Brake upgrades and maintenance
 

So, my rear brakes are starting to wear out and I figure it's a good time to review the braking system on these trucks.

From what I recall we're running a dual piston caliper front and rear that's pretty decently sized as well as some pretty heavy duty rotors and pads. It seems that our only option to upgrade calipers is to go with SSBC or AP Racing, but they only make them for the front and they are quite pricey not to mention I can't find exactly what size wheels they will clear as it only says "Stock." Also, from what I have read the 05-up F-250 and F-350 had a bigger front rotor than previous models.

I'm thinking of just upgrading my pads, rotors, swapping to stainless lines, doing a brake flush, and painting my calipers. I have seen the Powerslot rotors and Hawk LTS pads are highly recommended for our trucks.

So, at this point I'm looking for some input from you guys. Thanks!

Motorcraft pads are excellent and last forever.

Josh

I have pads and rotors from ART and love them.
My truck is a heavy work truck weighing in at 12,000lbs everyday and it also tows a dump trailer rated at 10,000.
The ART's have been o for over 2 years and still look great.

Don't forget to also flush the power steering/brake booster also.

Yes, of course the Motorcraft pads and rotors are always an option as they seem to hold up extremely well.

Heard excellent things about ART as well. I will be flushing the power steering/brake booster as well. :)

Been doing a bit more research on this.

It appears that Wilwood makes a 6-piston front and rear setup that uses a larger rotor, but it's insanely expensive and requires 20" or larger wheels. I would prefer to stay on 18" wheels as far as tire cost and driveability goes, so those are out for me. The front kit is almost 3,300 dollars and the rear is almost 2,900 dollars. I'm sure they're nice, but from what I'm seeing the only reason to need those is if you're running massive wheels and tires. The customer these were made for was running 22" wheels on 40" tires. I know that I could use the 6,000 dollars for a lot more than brakes. lol

The only other kits I've seen are the AP Racing and SSBC 6-piston front kits. They don't make a matching rear setup. These kits can use a 18" wheel from the looks of it, but they use a stock rotor and upgrade the pad. I'm not sure honestly how much of a difference they would make as the stock calipers are already fairly strong. The front caliper and pad kit runs about 1,400 dollars which isn't too bad, but as I said before I can't imagine they make much of a difference since the stock rotor size is maintained.

Lastly, I have seen that the F-450 and F-550 had a larger brake setup than the F-250 and F-250, but since they were DRW there would be some big fitment issues on a SRW vehicle as far as wheel size. It MAY be possible to adapt them to an F-350, but for me having a SRW there's no reason to bother trying to figure it out, and I believe they barely clear the stock 19.5" DRW wheel setup.

So, I guess what I have found would explain why there's not a lot of talk of upgrading brakes. I would assume that this system was built well and not a lot of aftermarket exists for it as it's hard to make a better hardware setup than what the truck came with originally. I believe at this point I'll just upgrade my pads, rotors, switch to stainless lines, paint the calipers, and flush the system. I can say that at least I have the upgrade 05-08 brake setup instead of the 99-04.

Unless you are really up there in miles, this isn't necessary IMO. With 77,000 miles on mine, the fluid coming out was as clean as the new fluid going in.

So, I'm just going to bump this as I learn more to gather my thoughts.

I've used lot of Hawk Pads in the past and am wanting to use them again on my truck, so I decided to investigate. It seems the popular discussion is the Hawk LTS v.s. Hawk Super Duty brake pads. The Hawk HPS had been talked about as well, but common conclusion is they aren't great for our application, especially if you're going to tow. Concerning the Super Duty pads - apparently they're amazing for trucks that tow heavy loads A LOT, but they make a ton of dust and sound like a city bus every time they stop (squeal). Many people regretting buying them also because their cold performance slightly sucks. The common consensus is that the LTS pads are a perfect choice for the guy that doesn't tow heavy that often, so that is what I'll be going with.

Fluid is free. :)

I flushed my power steering at about 50k and it made a nice improvement. I will be doing this and the brake fluid about every 2-3 years. Fluid is cheap.

I have always bought my rotors & pads from r1concepts.com & had great luck. Sincee I have only had my truck a week (2006 F250 Lariat) & my brakes were just done by dealer as part of the deal this will be task down the road.

Yes, I do brake flushes every 2 years as that is generally when the fluid is considered contaminated. I also do the power steering around every 30k, especially when I get the fluid free through work.

I've ordered through there a few times in the past, but they don't carry much in pad choice for our trucks.

So Cody, different from your other threads, I'm scratching my head on what you are trying to fix?

You have an '06 so they are nice brakes to start with. Yes the stock pads do put out dust but all pads do to some extent. If you had a big load to slow or were worried about long brake times (w/o let up) that'd be some things we could work on. There's always give and take in a decision process ya' know...

Understand what you are getting into with SS braided lines, if it's for looks, fine. But realize they need to be watched way more that stock lines do as they are prone to fatigue failure and are totally unnecessary on your truck.

So a slotted or drilled (and hardened) rotor will get rid of the gasses that build up between the pad and rotor under extreme and repeated hard braking. But if you don't need it, just a good fluid that is changed regularly with a stock pad is more than adequate with a solid surface vented rotor (realize stuff likes to get stuck in the slots and drilled holes when you're off the race track).

I'd purge the system and put some trick racing fluid in (and their sticker on your bumper :-X06), paint the calipers and figure out what kind of tires can stand up to the braking power you have... :-jammin

It's all good -- I'm really enjoying your threads...

diesel_dan - the rear brakes on my truck are about shot, so I'm just being proactive and figuring these things out before they NEED replaced. This is the next thing I need to take care of on the truck.

Yes, I agree, I've got the upgraded 05-08 brakes at least, so it's a good start for things. Basically, I just want to figure out the best route to go with these things without breaking the bank and yes, there is give and take on modifying a vehicle. I understand the stainless lines do need monitored more than the stock hoses do as I've run them on many a vehicle now. My thoughts are that it would be a good idea to replace the 7 year old lines that are on the truck to get something fresh on it. I would agree in this case it would be a good idea to avoid the drilled rotors, but slotted would be a nice option. Of course it will be getting a fluid flush with a high-rated DOT 4 fluid.

Like I said, I'll be using the Hawk LTS pads for sure, just need to figure out where I'm going to get my rotors and lines now.

I spent $20 or less on fluid so I'm not really concerned about that. The point is that all my friends thought I was crazy for flushing power steering fluid (I mean really who does that) and they were right. Now I have to listen to them saying "why are you always messing with that truck when nothing's wrong with it?" And they are all car/truck guys too, they just only fix or change stuff when it actually makes a difference lol.

I do the same thing. I constantly inspect my vehicles even with nothing is wrong with them just to try and catch things before they become an issue. Like I said though, when most of my fluids are free I'm fine with changing them out earlier than what most people do, if ever.