Captain

My wheel cylinders went on my truck and the shoes are soaked with break fluid so I need to replace them. I'm not sure what to get. I got sever (8800gvw +) for the front. I went to pepboys. life time pads 65$. National auto parts regular referbished pads 45$. And autozone life time pads 20$. The autozones are by far the best deal, life time and only 20$. However I dont know if there just junk or not. I want something good. I'm going to put the chevy 1ton cylinders in the back so I dont want a cheap shoe that will wear out in 37 seconds. Any suggestions? anyone ever use thies?
Thanks
Chris

herb

i am no expert on it but i replaced mine a month or so ago and i replaced them with premium ceramic pads (disks all away around).
They sure feel good and i just returned from a 5,ooo mile trip towing heavy and was the first time i ever returned from a trip without black brake dust discoloring my chrome wheels

Captain

yeah I think my sever duty pads up front are ceramic. I like them alot. But my rear drums are more or less not working now and the front discs are having some issues slowing the whole truck by them selfs. I wish I had 4 wheel discs.

CarlJensen

Go to the EGR Brakes web site and check them out. They have everything needed to upgrade brakes.

http://www.egrbrakes.com/index-main.htm

infidel

My buddy who has been a brake specialist for 40 years and is also a Ram owner says for the rear the cheapest lifetime shoes are all you need.
This is the same person who first recommended the GMC cylinders to me several years ago and whose recommendation I shared here with many satisfied folks. He is one of the few guys in the US who does brakes for airliners, advice has always been right on.

CanuckCTD

You'll really like the 1 ton cylinder upgrade. It made a huge difference. One of my best mods so far.

Thanks Infidel!!!

Xplorer

Where those cyls. for the rear drum brakes. Don't want to sound dumb, but alot of times pads & linings are interchanged causing confusion. I checked this out because it's time for new pads but don't have alot of $$$ for upgrades. If adding 1 ton cyls to the rear help w/stopping, it sounds like a reasonable cost upgrade for the rears. Are the ceramics a good upgrade for the stock front caliper setup? Thanks

infidel

I heard several reports that ceramic pads eat rotors. Personally I'd rather use a pad that wears out sooner and makes dust than replace rotors.

Give brake guru Sam Peterson a call at (360)357-4958 M-F 8-5 pacific
for a great deal on the best matched pads for our Rams. About $40 gets you two pairs of pads, 4 slider pins, silicone grease and anti squeal goop. Shipping included.

Captain

I changed my rotors when I did my pads in the front. The stupid dodge rotors were cheap and rusted and flaked real bad. I went to national auto parts and got sever duty rotors (8800gvw +) I think the rotors were 30-50$ each. that was 2 years ago. there holding up great. I also got the ceramic pads then also 8800+ and the rotors still look new. I think it depends on if you have a good quality rotor if the pad will eat it. I did notice an improvement with stopping and less dusting. I'm happy with it. And the rotors are made in USA.

Geico266

You might want to try and upgrade your rear wheel cylinders to the 1 ton GM's. You will love how they get those rear brakes to work like they should.

Geico266

I think you should get the cheapest shoes you can. The lifetime ones eats rotors. Much easier and cheaper to replace shoes than rotors.

ArcticWolf

I'm going to have to side with the others that use ceramic. On my last front end brake job I had the rotors/calipers and pads (switched to ceramic) changed. It's been over a year now and the pads are only about half worn - the rotors are in great shape - hardly worn at all. With the stock pads from dodge I only got maybe 20k before they were gone, and even the aftermarket ones that were supposedly the same as dodges I'd get from 8k to 20k. I currently have over 25k and well, I guess it'll be another year or so before I need to do them again.

Also, can you guys elaborate a little more on the GM wheel cylinders for the rear? I see you say 1 ton, but do they match up correctly with everything or are there modifications that are needed to be made?

CanuckCTD

They match up with no problems. No modifications are neccesary. If you do a search there is a post (by Infidel I believe) that explains how to change them without even taking off the shoes. Only problem I had was that a brake line nut was siezed and had to replace the line.

Commatoze

I just had mine done in late December. I had the shop install Wagner Thermo-Quiet pads all around (I have rear disk). So far I've been very satisfied with their performance. The bill was like , but they're supposed to be good pads, low dust, no squeal. BTW, I got 80,000 miles out of the OEM pads; not bad.

Stamey

They are 199x GM 1 ton wheel cylinders. Do a search on wheel cylinders here and you will find the Napa part number in one of the threads. That's what I used.
I found them tight to get into place, due to the bracket that wraps around the wheel cylinder and the thicker rubber boot on these wheel cylinders, but these bolt right up, same bolts, and the brake line matches perfectly.

Chris