I buy cheap rotors and pads ever since a more than less-desirable experience with power slot cyro treated rotors and hawk pads..

I drive drive about 15,000 miles a year with random (non heavy towing)
And usually get about 2 years out of cheap quality rotors and pads..
I usually find the rotors are done (scored) and the pads are very glazed..

I'm not a real believer in better quality rotors , but was thinking of trying Hawk yellow stuff pads..
Would I be able to wear these out ?? instead of having to replace them like the others at 3/4 thickness remaining ?

Kyle

 

Put oem on mine a while back - Rotors. pads & calipers

 

I think yours might be the first time I've ever heard anyone had less than desirable results with cryo'd rotors and Hawk pads.

I've had three sets of cryo treated rotors with I dunno how many sets of Hawk LTS pads on two different rigs and have never had a problem.

Do you mind sharing your experience?

Stewart

 

100k out of duralast gold, and 50k on this set. Still going. Plus, my rotors have yet to be turned and from previous owner, there scarred pretty damn good. No shakes, shimmy, weights..etc when braking

 

I have never tried the Hawk brand so I can't weigh in. However, I have tried most of the others and EBC Yellow are the best so far for anything from daily driving to towing up to 14k.

Adding stainless steel lines at each wheel made them unbelievably good.

Bosch lifetime rotors are hard to beat or NAPA ultra premium rotors will do if you are in a hurry. The top of the line NAPA pads are horrible though, so unless you want cooked calipers and warped rotors run away.

 

You say you got 2 yrs out of them? Hell, thats great if you ask me. I was buying the cheap stuff for years and i was only getting sometimes as few as 2 wks and others as long as 2 mths before i would get the pulsating brakes and glazing. I would drive 6mths to a year until i couldnt take it anymore before changing out again. I swapped to the cryo rotors and hawk pads, and while it lasted longer, it took about 6 mths to get to the same scenario. I asked around on here and discovered that i was using the incorrect pad. I had Hawk pads, but i had ceramic pads. Appparently that is a no no with these trucks. I had the cryoed rotors turned, added the correct Hawk LT pads and ran for 2.5 yrs before needing addressing again. Two yrs is a hell of lot better than 6 mths. Well, this time I went with the drilled and slotted EBC rotors and yellow pads back about 4 mths ago. Those started pulsating about a month ago. 3 mths.... its not to the point that im ready to address again just yet, but it is frustrating and i feel your pain on how these trucks seem to eat brakes. And i dont abuse it. But I guess the next time it is past time to change out the lines and fluid and see how much that helps.

 

I felt that I pad a premium for them and they didn't last or work any better than much cheaper stuff.. So much so that ( if my memory serves me right ) clay from riff raff stopped offering them.

My feeling is that the rotors should easily outlast the pads and I haven't seen it..

Kyle

 

I my heck, you had cryo treated rotors that didn't outlast a set of pads? What the heck kind of pads were you using, diamond coated?

I went through three sets of Hawk LTS pads with the first set of cryo treated rotors for my Excursion. They were turned twice and wore out three sets of pads.

I gotta be honest, you strain my credulity when you claim to have had a set of pads wear out a brand new rotor.

Stewart

 

Same pads. Hawk LTS. Riff raff no longer sells those brakes.. They now sell EBC.
How much were you paying to turn a set of rotors ? I never turned mine.. I figured for the cost of turning I would just slam on some new cheaper rotors

Kyle

 

Not sure why you make that distinction, but using your same logic, Clay used to sell Fumoto valves too, but now he doesn't and instead sells the EZ Drain valve. Does that mean the Fumoto valve isn't any good?

Hawk LTS pads have been on the market long before Riffraff was in business. I feel confident in saying if there was something wrong with the LTS pads, they would be a poor seller for Hawk and they would have discontinued the line.

There's no way a single set of Hawk LTS pads will wear down a brand new set of rotors, especially a set of cryo treated rotors. None.

I'm not saying you didn't have brake issues, but I am saying your claim of wearing down a set of cryo treated rotors with one set of Hawk LTS pads is not accurate.

