Brake pad choices....
I'm about to change the rear rotors & pads on my Supercrew. Has anyone had good results(low dust, no noise, good stopping power) from a certain brand of pads? I really don't want to get into directional cross drilled rotors or racing pads. I'm looking at Napa's "Ceramix" pads (Rabestos), Performance Friction products and O.E rear pads. I have a connection at a dealer to get really good prices on OE parts. The OE rear rotors happen to be the best priced ones I've found yet but the pads are severly overpriced. I had Napa rotors & "Extreme duty" pads on the front since last August when my truck failed inspection due to too much rust on the front rotors. The Napa clerk told me that "Extreme duty" pads were equal to the OE front pads. I think the front brake performance is "ok" it does not seem to be as powerful as the OE setup was. I now think the Napa "Ceramix" pads would maybe been a better choice.
Whether or not you get top of the line pads isn't really a huge issue, anyway. Only 30% of all the breaking force goes to the rear tires anyway, the front breaks do most of the work. You may risk locking the rear tires when you hit the breaks if you get expensive pads, and the truck won't stop faster!
To Homer ...Yes rust is a big concern here in N.Y. I had 25,000 mi on the truck when it failed, the inside surface was almost completely gone except a 1/4" wide band of smooth surface. (warranty would not cover this I was told by my dealer connection) To flamin F150....I spent 19 years working for Ford & Lincoln dealers in the parts dept. I agree about matching things, if I found better performance from whatever I put on the rear I would switch the front parts to the same. I never had a bad set of OE pads. It was the only type of brake pads/shoes I used whenever my 89' Bronco needed brakes in it's 147,000 mile life span. I have now moved onto class 8 parts departments at a Freightliner dealer for the last 4 years and in doing so, lost touch with what the light truck techs are using for parts. Thanks for the input everyone.









