Originally Posted by meep
I'll second the Hawk LTS pads as a good truck pad. They dust but the braking performance was more important to me than aesthetics. They also were a great passenger card pad (not the LTS version there) with more bite than akebono. I'm usually an akebono guy for passenger vehicles but they've left me wanting with truck duty.
I'm watching the raybestos EHT - I've yet to read a complaint against them.
Our '18 F150 braking could use a bit more bite, though I'll say this - in tow mode it seems to me that the braking is different - I'm having a hard time thinking the valving is altered by that mode, but I've played with it several times and I do not lack for braking when the trailer is connected, and empty in that mode there seems to be more bite. I wonder if they are changing the rear brake bias in that mode.
Most tow modes change the transmission's behavioral profile to use downshifting, gear holding, converter lockup, and engine braking to slow the truck faster.
This is most obvious in diesels with exhaust brakes. In tow mode, I can enter an exit zone at 75mph, go through the exit, and continue on my way without ever touching the brake pedal.
The Super Duty vans I have rented in the past default to tow mode. Difference can be felt in a major way. All transmission.