Expect to pay $10 to $15 bucks per rotor. But, I gotta say bud, if you've never had a rotor turned and you think it's a good idea to slam on a cheap set of rotors instead of having a quality set of rotors turned, and you claim to have supposedly worn out a brand new set of cryo treated rotors with one set of Hawk LTS pads, doing your own brakes might be above your skill set.

I am NOT knocking you, Kyle. Just suggesting that if everything you've posted is completely accurate, you might want to rethink your limitations.

For example, like most everyone here, I love to work on my own vehicles. I have since I was 16. But I have nerve damage in my lower back that affects my legs and back. So for the past few years my buddy Pete has been helping me out. Pete has been unavailable recently due to life happening, and I had to chase down a fuel leak on my truck that has gotten slowly worse the past 6 months. So a few weeks back I tore into the top of my engine to track down the leak. Mind you I have a lot of mods on this truck, some of which are one-off modifications, so working on my truck aint necessarily the easiest thing to do compared to a stock 7.3L.

Long story short, I removed the intake, CAC tubes, spider, and fuel bowl to access the fuel lines. I removed the hybrid line I installed that ducks under my dual Termy HPOP's and replaced it with a single flexible line and that solved my issue. Unfortunately the few hours of wrench time it would take most anyone here to tear down the few things I had to remove, took me a couple days to get done because I'm hampered, and can only work in short spurts of time. As well, getting my body to cooperate when trying to get the spider back on proved fruitless. I couldn't apply any strength/leverage while on top of the engine due to my physical limitations, and I ended up having someone else put everything back together for me.

It can be frustrating, I know, but you might want to consider having someone else do your brakes for you.

Stewart

 

In the fleet normally the drivers that warp the rotors are the ones that don't even tow so I'm assuming they brake like they have a sports car, instead of easing into the breaking (aka looking in front off you and stoping in time) they slam the brake and with tools generators etc the rotors are going to be hotter than an unloaded truck, and with heat generated by the braking with a load they get distorted that's my theory.

 

Well, I guess I'll just use these as paperweights. NOT!


Brake install, like any other repair, performance, and life expectancy is contingent upon a PROPER installation. The best product with the worst mechanic is the worst performance. And, visa-versa. If the suspension is lacking, the brakes will be lacking. The entire "system" is required to be 100% to get 100% from every part. All the parts mentioned are "top-of-the-line". I can only believe there is another factor which has yet to be identified.

 

There is merit to what z31freadkify and pirschwagon (didn't it use to be pirschfirewagon or was I seeing things?) have to say.
I'm an ummmm older gentleman who has driven for a living for some 40 years. I don't just see the vehicle in front of me, I see the vehicles as far ahead of me as traffic will permit and I am no longer in a hurry to get anywhere. I use middle of the road rotors and pads and I replace them myself. I only need a new rotor if a caliper locks up on me and pads are replaced few and far between. Even then one of them is always low and the other fine so I only replace the worn out one. For the price of middle of the road pads and the time it takes to change them it is a no brainer for me.

 

I was s little insulted when I first read this and then realized you don't know me. LOL

Getting rotors turned where I am here would be in access of 100$ for the pair.
I had issues with the rotors and not the pads per say and after a cnversation with clay I was told by him that hey had quality control issues with those rotors and was the reason they don't sell them anymore.
I am not here to slam manufacturers..

Also I know enough about brakes to realize then they need to be turned due to warpage , there is a good chance next time you work those brakes hard they will warp again shortly after..
It seems here in Canada at least locally a lot of these that should be cheap aren't..
I just got 2.5 years out of 125 dollar set of rotors..



Just to clarify , I am more than skilled enough to change brakes on my vehicles.


Kyle

 

Understood.

Glad you realized I meant no insult.

Good gravy man, where are you located?! {/end McCoy voice}

Ah, yeah, that tidbit of info would have qualified your statement and now I understand why you used it to underscore your problem.

Never thought you were.

It's not actually the rotor warping, it's hot spotting or cementite formation. Here's some info for you: https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...l#post16086658

Stewart