Front rotors and pad upgrade

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LB3711

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I'm over 51k and its getting close to start replacing the front and rear rotors and pads.

So whats better than stock replacements for the Ram. I know I just can go to my local auto parts store and get what they have. But thinking to do an upgrade to the rotors and pads. Suggestions?
 

jeepguy_1980

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Hawk is always a good choice.

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DavidRam

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I got the EBCs from Moes a couple weeks ago. They brake very strong, and look cool. Slotted and dimpled (not drilled).

They do make a little noise with the dimples. But I did not want the drilled ones. I am very happy with them so far. :)
 

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Kelli25

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jeepguy_1980

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BlownGP

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Those look good for sure. How are they on stopping power? You feel like they are a lot stronger than OEM brakes?

I was actually surprised the difference it made. The pedal feel was so much better and it takes less force to stop the truck. With less pedal travel. I think flushing the brake fluid also helped with this too.

Even my wife said something about how good the brake felt. She drove my truck to work yesterday while I was doing her brakes.lol
She's no newb when it comes to cars but I was shocked she said something about them.. haha


I would avoid ceramic if you want better than stock performance.

Ceramic is nice for the reasons you listed. Better than stock performance will also mean dirtier than stock.

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Doesn't make since when you suggested Hawk pads which is know for making very good ceramic pads.

and that's false info about more brake dust with ceramic. Yes some Hawk ceramic pads do make a lot of brake dust and noise, but they stop great. Read the reviews on F-body forums about the dust. There great pads but not when it comes to brake dust.

These Wagner Themoquiets among others have very little brake dust and the dust that is there, Is clear so you cant see until you clean your rims.

I've been using Wagner Themoquiets on all my cars for years. It's only pad I will buy. I love them.
 

jeepguy_1980

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I was actually surprised the difference it made. The pedal feel was so much better and it takes less force to stop the truck. With less pedal travel. I think flushing the brake fluid also helped with this too.

Even my wife said something about how good the brake felt. She drove my truck to work yesterday while I was doing her brakes.lol
She's no newb when it comes to cars but I was shocked she said something about them.. haha




Doesn't make since when you suggested Hawk pads which is know for making very good ceramic pads.

and that's false info about more brake dust with ceramic. Yes some Hawk ceramic pads do make a lot of brake dust and noise, but they stop great. Read the reviews on F-body forums about the dust. There great pads but not when it comes to brake dust.

I'm pretty sure I suggested Hawk as a brand, not their ceramic line. They have multiple lines.

I agreed with you that one of the benefits of ceramic is that they produce less dust. I said that better performance generally equals more dust, but said that ceramic isn't better performance.

The performance of ceramic brake pads is not generally considered a benefit. Since the OP asked for recommendations based on performance, I advised against the ceramic pads.

Edit: I see that the OP said better than stock and did not say anything about performance.

This may mean depending on how he defines "better," ceramic may be better, as it is cleaner.
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LB3711

LB3711

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Im open to anything better than stock. Pretty much performance is better than stock. To me performance would be a big brake kit with all the goodies. So what suggested about isnt out of my thoughts. Its just what I can afford. As for dust its all in the combination and I try to clean the truck.


Keep them coming.
 

BlownGP

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I'm pretty sure I suggested Hawk as a brand, not their ceramic line. They have multiple lines.

I agreed with you that one of the benefits of ceramic is that they produce less dust. I said that better performance generally equals more dust, but said that ceramic isn't better performance.

The performance of ceramic brake pads is not generally considered a benefit. Since the OP asked for recommendations based on performance, I advised against the ceramic pads.

Edit: I see that the OP said better than stock and did not say anything about performance.

This may mean depending on how he defines "better," ceramic may be better, as it is cleaner.
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Yeah, true but someone mentions Hawk pads. They mean the ceramic ones 99% of the time.

So how is ceramic pads not consider a better upgrade or performance upgrade over stock/oem pads? Please explain.
I sure would like to know, because if that's the case brake company's are making a killing selling ceramic pads that cost way more than non ceramic pads.
 

jeepguy_1980

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Yeah, true but someone mentions Hawk pads. They mean the ceramic ones 99% of the time.

