08 brake upgrade

[why165]

I have a 08 single wheel 350 4 wheel drive. I tow very heavy as i farm and i have a dirt bussiness. dealer says i have 15% rear pad left so its time to change. the truck has 76k on it and pretty well stays under a 32 foot goose neck. so my question is what is the most popular brake upgrade for these trucks? money is an option on this one so big brake kits are not an option. but new rotors are a maybe. thanks for the help
matt

[Doss]

Honestly, most of us like the OEM pads and rotors on these trucks. They're not sports car binders, but they haul this beast down admirably (which is more impressive than stopping a 3200 lb sportscar).

I'd flush the fluid and maybe get the rotors resurfaced if they're in good shape still.

The first upgrade I'd do besides new stuff and fluid would be stainless steel lines (2 for front, 1 for rear). That will improve the pedal feel and make sure the fluid is maintaining proper pressure on the calipers.

The next upgrade I'd do is maybe pads, but no one has a really solid recommendation on a pad upgrade for these trucks.

I run Hawk pads on my Cobra for track duty and they are awesome. They don't use the same compound on these trucks though so I can't say how Hawk will perform on these.

I would avoid buying slotted/drilled/dimpled/cryo'd rotors though. They're a waste of money (they have their place on sportscars and only when they're properly designed).

[AllGo'N'Show]

Hawk Superduty pads are great but don't resurface the rotors, just replace them. Getting rid of material will not help with heat or wear and they are not super expensive so just replace them with fresh rotors and pads whenever you do it and never have to worry.

Fluid is good as well as it isn't dependent on mileage as much as operating/living conditions.

[Doss]

Well, you have to remember on fluids that the "newest" of our trucks is about 2+ years old. That's plenty of time on brake fluid in my opinion. I usually flush the fluid in my Cobra about once a year and it only sees under 1,000 miles a year. Fluid is too cheap not to regularly flush.

I kind of agree on rotors with you. I would resurface rotors any time I put new pads on. Resurfacing doesn't necessarily mean having them turned; you can just scuff them up with an abrasive and clean them to give your new pads a good surface to work with.

[AllGo'N'Show]

Originally Posted by Doss

Well, you have to remember on fluids that the "newest" of our trucks is about 2+ years old. That's plenty of time on brake fluid in my opinion. I usually flush the fluid in my Cobra about once a year and it only sees under 1,000 miles a year. Fluid is too cheap not to regularly flush.

I kind of agree on rotors with you. I would resurface rotors any time I put new pads on. Resurfacing doesn't necessarily mean having them turned; you can just scuff them up with an abrasive and clean them to give your new pads a good surface to work with.

Sorry late here, I agree with you on the fluid change as it is operating/living condition dependent (water in fluid) and not mileage based (aka if you have a 2 year old 20k truck, change it as if you had a 4 year old 150k truck). Scuffing them normally isn't enough to stop noise but if they don't have any ridges on them you could give it a whirl.

[04hdfatboy]

I have heard good reviews about the powerslot rotors and hawk pads. I am not sure what i will do when its time for brakes.

[Doss]

Don't worry about slotted rotors or any of that. You need the mass.

Most cross-drilled or slotted rotors are poorly designed or executed and suffer from premature failure (cracks). We see a lot of these rotors on track cars and they don't last long unless you have a really, really nice set and even then those tend to suffer from hairline cracks.

With how much heat these big boys can generate, the last thing you want is a rotor to fail while hauling a load.

[CT Performance, Inc.]

We sell Powerslots and Hawks..Cyro treated if wanted..that said if you want the best braking $ can get...BIG BRAKE kits now available!!

[Doss]

6-piston Wilwoods... now you're speaking my language. I figured he didn't want to go that high end though.

[44magnum]

Pads are the easiest and IMHO the best upgrade, short of what Cary offers. I wouldnt mess with slotted or drilled rotors. I have used both Hawk and EBC pads and liked them both. I have hawk pads on my truck now and they made a very noticeable difference.