Which brake pads for towing?

Originally Posted by thooks
Not a Ford owner.

Bought the whole PowerStop Z36 kit for my Tundra. Drilled - slotted rotors, pads, etc. about $475 worth. Did the bed in procedure to the letter.

1. Noted NO better performance than OEM ( bought the truck new )
2. After 60k miles, truck is almost undriveable. Horrible vibration when braking.

Bought all new Toyota OEM parts last Wednesday for $295. Gonna try to knock it out this week.

I'll never get suckered by the Powerstop junk again.


Tundra's are notorious for warping front brake rotors!
 
Originally Posted by slacktide_bitog
Wagner has a line of Severe Duty pads. There is also OEX which is ceramic but should be better than the Thermoquiets
smile.gif


Akebono ASP pads are also good stuff

There's also Hawk LTS and EBC Greenstuff 6000. EBC also makes orange "extra duty" pads, but they are very expensive

A recent BITOG favorite seems to be the Raybestos EHT


Can the Akebono ASP's (ceramic) compare with the semi-metallic products in terms of performance? Assuming noise and dust isn't an issue.
 
Originally Posted by clinebarger
1/2 ton trucks don't have the correct brake bias for heavy hauling, They tend to cook the front brakes.


Nope-if a half-ton is cooking brakes I will show you out of adjustment trailer brakes, or a brake controller not adjusted properly, or someone who is UNSKILLED IN TOWING. A half-ton should be able to tow within it's PAYLOAD capability.
 
Originally Posted by CKN
Originally Posted by clinebarger
1/2 ton trucks don't have the correct brake bias for heavy hauling, They tend to cook the front brakes.


Nope-if a half-ton is cooking brakes I will show you out of adjustment trailer brakes, or a brake controller not adjusted properly, or someone who is UNSKILLED IN TOWING. A half-ton should be able to tow within it's PAYLOAD capability.


I think I can see both of your points--towing more than 1k ought to be using brakes on the trailer BUT if the truck doesn't start biasing towards the rear it's going to be overworking the front pads.

I forget, is there something mechanical that starts to bias brakes towards the rear when it starts squatting down? Also, are the rear brakes and trailer brakes up to full snuff?
 
Trailer brakes are much better on the 12k trailer than on the truck. Brake controller adjusted properly and I try to go easy on the truck brakes because I know I will have to replace them again. I only how 1-2 times a year and about 60 miles then to my other property to bush hog
 
I would guess the Motorcraft Super Duty pads are semi metallic. I looked on line and could not find much info. Called the local dealer and they were worthless
 
Let me ask this -

Would a brake controller (Teknosha P3) cause a bias when not towing a trailer?

I have read a few internet posts about the 2nd/3rd Gen Tundras having front brake problems. I have a Teknosha P3 controller hooked up but do not use it (do not tow a heavy trailer) very often. As in once/twice per 2-3 years.

The front brakes on the Tundras appear to be heavy duty. Large, thick rotors, large, 4-pistol calipers. I will say the pads are on the small side when looking at the rest of the components.

Does anyone know what the cause is for the Tundra front brake problems?
 
I don't tow and I have problems with front pads on my '10 Tundra. They just freeze up from rust. They seem to have a lot of area for the pad ear to hit the caliper, and while I wouldn't call it a tight design it certainly takes little rust for it jam up.

Not sure if that is the problem you are mentioning but that sure is my problem. If I don't pull it apart yearly and grease then I have to pull out a hammer and hammer it all apart.
 
I always use the stock AC Delco stuff on my tow vehicles. Last truck was an 02 Chevy 2500HD. Just went with stock pads and rotor. We to about 3000 to 4000 miles a year. Never had a problem. Combined weight is 14500 to 15500 depending on what we are doing.

You should see what the stock stuff looks like for your truck.
 
Last edited:
Originally Posted by supton
Originally Posted by CKN
Originally Posted by clinebarger
1/2 ton trucks don't have the correct brake bias for heavy hauling, They tend to cook the front brakes.


Nope-if a half-ton is cooking brakes I will show you out of adjustment trailer brakes, or a brake controller not adjusted properly, or someone who is UNSKILLED IN TOWING. A half-ton should be able to tow within it's PAYLOAD capability.


I think I can see both of your points--towing more than 1k ought to be using brakes on the trailer BUT if the truck doesn't start biasing towards the rear it's going to be overworking the front pads.

