[Elbereth42]

Hey there. I have a 2014 Titan, base model, totally stock except for me adding a tow bar.

I feel like my brakes are pretty weak, compared to the weight of the truck, and this was especially true when I was towing. I'm looking to upgrade the brakes, and was hoping folks might have some suggestions for me. I have two ways I can see going: budget, where I upgrade the pads, and luxury, where I upgrade the rotors to drilled and slotted at the same time I upgrade the pads.

Any tips or advice is appreciated. I'm willing to do just about anything to get nice grippy brakes, as I drive regularly in the mountains.

 

[rambob]

powerstop Z36 Severe-Duty Truck And Tow 1-Click Brake Kit


rock auto has them as a kit also.

 

[HRTKD]

The general consensus on drilled rotors and towing is: Don't do it. Guys have reported seeing cracks coming out from the drilled holes. This may be limited to a single brand.

I would go with replacing the pads first. Don't use a ceramic pad. My experience has been that ceramic pads are great for not producing dust but provide less stopping power than non-ceramic pads. I believe the OEM pads are ceramic, at least they were on the '07 which IMHO had crappy brakes.

 

[LaxDfns15]

I have ceramic pads. Won't be going back to them. Brakes feel soft all the time. I'll still stop if I have to, but I have to pretty much be standing on them to do so.

I also have just slotted rotors. After warping 3 sets in less than 100k miles I got tired of buying rotors. Haven't had any issues so far with my slotteds.

 

[HRTKD]

I have ceramic pads. Won't be going back to them. Brakes feel soft all the time. I'll still stop if I have to, but I have to pretty much be standing on them to do so.

That was pretty much my experience with the OEM pads/rotors. With the new pads/rotors (Bosch) I actually had the ABS kick in on dry pavement.

 

[Indy]

The general consensus on drilled rotors and towing is: Don't do it. Guys have reported seeing cracks coming out from the drilled holes. This may be limited to a single brand.

I would go with replacing the pads first. Don't use a ceramic pad. My experience has been that ceramic pads are great for not producing dust but provide less stopping power than non-ceramic pads. I believe the OEM pads are ceramic, at least they were on the '07 which IMHO had crappy brakes.

Yeah, I've been researching this and a lot actually saying now that you should go to drilled rotors for towing. Pads will wear out a little clicker, but most I've read it is the best way to go.

I'll be going PowerStop this spring before I start camping.

 

[HRTKD]

Where are you seeing people say to go drilled for towing. That is completely different from what I've been seeing.

 

[Elbereth42]

The OEMs are ceramic, and maybe that's the problem, like you guys are saying. I'll check out the Power Stops you recommend, Rambob.

I've heard about the warping/cracking of drilled/slotted rotors as well, and that's why I'm nervous to make the upgrade. I guess it doesn't hurt to start at pads, and see what difference it makes. I just don't like the feeling that even empty, this truck will stop when it gets around to it, not when I ask it to. It's the only thing I don't like about it. Well, that and the turning radius . . .

 

[Nick Name]

This came up some time back and I put a fairly extensive response out there on the topic. The essence of it: Semi's pulling 53ft trailers are loaded to 80,000 pounds. They do not use slotted and drilled rotors to stop.... Those with disc brake systems use solid rotors. They also use semi metallic pads for the best stopping power. (same with airplanes)

This is the exact same set up most every old man with a travel trailer I know uses (me included!) EBC rotors for me, but there are other good brands to choose from. EBC yellow towing pads for me, there again are other good brands, Hawke comes up a lot and I have also used their stuff. I used to race Corvettes back in the 80's and early 90's. Slotted and drilled was all the rage until they started cracking between the holes. It's a heat thing vs thin metal sections not cooling evenly. You don't see those being used much any longer. High performance racing systems use Kevlar based pads that don't even start to bite until really hot....too fancy, expensive and slow to grab for towing. Racecar rotors are different too, made quite large, and have very wide fan systems built into the rotor internals. Watch Nascar night races and you'll see the rotors glowing.

Ceramics are used to make brake dust 'invisible' due to the color of their dust. That's the only problem they solve and that's why manufacturers went to them. Keeps the alloy wheels looking good longer. More brake power will come from different calipers...like 6 piston Brembos or Wilwood if you really want to stop fast and safe.

