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Upgraded brakes on F150


isellacuras

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I have a 14 F150 3.5 FX4 with 46k miles. I was having a little bit of vibration under high speed heavy braking and when braking while towing. I had one of my techs turn the rotors today and he said they are just over the minimum thickness and still have a few hot spots. He also said my pads are at 20-30%. So far, since turning i haven't experienced any vibration but he did say that due to the thickness (or thinness in this case) they will probably warp again and quicker. He suggested upgrading pads and rotors since i tow so often. I doubt i will do calipers but will probably do slotted/drilled rotors and pads. I know brembo, willwood and Baer are the leaders in that field but the guys at work also suggested power stop for a more budget friendly alternative. Anybody upgraded their brakes and have any input on this subject?  My truck is not a race car so i don't care about having the best. Better is all i really care about. 

Edited by isellacuras
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I have a 2nd Gen Escalade EXT and previously a 1st Gen Avalanche.  On my Escalade, I have the drilled/slotted Power Stop rotors.  In no way did I purchase them for any sort of braking upgrade, but rather I needed new rotors and they were a good deal.  They are a nice rotor and look good but I'd personally pick whatever makes sense in terms of a quality rotor at the right price.  

You can see a bit of improvement with pads.  My truck had cheap pads on it and I replaced them with Akebono pads, who supplies a number of OEM's (I run them on my BMW too).  On my Avalanche, the brakes were total garbage from the factory.  In that case, I did a lot of replacing to help it out:
- Upgraded to the GMT-900 front brakes (what is on my Escalade stock)
- I ran both Hawk pads and EBC's.  I can't recall the Hawk pads I used, but it was one of the towing oriented ones and that was before my front brake upgrade.  I ran EBC Yellow stuff after the upgrade.  They make a difference but eat rotors
- SS soft lines and hard lines, and converted from vacuum assist to Hydroboost

The Avalanche upgrade did make a real difference.  In your case, I'd just stick with an OEM quality rotor and some good pads. 

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I out power stop on my wife's 12 Escalade but like nitrous, it was more if budget and they do look cool. But we had to change the rear pads due to squeaking under light braking. 

I had an 01 z71 that ate rotors even with trailer brakes. So I did the baer big brake kit that used the stock calipers with hawk pads. It made a substantial difference. But given the gm brakes were under sized. 

My f250 will probably get power stop due to cost and like I said they look cool.  I would love to do a 14" willwood but cost is way up there. 

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I guess i should clarify, that by "performance" i mean better heat dissipating which should make for longer life.  I have no problems with stopping power. It was suggested by my tech because of the heat retention of the stock rotor/pad combo which caused "hot spots". As for 46k being long life, both my Tahoe and tundra lasted significantly longer. Heck, the Tahoe went 100k plus on pads and rotors. I was surprised when he told me to start considering replacements. I can see pads being a 50k change but rotors surprised me. 

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