I forget, is there something mechanical that starts to bias brakes towards the rear when it starts squatting down? Also, are the rear brakes and trailer brakes up to full snuff?


No, most often the maximum bias to the rear is fixed by the dimensions of the brakes, and bias can only be adjusted toward the front. Modern vehicles use the abs sensors to monitor wheel slip and if rear wheel slip becomes higher than set in software the abs unit either levels brake pressure off, or reduces it. Older vehicles likely have a mechanical bias valve with 2 settings.
 
Originally Posted by MParr
Forget about the Power Stop products. The Bendix fleet brakes are pretty darn good for your application. You are not going to get good stopping performance out of ceramic pads. You are going to need severe duty semi-metallic pads for towing. I like Wagner Severe Duty or the Motorcraft equivalents. You are going to get brake dust from semi-metallics. But, your vehicle will stop better and the pads and rotors will stay cooler.
https://www.wagnerbrake.com/products/brakes/wagner-sd-severeduty.html



MParr----Sounds as if you have experience with the Motorcraft Super Duty (Motorcrafts brand of Severe Duty) brake pads. Can you comment on the dusting situation any what you are using them on and how they perform? Thanks
 
Originally Posted by Jetronic
Originally Posted by supton
Originally Posted by CKN
Originally Posted by clinebarger
1/2 ton trucks don't have the correct brake bias for heavy hauling, They tend to cook the front brakes.


Nope-if a half-ton is cooking brakes I will show you out of adjustment trailer brakes, or a brake controller not adjusted properly, or someone who is UNSKILLED IN TOWING. A half-ton should be able to tow within it's PAYLOAD capability.


I think I can see both of your points--towing more than 1k ought to be using brakes on the trailer BUT if the truck doesn't start biasing towards the rear it's going to be overworking the front pads.

I forget, is there something mechanical that starts to bias brakes towards the rear when it starts squatting down? Also, are the rear brakes and trailer brakes up to full snuff?


No, most often the maximum bias to the rear is fixed by the dimensions of the brakes, and bias can only be adjusted toward the front. Modern vehicles use the abs sensors to monitor wheel slip and if rear wheel slip becomes higher than set in software the abs unit either levels brake pressure off, or reduces it. Older vehicles likely have a mechanical bias valve with 2 settings.


No-when towing bias to the rear is fixed by a PROPERLY ADJUSTED weight distributing hitch.
 
Last edited:
Originally Posted by CKN
Originally Posted by clinebarger
1/2 ton trucks don't have the correct brake bias for heavy hauling, They tend to cook the front brakes.


Nope-if a half-ton is cooking brakes I will show you out of adjustment trailer brakes, or a brake controller not adjusted properly, or someone who is UNSKILLED IN TOWING. A half-ton should be able to tow within it's PAYLOAD capability.



Not sure if the OP's trailer has brakes.....My 18ft car hauler doesn't have & never had brakes, Makes it interesting towing a heavier truck around
grin.gif
 
Originally Posted by CKN

No-when towing bias to the rear is fixed by a PROPERLY ADJUSTED weight distributing hitch.

How does a WDH adjust the brake line pressures? I'm not seeing a correlation... not arguing against the WDH, it's job is to move weight between the axles, and "bias" the axles appropriately--but it does naught with brake line pressures.
 
Ok, I think I have figured out the problem with the Tundra front brakes. It's the "anti-rattle" springs/clips. I asked for new hardware when I bought all the parts at the Toyota dealer, they only included 1 pack of these anti-rattle clips/springs. It appears that Toyota only put one of these clips on each caliper and they are in the lower position (lower pin). Well I did the front brakes last night and put one new anti-rattle clip on each caliper and re-installed what was there also. One on each slide pin. I will go get some more and replace the older clips also.

I'll also note that the new clips seemed to be larger/more sprung than the older (existing) clips. These are basically what push the pad back off the rotor when the pedal is not depressed, so there is a good chance that the upper part of the pad was / is pressing against the rotor more than it should when not engaged.

We will find out in another 30-50k miles. Just a thought for all the Tundra owners who do their own work. Make sure to buy 2 sets of anti-rattle clips with your new OEM pads/rotors.
 
I have installed the Raybestos Element 3 EHT pads on the front and rear with Bendix severe duty rotors. Seems to stop as well as the Bendix semimetallic severe duty pads but with no obnoxious dust. They might stop a little better but it is hard to tell.
 
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