Almost forgot....keep your Dot4 brake fluid changed out often if you're doing mountains. Nothing like the excitement of boiling fluid in the caliper trying to stop going down hill!

 

[Elbereth42]

Thanks for the detailed answer, Nick Name! I'm definitely going to be looking at semi-metallic. What are your thoughts on the O'Reilly pads, if I'm not towing (we just sold our trailer the other day)?

 

[HRTKD]

I'm not real thrilled with a lot of O'reilly name brand parts. Stick with name brands you recognize. My brother and I an O'reilly fuel pump come out of the box looking like it had been used. The components weren't even working. One of their alternators didn't even last a year.

 

[Elbereth42]

Fair enough, HRTKD. I'll avoid O'Reilly, and get something name branded.

 

[2008pro4x]

Why drilled rotors for towing? All you're doing is taking away surface area of the rotor. You are not on the track, you don't need to evacuate heated gasses in-between the pads and rotors caused by track temps..
I tow a 6000lb trailer and upgraded my pads to wagner OEX by a recommendation of a friend. Very surprising at how much better stopping was both daily driving and especially when towing the trailer. Was able to back down my brake controller a bit. Also, somehow no dust

 

[Elbereth42]

I'm having trouble finding some of these parts - Brembo, so on - for the 2014 Titan. Was there a late model change that makes earlier years different?

 

[2008pro4x]

04-07 and 08-15


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Nick Name]

Titan-Armada - Kits

This is a bolt on 6 piston kit using Wilwood parts. Other large caliper set ups require fab work. Either way, you'll end up at about $2K on the front end and slightly less on the rear if you replace the stock set up.

 

[Elbereth42]

Wow. That's an amazing kit, and and *awesome* solution if/when I decide to go whole-hog. Thanks!

 

[HRTKD]

I wish I had the time and money to buy the various flavors of rotors/pads and test them for stopping distance. I have three sets of 17" wheels/tires/sensors so I have too much invested there to switch to a brake system that requires 18" - or even 20" - wheels.

 

[Paskell]

i got R1 concepts slotted and black zinc platted rotors. w/ hawk lts pads. very happy with them have had the rotors for over a year and no sign of rust. excellent stopping power

 

[schick05]

Hello. Bought my '04 CC LE in July of same year. Have experienced brake judder and the lame fixes from the dealership. In '06 replaced with solid Bosch rotors and ceramic pads. The OEM calipers have performed respectably for yrs with only pad changes when needed. But I've always thought they were lacking teeth when I need it. (I rarely use the brakes to solve driving hazards. More often I take my foot out of the accelerator and slide to the right) But now and then when I need to change lanes and go around someone who abides by the speed limits, I want the brakes to respond like I'm driving the chicanes at Sonoma. The truck is my daily driver and hauls the bass boat once or twice a month, and recently I noticed the sound of brake pad on caliper even after I lifted. I had been meaning to check on it and one week later turned into 10. So I finally pulled wheel and found the the caliper has died. Inside pad is thin on one end and thick on the other. Outside pad looks nearly brand new. Inside rotor face is half the thickness of the outside face. I cleaned it up, greased the caliper pins, removed the banjo bolt and dumped the old fluid out of the caliper, reassembled with old-new pads and pumped another half a bottle of fluid through the bleeder only to have it keep right on dragging. Wasn't surprised. I mean they're 15 yrs old and need rebuilt or replaced. So....I ordered a Power Stop Z36 front kit P/N KC244236 from RA along with BA brake lines since they're 15 yrs old too obviously. Once they arrive I'll post about the PowerStop product and after a week or so I'll provide feedback on what I'm seeing from a performance perspective. I did see the post about seating the ceramic pads so I might try that...still debating in my mind.

I opted for the Z36es because I want to install quicklift leveling struts and shocks and maybe go up to 20" rims. I'd like to hear what people have experienced with the Rancho, Bilstein or another brand and how it effected the steering/handling and overall ride comfort/or lack thereof when they changed the stock suspension.

2004 Titan CC LE White/Sand
119K miles Mostly Stock