General Consensus On Brakes & Pads?

[Old Jeeper]

I have run EBC brakes on my jeeps and my super duty trucks for 20 years several to pick from yellow orange green and I found in every single instance when I replaced because I needed a brake job, but rather to improve breaking over OEM. I just installed EBC yellow pads on my F450. Super duty truck carries a lot of weight 6000 pounds just in the bed of the truck when I travel I put them on my JK my TJ and I’m ordering a set for my JLR-X.

I have never not seen a significant improvement over OEM pads on any vehicle I’ve put them on

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[SargeDiesel]

Question: Are Mopar pads the best or good enough to buy again? I hear nothing but great things about Mopar pads but my rear is completely worn out at 35k is that normal?

On Monday I started getting this horrible squeal coming from my brakes, I’ve since taken all four apart and regreased all the metal on metal contact points as well as cleaned all the slide pins and regreased those. I’m still getting the squeal and realized it’s metal from the clips rubbing my rotors because the back pads are so worn out the clips are actually making contact. Video of the sound and picture of one of my pads below.

Do yourself a favor and take a look at EBC Brake Pads. Many in the Jeep community consider them to be the best. They have a pad for each type of driving, from OEM equivalent to heavy duty offroad/towing.
Take a look:
https://ebcbrakes.com/ebc-brake-pad-selector-tool/#lets-go

 

[limeade]

I've used the EBC orange (i.e., semi-sintered) in motorcycle applications. While the pad compound is such that rotor wear is mildly accelerated, and expected, the improvement in stopping power was exactly what I was hoping for. Possibly the same would be true in automotive applications.

Do let us know if you install the EBCs on your Jeep, as I'm curious to know if they'd be an upgrade for four wheels, also.

No plans to change from Hawk for now, but you never know.

 

[longfiredragon]

This is my experience. Maybe things have changed? Don't know.

First those tabs that were contacting the rotors are called indicators, there supposed to do that. It lets you know it's time to take a look at your brakes.

Second, the best thing you can do when needing new pads is to turn the rotors. I know some will disagree. But just apply logic here. Your rotors are already mated to the old pads. They have various grooves etc. Worn into the rotors already, not to mention all the possible heat damage etc.

It makes no sense to put new pads on already worn rotors. For best braking and noticable better braking, start with two perfectly flat surfaces.

Some might say, but when you turn the rotors you decrease rotor life, no. Think about it. Most vehicles don't get more than two pad changes before the rotors are done anyway. ( I am talking measured thickness here, not billy bob looking at them going, well there's still surface there, just put more pads on) So if you turn the rotors, it's still the same life out of them but your starting as close as you can get to bran new feel and operation. Plus there engineered to be turned.

Lots of people make the mistake of not getting the rotors turned, a lot don't care. If you replace your pads and don't really notice any braking diff. Well there you go.

Also, again logic here. If you get aggressive pads like some EBC offers, yea they brake excellent. They also can chew the shit out of your rotors. That's why there are different ones offered. Factory pads are usually designed to give "good" braking and decent life.

Some are better designed than the OEMs and will give better braking and still have decent life. Research the pads and get what you need.

I worked in the industry and for a while I was stuck doing nothing but brake jobs. A lot of people look at their rotors and go, oh, they look flat to me, slap new pads on. Put an indicator on the rotors and see if they still seem flat.

 

[wheels082]

I have used Hawk pads for years on my Jeeps. A noticeable improvement over OEM pads.

 

[RicRecon]

So, for someone with a 21 JLUR Ecodiesel which is a daily driver, weekend off-road, 3-4 long trips a year overlanding towing a small off-road trailer. Trails such as Alpine Loop (CO), Moab, Rimrocker trail, everywhere in UT/NV, trails in CA desert. Not serious rockcrawling like Rubicon. Would you recommend the EBC yellow or green?

 

[JLeco2022]

from my experiense i normally go with ac delco, in my years of driving i've had high HP cars 2000 ws6 with some mods and some heavy cars, my 2022 jlu diesel. I have always been the person since i was 14 to change and service my brakes. i've tried almost every pad out there in my 20's and what i've learned is ceramic pads delete rotors and drums, slotted rotors some will debate me but are mostly for show if you are getting your brake that hot enough to worry about it you need to use your transmission and this comes from someone who use to drag race. but i could be wrong. as for rotors and drum resurfacing, im on the fence because the last few i got done came out screwed up because the tech and shop had no idea how to work a lathe. but most of the times drums and rotors are relatively cheap for new and i normally don't worry about them until they have a healthy lip to the touch.

 

[ALeeL]

1. Mopar doesn't make anything. They have a company make it for them and they rebrand it.

2. Many times, the OE part that comes on your vehicle from the factory is not built to the same standards and spec as the "OE" replacement part. Every vehicle and engine manufacture I have worked for had a much higher quality spec on parts that go on at the factory versus the one being sold at their dealerships. In fact, they all had two different departments negotiating each. One department would negotiate what goes on the vehicle and another will negotiate what gets sold aftermarket with the aftermarket generally being the more cost effective one.

