Question about my brakes

2483 Views 20 Replies 9 Participants Last post by HRTKD, Dec 24, 2019

Elbereth42

Discussion Starter · Jan 12, 2017

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.

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HRTKD

· #3 · Jan 12, 2017

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.

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HRTKD

· #5 · Jan 12, 2017

LaxDfns15 said:
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.

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HRTKD

· #7 · Jan 12, 2017

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

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HRTKD

· #11 · Jan 13, 2017

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.

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HRTKD

· #18 · Jan 16, 2017

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.

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HRTKD

· #21 · Dec 24, 2019

Ditch the ceramic pads. My experience is that I get much better braking action with semi-metallic.

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