Just picked up some new front pads for my rig. They are the OEM replacements, as knowing other guys that went with the mopar value line replacements didn't work out, poor life and excess brake dust. Yes they are cheaper but at what expense? Anyway I also have rotors on back order as mine are just too thin. When I did front u-joints the rotors where a rusty scaly mess. Spent a good 2 hrs cleaning up scale and rust. Thinking I'm going to coat the non-contact surfaces with nickel-anti seize on the new ones when they come in? Have 115000 miles on the original front brakes which is awesome with 1/8-1/4 left on the pads. The original rotors miked out to 1.300 average . So I ordered new rotors. The new rotors are 1.395. My big question is these new pads came with wear indicators......squeelers..... you know the little angle clips that are set to the minimum pad thickness. The originals didn't have them, so the question is do you install them in the inboard or outboard position, at the top or the bottom????

 

I'd install the "squealers" on the outside of the rotor, probably on the bottom. Reason being, that when the pads get down to that point and the indicators start making noise, you'll want to break those tabs off until you can replace the pads. I doubt that you'd want to be cruising around with that metal - metal screeching for very long. Just remember to do the brakes ASAP after taking the tabs off, or the next squealer you'll hear will be the rivets or backing plate on the rotor!

 

Did the front brakes this evening. The factory original pads did have wear indicators on them, badly rusted. Just followed the same pad positions installing the new ones. Ran out of daylight so will change the brake fluid tomorrow. Then go for a run to set the pads and rotors.

 

How much$ are the originals?

 

The oem pads cost me 190 at the dealer Aimco rotors 300. Yah we get raped for parts in Canada. Anyone done the rear brakes on a swr 2500? Do you have to pull the drive shaft? Hadn't looked closely yet.....curious!

 

N.Johnson,

On the rears, do you mean the axles? Don't know why you'd have to remove the driveshaft.

I did mine on the rear but I just replaced the pads and not the disks. Easy.

Why were your front disks so thin? You got a lot of miles out of your first set of pads. Did you get the disks turned at some point? I went just under 100,000 mile on the fronts and they were still working fine and the disks looked pretty good on the wear surface, so I just put on the pads. I'm now at 175,000 and they have about 1/4 left. Still working perfectly.

When you say "change the brake fluid", do you mean flush the whole system out?

 

[QUOTE=Raspy;2568295]N.Johnson,

On the rears, do you mean the axles? Don't know why you'd have to remove the driveshaft. Yes I mean axle drive shafts to get the rotors off. Too much rust, uneven wear (runout) and groved.

I did mine on the rear but I just replaced the pads and not the disks. Easy.


Why were your front disks so thin? Wore .095" compared to new. Old Pads were 1/8"-1/4" minus You got a lot of miles out of your first set of pads. Did you get the disks turned at some point? No I went just under 100,000 mile on the fronts and they were still working fine and the disks looked pretty good on the wear surface, so I just put on the pads. I'm now at 175,000 and they have about 1/4 left. Still working perfectly. It is not just mileage but 6 years of brake heat, road salt and major scale rust on the rotors. Also old rotors tend to have cracks in them that you can't see.

When you say "change the brake fluid", do you mean flush the whole system out. Yup used 2 qts.