Brake Upgrade Options?

[Sasha4]

A lot if not most of the people here like "good looks" of their truck(s).
I may continue, but it's boring.

I cant say I disagree with that comment on the looks.

The one thing this truck falls short with on many accounts (reviews) is the braking. Looks aside, almost every high end car wears cross drilled rotors for a reason. Better performance. I've run slotted on my wifes BMW and cross drilled on my GTR. Both have their pluses and minuses. Personally Id rather have cross drilled since the slotted scrub the pads and wear them faster = a lot of brake dust to deal with.

For no compromise stopping on a decent budget- Best rotors IMO are AP Jhooks

 

[reaper1441]

First you have to figure out what problem you are trying correct. You want better brakes? Well are you exceeding the thermal limit? If you are you need a BBK. Do you just want to get rid of the mushy feeling? Then you need pads lines and fluid. But the caliper will still be the largest point of flex. So you'd need an Alcon bbkkit to truly fix that too. You want Starbucks bling? Buy some drilled rotors.

 

[Fender]

True, although the alcon bbk have a slightly smaller disc diameter, but also 6 pistons,
Their tests showed repeat brake tests
With great stopping distances like those of a sports sedan

 

[VSTOLG4]

IMO the quickness of a tuned raptor feels light and sporty. This is dangerous since the brakes are not up to the task of the sporty feel. I put my brakes almost to the floor exiting an off ramp recently from highway speeds (plus a little). Brake pedal application was smooth and continued to push down farther and then almost "cycled" and dropped even farther. I barely got the truck stopped before entering the intersection. I didn't have time to release and pump or anything. I would almost put the brakes in the dangerous category with a tuned Raptor. My brakes are not malfunctioning, they are just not strong enough for a 6000 pound tuned vehicle. I am researching options now.

 

[reaper1441]

IMO the quickness of a tuned raptor feels light and sporty. This is dangerous since the brakes are not up to the task of the sporty feel. I put my brakes almost to the floor exiting an off ramp recently from highway speeds (plus a little). Brake pedal application was smooth and continued to push down farther and then almost "cycled" and dropped even farther. I barely got the truck stopped before entering the intersection. I didn't have time to release and pump or anything. I would almost put the brakes in the dangerous category with a tuned Raptor. My brakes are not malfunctioning, they are just not strong enough for a 6000 pound tuned vehicle. I am researching options now.

The brakes on this truck do suck. But not at stopping. Their thermal capacity sucks but that doesn't sound like your problem. The problem is the tires. 35 all terrains just won't stop a 6k pound truck fast. If you had street tires you'd think these brakes were more than adequate. Turn of advanced traction control and you'll see how easily they lock up. Truck stops slow because the abs and esc is preventing lockup. I've had these tires on other vehicles with much much more expensive brakes and they still don't stop any faster. You're at the limit of the tire.

 

[Sasha4]

So your suggesting brake lock up is a better option? Ive stopped my FJ Cruiser with 123 lbs of tire and bead locks and it wasn't an issue with better pads, rotors and SS brake lines. Brake performance is improved on all trucks and cars with just upgrading the pads to like a EBC Yellow.


If your looking for overall braking without fade over a long distance of heavy braking, by all means go buy the $7000 worth of Alcon. If your looking for a emergency stopping power for the average Joe who drives occasionally off road- pads and rotors work well. Spongy is fixed with SS lines and bleeding the system for air