If you want to know how much Mopar marks their product up. Back when I was in outside sales at a Peterbilt dealership, I had a customer who needed a water pump for their 6.7L Cummins. A water pump that cost me $49 from Cummins and I sold it to my Customer for $60. I was an hour away from my dealership so I told my inside sale rep to just order it from a local Ram/Jeep/Dodge dealer.

When I got to the dealer to pick it up, the parts man handed me the same Cummins box I sell, but with a Mopar sticker and part number on it, and told me it was $289 my cost. I told him this is the same part, in the same box that I get for Cummins for $49, but with a Mopar sticker on it. He said it is what it is and his cost from Mopar was around $200. I told him he can keep his $289 water pump and I will just ship one out to my customer.

 

[jeepardized]

My JLU had its annual State safety inspection four months ago (August), w/55K on the odometer. Per the provided multi-point vehicle inspection checklist, which I'm looking at right now, all four brakes had 12MM of measured pad material remaining. The Service Advisor actually mentioned how good the pads looked, given the mileage on the vehicle.

One's daily driving habits, and/or routes traveled, will affect the average service life of brake pads and other such consumables. Braking too early will accelerate pad wear, and braking too late, which compels heavier pedal pressure, should be avoided.

Possibly, the recurrent use (activation) of the Brake Lock Differential feature could cause focused wear on the rear pads, but that would have to be so constant as to be difficult to sustain.

As for replacement pads, I tend to use and recommend OEM quality parts.

"annual State safety inspection"?? What communist socialist state are you in?

 

[rcadden]

"annual State safety inspection"?? What communist socialist state are you in?

Texas does annual state inspections.

@longfiredragon that's really interesting. I've not needed brakes on my Jeep yet but I've changed my own pads on my 2006 GMC Sierra several times and never messed with the rotors. Always just swapped pads and called it a day. By "rotate the rotors" are you meaning move them to a different wheel like we do tires, or just rotate them in place (since the brake pad doesn't move) so that the specific spot getting the pad applied is different?

I've never changed rotors, either (and never had a braking issue) - how often do you recommend that?

 

[longfiredragon]

Texas does annual state inspections.

@longfiredragon that's really interesting. I've not needed brakes on my Jeep yet but I've changed my own pads on my 2006 GMC Sierra several times and never messed with the rotors. Always just swapped pads and called it a day. By "rotate the rotors" are you meaning move them to a different wheel like we do tires, or just rotate them in place (since the brake pad doesn't move) so that the specific spot getting the pad applied is different?

I've never changed rotors, either (and never had a braking issue) - how often do you recommend that?

No Sir

What I/it means is the rotors come off the vehicle and get put on a cutting machine. The cutting machine has bits that cut both sides of the rotors at the same time.

Depending on how bad the rotors are you try to do no more than like three passes. An initial very lite cut, then maybe a medium cut, followed by a last very light cut. Again this depends on rotor condition. (All brake rotors have a min. Thickness set by the mfg, and you can't cut below this dim. I have seen this get people in trouble because the person just keep replacing brake pads never paying attention to the rotors. I have see catastrophic brake failure because of this)

Sometimes you can get away with just two cuts, initial lite, then medium.

The main thing this can do is true up your rotors so they are flat and straight on both faces, and it can take out slight warpage. But it also takes off the ridge left by the old pads on the top and bottom of the rotor.

Most don't think about the ridges on the top and bottom of the rotor left by the old pads eating into the rotor. They think the new pads will just ride in the same groove in the rotor. And sometimes they do, but not always. Rotors can also get small rocks/pebbles/sand etc. Embedded in them which in a lot of cases may not even be visible by the naked eye. Turning/cutting the rotors will usually remove most foreign debris from the rotor surface.

Turning/cutting the rotors before installing new pads gives you as close as you can get to when your brakes were new. Two, almost like new surfaces.

Hope this helps.

 

[NULL POINTER]

"annual State safety inspection"?? What communist socialist state are you in?

That would be the great Peoples Demokratik Republik Commonwealth of Pencilltucky. Best thing about moving to Florida from PA - no more crooked State Inspections where they fail you unless you keep putting on more parts. You really need a trust worthy shop in a state like Penciltucky. When I lived there, not only was state inspection required, but also smog inspection. Theoretically state inspection was supposed to be about safety, but they would ding you for stuff that had nothing to do with safety.

 

[Jeep your tips up]

Up here in Canada - I went OEM...I figured if that lasted 117,000 kms (that's 78,000 miles my American friends) , then that was good enuf..did the rotors as well just for shits and giggles

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