Itis time to do break pads on my truck. I have 118,000 on factory parts and before camping season comes around again i need new pads. I have searched on here and everyone has a diferent idea of what is best so I have decided to narow down the feild to Napa pads. There is a napa in town that has 3 diferent levels of pads available on the shelf. I most likely dont want the cheap ones. I just want to know between the premiume or ultra premium pads what one is better. Premium is $52 a set and Ultra premium is $69. What is every one else running? I plan to turn the rotors.

 

Go with the best you can afford, from what I have read dont use ceramic if you tow lots.

 

Since the ultra premium weren't much more, I opted for them. I've got a couple thousand on them so far and no complaints. Biggest thing I've noticed is no dust on my wheels!

 

i always ask for the best ones and the ones that dont leave brake dust covering your rims. they always say it dont leave dust but in the end it does

 

Be carefull about which pads you install. The difference between standard pads and "ultra premium", is that some are ceramic.

http://www.napabrakes.com/wps/portal.../UltraPremium/

Ceramic may or may not perform better than other pads, it depends on what they are and what you're comparing them to. The big advantage to ceramic pads is that they don't squeal as much, and therefore decrease service returns. They're good for the shop and the parts store, not necessarily good for you.

Some ceramic pads are not recommended for towing. Make sure that what you buy is specifically built for what you plan to do with it.

 

I have the "premiums" on mine and are giving good services. No complaints. They do dust up some, but not as bad as stock.

 

I bought the ultra premiume pads tonight. I havent installed them yet. I need to get 4 jack stands so I can remove all the rotors to get them turned. I wil double check to be sure before I install them that they are not ceramic but I dont think they are. They had a 4th option on there list that was called something else that claimed to be ceramic.

 

Some may not agree with me on here but I have been doing brakes for MANY years and actually took several classes on brakes from different manufacturers, but as far as turning the rotors it is not needed unless you have some pulsation in the pedal (warped rotors). The best thing to do is just use a sanding disc on a drill (or air drill) preferably to scuff the rotors. This is breaking the glaze off the rotors. I always leave a swirl pattern on mine.
When you turn the rotor you are removing the material and is actually counter productive. You make the rotor thinner and it will warp even easier. Even when I was turning wrenches for a living I would explain this to customers and turned very few rotors and had almost zero come backs. All this is just my experienced $.02 so take it how you want.

 

Ya I thought abought that. The rotors are in excelent shape for the miles on them . I have no pulsing and there is almost no wear groove on them. I figure it should only take .010-.015" to clean up the rotors. That is not enough material removal to cause any heat/warping isues. I am a CNC machinist but all I run/know is mills so I cant turn them myself or I would. I may see if a budie that runs lathes can do it but if not I will have Napa do it.

 

I think this is good advice. For a lot of years I used a sanding disc in a drill motor to create the swirl pattern. Then I managed to get my hands on a brake hone. Seems to work a little better than the sanding disc.

I use the same hone on my car's flywheel when I replace the clutch every 2 years.