and will possibly have to either beat them off with a sledge or cut them with my sawzall like my '01 F150 fronts when I did them a few years ago.

 

I love Performance Friction. over 60K on mine, PLUS they are made in South Carolina.