favorite brake pads-towing edition

what are the favorite brake pads for the GRM tow vehicles? lots of claims out there but im finding very little empirical/ comparative data..... well, other than all the manufacturers seem to think their product is the best...

Hawk LTS

I don't think the LTS variant is available for my durango. I see HPS and one other variant on Amazon. How are they with pad and rotor wear?

I switched to NAPA pads when the stock ones wore out.

I put the Motorcraft "Super Duty" pads on my E-150. Despite all my cavemaning and air tools I was unable to loose the bolts holding the caliper brackets to the knuckle, so those pads went onto the original, unturned rotors. Despite that, there was a marked difference in braking ability under heavy loads and the price was pretty good.

itsarebuild wrote: I don't think the LTS variant is available for my durango. I see HPS and one other variant on Amazon. How are they with pad and rotor wear?

HPS = NO not for a tow vehicle

they have them for '04/'05 … don't know your yr … I'd suggest calling them and finding out what they'd recommend

powerstop ceramic that come with their brake kits.

i put them on the front of the avalanche and they work great, i smoked a set of wearever gold pads from advance in a week. just ordered a set for the rear.

Which powerstops? I see evelution ceramics and truck and tow metallics?

Stock toyota pads on the truck, I do seem to go through them a bit faster than normal, I'm sure all the towing has an effect, the trail braking might also ;)

Wont help you for your Dodge but Ford Makes a HD pad for trucks that my local dealer did not know about until I brought the part numbers in for them to order them for me. Cost was about $50 an axle if I remember. Maybe less. They are a fantastic pad for both DD and towing. No dust quiet and stand up to what ever I could toss at them when towing. Pull your eyeballs out of there sockets braking power when the truck is empty.

wae wrote: I put the Motorcraft "Super Duty" pads on my E-150. Despite all my cavemaning and air tools I was unable to loose the bolts holding the caliper brackets to the knuckle, so those pads went onto the original, unturned rotors. Despite that, there was a marked difference in braking ability under heavy loads and the price was pretty good.

I missed this. I think these are the same pads I was talking about.

Porterfield R4-S

dean1484 wrote: Wont help you for your Dodge but Ford Makes a HD pad for trucks that my local dealer did not know about until I brought the part numbers in for them to order them for me. Cost was about $50 an axle if I remember. Maybe less. They are a fantastic pad for both DD and towing. No dust quiet and stand up to what ever I could toss at them when towing. Pull your eyeballs out of there sockets braking power when the truck is empty.

you got a link to these pads ? do they go back in time enough for my '97 f150 ?

Funny you asked this. I think they are the same for the F150. You should check it to make sure.

Motorcraft Superduty Pads for 2000 Expedition

BRSD-702 for the front

BRSD-711 for the rear

Factory OEM pads.

No, really. The only time I change pads is when I find them "lacking". I don't think I've ever had a modern day vehicle (2000 or newer) with horrible brakes for "daily driving" and "towing" purposes. If they are bad, there is something actually wrong. Just my opinion.

Went and looked it up at fordparts.com and for a 97 F150 these are the ones you want.

2V001 (BRSD-679) Disc Brake Pad Motorcraft SuperDuty Brake Pads (Front)

2V200 (BRSD-711) Brake Shoe or Disc Pad Rear disc - Motorcraft SuperDuty Brake Pads (Rear)

powerstop evolution ceramic are the ones i use on my truck. i tow every day, which is probably why my rear end exploded.

HiTempguy wrote: Factory OEM pads. No, really. The only time I change pads is when I find them "lacking". I don't think I've ever had a modern day vehicle (2000 or newer) with horrible brakes for "daily driving" and "towing" purposes. If they are bad, there is something actually wrong. Just my opinion.

Tried them on my truck and they worked well but replacing them after 20K miles was not acceptable. the supper duty were much better all the way around for both stopping power and service time. Since I replace the rotors when ever I do brakes on the truck I did not even stop to look at rotor ware. I usually get warping and not cracking or actual ware. In fact I noticed that it is about time to replace them again as I can feel a very slight pulsing in the front and the last time I was looking at things I noticed that the fronts were 3/4 gone.

EDIT: And I guess you are kind of rite as the Supperduty pads are technically an ford part.

DONT use AutoZone off the shelf stuff. I had to do an emergency pad replacement on a friends F150 at the track and the pads we got barley made it the 10 hours back (in stop and go traffic). I was actually wondering if he was dragging the brakes or something as that seemed a bit extreme but he said he was not.

Brake system is fine. But truck is big and I doubt anyone at dodge really expected the truck to be used to tow a race car. If better pads help stop me more quickly I don't see the harm in looking for an upgrade.

itsarebuild wrote: I don't think the LTS variant is available for my durango. I see HPS and one other variant on Amazon. How are they with pad and rotor wear?

I have HPS on the Sequoia. They've been fine, though I can't tell you about life since we've only put 10k on the truck since we bought it. Only time I've ever smelled them was on a 5+ mile country road downhill in the mountains that was literally "on the brakes" the whole time, with a 5k trailer/car behind it.

I got them to give the brakes (during regular driving) better bite compared to whatever was on the truck when I bought it. They are MUCH better for normal driving. On other towing trips, they've been good.

Also had them on the 4Runner and towed with it a few times, never had an issue.

Hawk LTS pads absolutely ate my new Brembo rotors after very few miles. I won't use them again.

Trailer brakes help a lot.

iceracer wrote: Trailer brakes help a lot.

There may be something to that^...

dean1484 wrote: Went and looked it up at fordparts.com and for a 97 F150 these are the ones you want. 2V001 (BRSD-679) Disc Brake Pad Motorcraft SuperDuty Brake Pads (Front) 2V200 (BRSD-711) Brake Shoe or Disc Pad Rear disc - Motorcraft SuperDuty Brake Pads (Rear)

thanks

Autozone Golds are what I use on my, always loaded, E150 cargo van. It tows 10K-15K miles a year and I get 70K+ out of the pads. They brake better hot than they do cold, so a trailer just makes them work better.

They are a little dusty, but I'm rocking steelies and 1970 Ford hub caps, so that isn't a problem.