Advice on brake pads for towing

[meep]

2nd vote for hawk LTS. I tow a 4000 camper and the tundra is known for anemic brakes - I have that T-shirt. Ceramics IME are better on cars and offer (to me) good sporty feel and bite, but they don't give the bite needed when the system is loaded up with too much weight.

Trailer brakes are required if the towed weight is 3500 or more. I'm personally a fan, however it does sound like something's not right with the 'burban, unless it naturally just doesn't have great brakes by design. IDK - I recently pulled a loaded 5x8 enclosed all over the state and had to two-foot it multiple times (no trailer brakes on it) because the lead vehicle in our group was aggressive (school bus, if you can believe that...) and the Tundra just naturally doesn't have strong brakes. Maybe it weighed close to 2500 lbs guesstimate? For you I'd consider new pads/shoes all the way around first, unless you know good stuff was used before. Also, it doesn't sound like a hose to me - if 1 wheel was compromised it'd pull to the side when braking.

Suggestion - sand the rotors before reassembly. I spin them on the axle while hitting them with a belt sander. it yields a clean surface, and does it consistently.

-m

Test your brake booster for vacuum leak (google it).

 

[krismoriah72]

Mine is a 2003.. im not a suburban expert but did some resarch and found that in 2004 they got the hydroboost braking system..so im guessing that my model has weaker braking ability than a 2004?

When he sold it to me, it was metal to metal on on the front, so the rotors were trashed. The rears were almost metal to metal..so i went ahead and replaced all rotors and pads with the cheapest rotors from advance and the cheapest semi metallic pads from NAPA.

 

[nthach]

Originally Posted By: krismoriah72
Mine is a 2003.. im not a suburban expert but did some resarch and found that in 2004 they got the hydroboost braking system..so im guessing that my model has weaker braking ability than a 2004?



OT, but I know the GMT800 MC swap into a older 1988-1999 GMT400 platform truck is a popular swap, I was under the impression GM did improve the braking system in the 2000-2006 GMT800 trucks to four-wheel disc and a straight-bore MC instead of a step-bore?