When I bought my truck the front brakes had very little life left in them. I decided to upgrade my brakes with AP Racing slotted/drilled rotors and Hawk Ceramic brake pads. This was a very, very expensive brake upgrade but to me brakes and tires are two things people should never go cheap on. I originally wanted to use EBC RedStuff pads since that's what I have on my Ram 1500 but they weren't available to me at the time. I've never used Hawk before but I have to say that they are definitely an improvement over stock brake pads. The previous owner used factory Ford pads and rotors. The difference is noticeable immediately. Brake modulation is far easier and far more controllable, even when compared to the EBC RedStuff pads on all four corners of my Ram 1500. The stops are relatively fade-free, even with a load. There is plenty of bite whether the rotors are cold or hot and there is no noise at all. While many people upgrade their brakes to make them look more cool than the next guy hanging out at Starbucks, I need my brakes to help me stop an 8,000lb trailer when I'm operating my business. This is an upgrade I would recommend to anyone if they are willing to spend the money. http://i1208.photobucket.com/albums/cc370/Lyosha/Miscellaneous/DSC00274.jpg http://i1208.photobucket.com/albums/cc370/Lyosha/Miscellaneous/DSC00250.jpg
Also, proper brake pad bed-in procedure is critical otherwise you're wasting your time and money. How you bed your brakes in the first 100km will determine how will your brakes will work, how long they will last and the temperature range for them to operate.
Good stuff there. Breaking new brakes in FTW! JSYK If ya copy the IMG code from photobucket it directly posts the image in the thread.
gotta agree. you cant go cheap on brakes. i spent over $1k for my rotors and pads. EBC Ultimax rotors, front and back and i went with some Wagner theroquiet pads.
Hawk Ceramic pads were $140 a set, shipped. Hawk manufactures their produts in the United States to ISO specs. The AP Racing rotors were custom ordered through one of my connections so I can't give you an exact price, but they are over $250 each and that's what my discounted rate. AP Racing manufactures their rotors to in the United Kingdom to exceed TUV specs. Cool, I might do that next time. Problem is some of my pics are big and it might make the thread look funny. I was looking at EBC Ultimax rotors as well but I wanted something cross drilled and I don't like the black finish. EBC makes awesome products though, I have their RedStuff pads on all four corners of my Ram 1500.
black finish wears off once used. the rotors look nice but the Ultimax are only slotted. i originally wanted drilled and slotted, picked up a set of BAER drilled and slotted...china was all over the box. found EBC and bought the ultimax. to my knowledge EBC is based here in the US and in Europe. made me feel a little better lol i have heard there are still some chinese products that use organic friction material. they may still get their blank rotors from china though lol
I'm a little obsessive compulsive with practically everything I own so I will literally spend days researching products from companies. Baer started outsourcing their parts overseas in the late 90s to early 2000s. Not all of their parts are made overseas though, some of their higher end products are still manufactured in the United States. Stoptech is the same, all their research, development and even manufacturing is done in the United States. However, the raw materials are purchased from Taiwan. A lot of this information is not "word of mouth" as many would put it. I have contacts in motorsports which help me with my research. As it is, AP Racing doesn't even offer brake rotors for our trucks, mine were a custom set that took 2 weeks to manufacture.
very nice. ive been trying to pay attention to the parts i buy. dont want any china crap. bought a wheel bearing off amazon for my girlfriend mustang, said USA on the website, it was a precision bearing. got the box and it said Japan on it....was not happy lol
