Brake pad upgrade recommendation for max stopping power

[stioc]

My so-so OEM brakes (everyone keeps telling me it's a truck, as-if trucks don't have to brake lol) got worse as armor and things went on the truck so not long ago I upgraded to the EBC Green 7000 series pads which improved the braking over stock but with the 32" e-load tires I'm back looking for a brake-pad that bites harder. Lots of choices out there Hawk LTS, Hawk Gold, EBC yellow, Akebono etc but this time I really want something that's been tried, tested and vouched for by those with similar experiences.

I don't care about the dust etc just looking for maximum initial bite and shortest stopping distance I can get out of a brake pad upgrade.

 

[robert]

I'm running the Hawk LTSs on my Tacoma. They're probably a bit of an improvement over the stock pads but not a ton; I put them on the same time I added my sliders (another 100#s or so). They're definitely dirtier than stock pads. I thought about going to a more metallic pad but I'd rather wear out pads than rotors.

Have you upgraded to braided stainless lines yet? They should be good for a slight improvement also. You other option is to upgrade to larger brakes but that's gets expensive fast. I have no idea whether you can add Titan brakes or something- I know almost nothing about Nissan products.

 

[stioc]

So the LTS sounds about the same sort of an upgrade as my EBC 7000 series pads. As you said any kind of big-brake kit or parts swap is going to get costly quickly. I'm not at all sure about the Titan brakes either. I'm hoping I can find a better brake-pad. I may try the Akebonos as I've had good experience with them in the past.

Thanks for the feedback! anyone else try different pads with good results?

 

[Stroverlander]

My experience with Hawk LTS pads has been great. Installed front and rear on my van with noticeable improvement over factory pads. Better initial bite, good feel and strong performance with no fade, even when fully loaded and very kind to rotors at the expense of additional dust.

Best to start with clean rotors and follow the instructions for proper bedding in as well for optimum performance.

 

[stioc]

The 7000 series EBC pads come with a special break-in coating on the pads when new, they look like sand paper so I took the easy route and didn't resurface the rotors when I installed them. I'll probably buy new Duralast gold rotors with lifetime warranty and some good pads, either LTS or some kind of Akebono. I also have the stainless steel lines sitting in the garage so hopefully everything will go on it together.

I'm hoping to get some more feedback/experiences since almost every truck on ExPo is running oversized tires, armor etc pushing the brakes past their design limits.

 

[98roamer]

My 3 generation 4Runner isn't know for great braking power but I upgraded to Brembo blank rotors and the Hawk LTS pads, good improvement. The Brembo blanks seem thicker and handle the heat much better than stock. They have a smoother surfacing than stock rotors.

I've sense done the Tundra 199mm upgraded but still Brembo blanks and Hawk pads.

 

[Stroverlander]

One of the reasons I have my '04 is that I wanted the larger front discs/calipers/pads and rear discs they equipped the '03-'05 models with from 1/2 ton line. It is a significant improvement too, my old '97 van with smaller discs/calipers and rear drums didn't stop anywhere near as well and suffered from fade, nor did pads/rotors last long no matter what combination of stock size pads and rotors I tried.

I'm still on original rotors at almost 140k though I did recently reinstall the original front pads because of a small issue a while back. Van started pulling to one side and pedal travel felt slightly off which turned out to be a small rock wedged in the caliper. One of the Hawk pads had worn unevenly enough that I didn't want to keep running that pad and rather than pop for new pads at this stage, I stuck the original pads back in for the time being.

That setup has been so good to me, I'm going to go with OEM Delphi/Delco front rotors and Hawk LTS pads again. The rotors are inexpensive at only $53 each shipped at Amazon, and pads $80 for the set. I've considered trying Hawk SuperDuty pads as they are rated with slightly more stopping power and less dust but not sure I want to mess with a successful combination that I am happy with.

A rotor hone is a good option for DIY rotor clean up work on both new and used rotors as well.

 

[AA1PR]

just simple ceramic pads here

 

[zippledippledoo]

Brake pad recommendations

I've used the Porterfield R4-S pads and shoes on two vehicles (shoes were custom made for one vehicle that was in New Zealand and they did it by relining the old shoes) and had great luck with them. They are a big step up, IMHO and on the vehicles that I've used, from the stock/existing pads/shoes. Not much dust or noise, they last a long time and the rotors/drums lasted a long time as well. Noticeable improvement and they work well cold. Good initial "bite" to put it in completely unscientific terms. Others to consider might be the Carbotech 1521 and AX6 - I've not used either. See http://porterfield-brakes.com/images/portstrt2008_11_06_02_45_30.pdf and http://www.ctbrakes.com/brake-compounds.asp

 

[Rockhard426]

You can't go wrong with the Hawk's !! , Running them on my Mega Cab and Chrysler SRT8 and couldn't be happier.

 

[John G]

I've been happy with ebc rotors and pads in the past but was less than thrilled with EBC 7000 series and sport 3GD rotors on my Landrover Discovery. With that in mind I chose the yellowstuff pads and sport 3GD rotors on my Chevrolet 1500HD and could not be happier. Still one of my favorite mods in terms of results.

 

[stioc]

Update: I swapped out the EBC 7000s for the Hawk LTS and a fresh set of Duralast rotors along with the SS brake lines. The braking is much improved now and I'm still in the bed-in period so they should work even better in a few hundred more miles.

 

[Jr_Explorer]

Update: I swapped out the EBC 7000s for the Hawk LTS and a fresh set of Duralast rotors along with the SS brake lines. The braking is much improved now and I'm still in the bed-in period so they should work even better in a few hundred more miles.

Well that is good data to know. I was thinking they may be about the same class but knowing the Hawk LTS's are a bit better makes me think I need to change sooner rather than later.

 

[karlmagnum]

You can't go wrong with EBC and Hawk pads. I had the EBC Green and Hawk HPS pads which are both semi-metallic, and I love their stopping power.

 

[stioc]

I've run EBC sintered pads on my motorcycles for years and Hawks (and Porterfields) on my race cars back in the day. This was my first experience with the EBC 7000 (green) pads that are designed specifically for SUVs but compared to the Hawk LTS pads they don't hold a candle...in my experience anyway.