my current pads/rotors are on their last legs. i want to get a new decent pair of pads and rotors... i kinda want some slotted rotors and was looking at brembo, and then a pair of hawk performance ceramic pads... are these good? anyone have any other suggestions, or heard anything about the slotted brembos and/or hp ceramic pads?

also... links to good online prices would be really helpful. thanks guys!

 

does hawk make ceramic pads??? are you looking for performance, quiet, low dust?? the best place i found hawk pads was at.... lemme find it....buybrakes.com

 

im definitely looking for lower dust than i have now, seems like my fronts are filthy in a week... and better performance would be nice.

 

low dust and performance dont fit in the same sentence with brake pads the hawk HPS compound is a very metallic compound, meaning lots of bite, and great performance, but increased dust, and shortened rotor life. ceramic pads will offer little to no dust, longer life, but less stopping power. that just the trade off, you have to choose what youd like more.

personally i will be using Hawk HPS pads all the way around on my 04 F150

 

I would go with a very durable rotor and go with a cheap good pad.... nothing ceramic or hard metal because you'll be replacing rotors alot more often, I'd rather replace a pair of $15 pads than replace rotors costing $85+

 

man let me tell ya, performance and less brake dust does go together. i have cross-drilled and slotted rotors due to my bigger rims, and i have carbon-metallic pads and i haven't had any problems yet. Once you brake the pads in, you'll be able to tell a significant difference in braking. you probably won't be able to get cheap pads if you want to do the same set up i did because the slots will tear the cheap pads up; just a word to ya. I spent about 375 (150 for the rotors, 100 for the pads, and the rest was labor) get the job done. i got my rotors off of ebay and my carbon pads from a local shop here.

 

ok... i think im gonna get a pair of powerslot rotors ($264/pair@tirerack.com) and im leaning towards the hps street brake pads. is the composite material generally longer or shorter life than oem pads?

 

the hawk HPS pads should last longer than OEM, since they have a harder compound, giving more bite, but this will cause the rotors to wear just a little faster. as far as the dust, any metallic pad will dust, even the carbon metallics. just keep your wheels clean!!

 

yeah you're gonna get dust regardless of what you buy, but i personally don't dust as bad as i did when i had the stock set up on. my rims are always clean too so if you like having dirty rims dust won't really matter...

 

whats the typical life of rotors anyways? on my old ranger, i dont remember ever replacing the rotors (60,000 worth of driving)

 

they last a pretty long time, i would say 60,000 is not unusual at all. in fact the only time i ever replaced rotors was when a pad got too low and scoured the crap out of them.

 

from first hand experience, slotted/crossed drilled rotors don't work when you off-road frequently. I take my truck off-road at least twice a week and i had powerslot rotors. I can not even begin to tell you the amount of problems those things will cause in your front suspension. Mud will lodge itself in the slots/holes, and cause serious vibrations throughout the front of your vehicle. Some of you may already know this, some of you may not. I'm just making this statement for those that don't.

Case in point. I now have a rim sitting at the dealership waiting on pickup because the amount of vibration these rotors caused was enough to cause the bolts that connect the rotor assy. to the spindle backed out and let my rotor fly up and jam itself into the rim, which in turn locked up my passenger front wheel. i will get some pics posted before i replace the rim.

Needless to say, i went back to my factory brake set-up. It's a thousand times more effective.

 

I put ceramnics on my 99 4x4 jimmy. I really like them. I havent seen a decrease in brake performance at all. I got them from auto zone. Really neice pads.

 

hmm im gonna be needing pads sometime soon... not sure what to get though

 

I have heard nothing bad about Hawk pads. Everyone that has them said they love them. I am not really sold on cross drilled rotors yet though.

I did a new brake job on my truck recently and went with Morse Friction Master Ceramic Pads, and Bendix rotors. Stopping power was much better and no brake dust at all that I can see. Very worth it.

However I think I will try Hawk next time though.

 

http://www.rangerpowersports.com/for...ad.php?t=89841

He has very reasonable prices and if you don't see exactly what you need just email him. I almost bought a set of performance slotted rotors from him that were slightly used for testing for $100. John Moorehead has a set on his Ranger. He's got some pics and I'm sure if you ask him he'll tell you he loves 'em :P

 

A guy I know up here in WI makes a Wilwood 4 piston rear disc conversion. I think it was like 1200 bux for the custom setup. Personally I am going to just get an explorer rearend and call it good.