Almost out of the army and I’m saving as much as I can, just can’t afford the power-stop pad & rotor package anymore. I’ve always spent a few extra bucks on this area but I think I need a good economy package. Not towing anything anymore, she’s just a loud grocery getter at this point.

I had a TRQ Pad/Rotor/hardware kit on there at once and it didn’t last long. Surprisingly I’ve had pretty good results with orileys “gold” level parts plus it comes with a warranty. I know a lot of 7.3L guys are diehard motorcraft parts only people but, if it works it works.

Y’all have any experience with a rotor/pad/hardware setup from a local parts store?

any advice is always welcome, thank you guys.

 

For towing duty I invested in upper tier brake items, but here I am without a 5er and loudly getting groceries same as you.

I'd go with cheap white box rotors and 1 step up calipers. As long as it has a warranty to protect against out-of-the-box manufacturer defects.

 

I wanted to put PowerStop on my Excursion, but the existing Calipers were just checked by a mechanic who does all of our maintenance items for us of late, he said all is well, just get new rotors and slide them on yourself, when it quits raining.... his shop is full to the gills...
he flushed all of the old brown looking brake fluid out of the lines, and the pedal is back on top again, and replace the E-break shoes on the rear drums.

This is the rotors that I went with.

 

Beware of ‘cheap’ rotors that have been drilled, slotted and otherwise molested.





‘Ceramic’ pads tend to last a long time, but have pathetic stopping power.

Ive installed a lot of Duralast Gold coated rotors and have no complaints. I’m a bit of a snob about stopping power, so I prefer EBC Yellowstuff pads. If I was in a hurry or on a budget, I’d run Duralast Gold (semi-metallic) pads.

 

I used to think brakes were a yearly item running the golds….coming up on over 2 years with the motorcraft “super duty” pads and plenty of life left. Only about 15 bucks more than the previous gold pads i ran for years. Next round hoping to try the EBC

 

I liked the HAWK LTS pads with store brand rotors for ~60,000 miles and a couple years ago went with HAWK SD pads and StopTech slotted rotors. In my opinion, this combination performs very well keeping a 5th wheel under control in the mountains.

I found a great deal on EBC Yellow Stuff pads for my Subaru. I bought Stop Tech rotors for it as well. The rotors are warped now after one trip out west and 10,000 or so miles since then. Just yesterday I was pricing Subaru OEM rotors and pads because they are annoying to use. Some people like the EBC Yellow pads and I will admit they stop very well, but some people say they eat rotors.

You may have to decide for yourself which camp you are in.

 

I cannot agree with this more. My previous set of brakes made it to 100k miles and that is with towing duties. They still had some material left on them, but we had a trip planned and I didn't want any roadside emergencies. For me it was a no-brainer to just go get Motorcraft brakes again and the cost wasn't much more than aftermarket prices.

 

A couple more things...

Congratulations on your transition out of the Army! We all hope the next adventures in your life are fulfilling and rewarding.

Back on topic... If you decide to replace the rear rotors, ONLY go with Motorcraft. They have dimples, knurled, or whatever texture on the inside of the hat to help with the parking brake.

 

Brake pads are a wear item. ‘Long life’ means reduced stopping power. I’m happy to pay a lot more for pads that wear out faster to have superior braking confidence. Those that have experienced this understand. I get that it’s not for everyone, but I can never go back to so-so braking from ‘normal’ pads and every time I drive a truck with ‘ceramic’ pads I feel like someone greased the rotors up...

Removing material from rotors makes them look racecar cool, but does not make them perform better. It’s a lot like putting a cartoon character on a cereal box - it doesn’t make the cereal taste better, but it sells a lot more cereal. Marketing is powerful koolaid. Even EBC sells molested rotors - just not to me.

 

I'm with SSJ on this. Brakes are one area where going cheap is a false economy. Cheap brakes will serve well for 99.99% of the time but the one "oh ****" moment is what you want to spend for.

 

I went Hawk LTS on both axles. I like them well enough.

 

You only have one chance to stop and the day you cant stop, you will remember that outcome for the rest of your life.

 

That's crazy, that’s exactly what happened to the pair of TRQ rotors I got. Bought the kit with pads rotors and hardware for a few hundred and it was a mess.

 

Given the choice between drill holes and slots, the drill holes will give you better braking power over slots for normal city/highway driving. This is why high end BMW, Porsche, Corvette, and Mercedes rotors are drilled, not slotted. However, for track racing (high speed stops), slotted rotors are the better choice.

I have ridden dirtbikes for 40 years and played with rotors on all of them. Slotted and drilled work the best in mud and muck but your pads suffer more wear from the slots cleaning the pads.

My VMAX has drilled, but it does 10.8 in 1/4 mile.

Never used drilled on my trucks but wouldnt go with slotted unless you off road a lot.

 

I've had the drilled and slotted powerstops on my truck for 7-8 years now probably and no issues.