So how is ceramic pads not consider a better upgrade or performance upgrade over stock/oem pads? Please explain.
I sure would like to know, because if that's the case brake company's are making a killing selling ceramic pads that cost way more than non ceramic pads.

People don't mean Hawk ceramic 99% of the time they refer to Hawk. Look at Hawk's website and select their performance brakes, it will not list their ceramic pads.

I'm not going to write out a long statement as to why. There are plenty of articles out there.

Here is a short one: http://firstgeargarage.com/blog/brake-pads-ceramic-girly-vs-semi-metallic-manly/

I agree with you that ceramic is cleaner. But that doesn't mean it performs better. The pads on my Camaro are rather aggressive, but stock. I have to clean my wheels thoroughly every week. By the end of each week, my wheels are very dark. If I go to weeks, my wheels literally look black. The brakes also squeal at low speed, almost embarrassingly so.

Brake manufacturers make lots of money selling ceramic brakes for the reasons I said. They do offer certain advantages. They might even stop better than some low end non-ceramic pads. But not better than a high end metallic/carbon pad.

The point is, either style is a trade off of performance vs cleanliness and noise.




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jeepguy_1980

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Yeah, I believe that article as much as I believe in bigfoot.. lol

Understandable considering the immature language of the article. It was literally the first article that came up when I Google ceramic vs carbon metallic.

Any thoughts as to why Hawk rates their ferro-carbon (aka carbon metallic) as higher performing than their ceramics? I'm not an expert in this field, but every bit of research I have done doesn't support ceramic as being a better performer, with the possible exception of its ability to handle heat.

Then there is carbon-ceramic which seems to be considered pretty high performance.

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mhb1638

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I can't access Ebay from work, but their is a guy-brakemotive - on Ebay that sells rotors and pads for all 4 wheels at killer prices. I used him on my ex wifes Durango and they were immediately awesome. This guy is pretty well known on the Durango forums. Anyways, I can't access it from work or I would post a link, but these are the ones I'd go with.
 

BlownGP

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Understandable considering the immature language of the article. It was literally the first article that came up when I Google ceramic vs carbon metallic.

Any thoughts as to why Hawk rates their ferro-carbon (aka carbon metallic) as higher performing than their ceramics? I'm not an expert in this field, but every bit of research I have done doesn't support ceramic as being a better performer, with the possible exception of its ability to handle heat.

Then there is carbon-ceramic which seems to be considered pretty high performance.

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Ok, you need to good your info straight.

That article you posted is Semi-Metallic vs Ceramic.... Not Carbon metallic vs Ceramic that you are talking about now.
There is a difference. For a truck I think it's not big deal which ones you get. Either will be great I just like Ceramic.


Carbon-ceramic brakes like are options on Porsche's, Ferrari's, Bentley's, and come on the ZR1 are not in any way like ceramic brake pads.
 
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jeepguy_1980

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Ok, you need to good your info straight.

That article you posted is Semi-Metallic vs Ceramic.... Not Carbon metallic vs Ceramic that you are talking about now.
There is a difference.


Carbon-ceramic brakes like are options on Porsche's, Ferrari's, Bentley's, and come on the ZR1 are not in any way like ceramic brake pads.

I'm aware that carbon-ceramic is for very high end cars. I never claimed that they were like traditional ceramic pads. I sited them as an example of one ceramic compound that is considered high performance. So, I would say that my information was already straight.

I'm not, nor have I debated semi-metallic vs carbon-metalic. I linked an article from my phone that essentially says each style pad offers its own benefits.

On post 7, I was wrong, and that's probably what has made you so hostile. I said that I would avoid ceramic if you want better than stock performance. When I made that post, I wasn't considering the platform. The truck probably doesn't have high-performance brakes to begin with. Had I made that statement on the Camaro forum I frequent, I would have been correct. As there aren't any ceramic pads that will outperform the stock fero-carbon pads. Still, many people elect to install ceramic pads on their Camaros, because of the benefits they do offer.

Yes, I consent that it is possible to exceed the Ram's OEM performance with the right ceramic pad. However, there are still other materials that are better performing that ceramic. They do so at the cost of increased noise, dust, and life of the pad. If I had big chrome wheels like you, I would probably go with a ceramic.
 
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