During the annual DOT inspection, I was informed my front brake pads are getting a little thin. I want to take care of that before my next interstate trip. Vehicle is a 2010 Dodge 2500 diesel with a stick and the factory exhaust brake. I'm currently at 100k and the vast majority of that was with the 13,000 lb trailer on the back going up and down mountains and cross country.
I don't know anything about brake pads for trucks. I probably don't want a set of Porterfield R4S :) Any suggestions? Another set of Dodge factory pads at roughly $300? The cheapest, nastiest thing on the shelf at O'Reillys?
I can not speak for dodge but when I was towing with my ford I would use the extreme duty/towing pads from the dealer. Never had a want for more pad/brake. They would last about 50k of mixed use towing and DD use.
I would look and see if dodge has something similar.
Price was less than the aftermarket pads advertised for towing/hd truck use but more than OE regular pads.
I will mention that I've never felt I was running short on brakes. I just don't want something that will perform worse. The factory ones do dust, but hey - flat black wheels don't care.
Mopar makes a premium line pad which is probably a Raybestos or Bosch pad.
but for my daily drivers I like akebono pads. I've just had really good luck.
They make a severe duty fleet. https://akebonobrakes.com/severe-duty
or a pro act.
https://akebonobrakes.com/pro-act
Tom1200
PowerDork
7/12/24 8:22 p.m.
I just use heavy duty pads. I think the last set I used were Dynamic Friction from Rockauto.
Sonic
UberDork
7/12/24 8:31 p.m.
Raybestos specialty truck. They are awesome. I and several other friends use them and all are very happy: long lasting, great stopping power, never had fade even when the trailer brakes were broken, and reasonably priced at Rock Auto. Never had uneven transfer layer issues either on two trucks over about 8 years now. Heartily recommend.
I got Raybestos HD pads for the van and I've been very happy. I only tow up to about 7000, but they've been great.
EBC Redstuff/ED+ could be a good option.
I've not been particular about brand on most of my tow pigs; asked recently on the 07 Expedition I got my wife... got completely different answers than you! Kinda funny!
I do tend towards a heavy duty from a reputable name, from rock auto for the low budget!
Load in the bed might want better brake pads. If Towing, the properly adjusted and applied trailer brakes should be stopping the trailer, so if you were happy with the stopping of OE, any aftermarket OE should do the trick!
On the other hand, I guess it's hard for too much braking ability to be bad!
I use Hawk Superduty on my 2008 Duramax tow vehicle. I tow 9k lbs in the current rig. Previously just 5k with a Tundra. They worked well on both trucks. Very good bite. No noise. A bit higher dust. Very confidence inspiring.
I've used NAPAs best pads on my trucks for the last 40 or so years. I get around 110k miles out of them, they stop fine, dust a bit and have a lifetime warrenty so I only pay for them once per truck.
Rodan
UltraDork
7/13/24 8:23 a.m.
I'm closing in on 70k on our Ram 3500, and most of that has been loaded and/or towing. I've never had a reason to be unhappy with the OEM pads, so rather than gamble on an unknown, I'll probably just buy OEM when the time comes.
Raybestos Specialty Truck are $48 at Rock Auto.