Brakes started squealing a couple of days ago and I figured it was all that calcium chloride they put down on the road when it snowed. Well, I pulled the wheel off tonight and my front pads are down to nothing!! I can't believe I got so little notice! I looked but can't see any of the little tabs that are supposed to let you know when the brakes are about to expire. I guess I know what I'm doing this Friday......

I did a search and it seems the expensive OEM pads are the best choice. Anybody have experience with NAPA pads or any other that worked well?

Thanks

 

How many miles do you have on it to be worn that bad in 2 years

 

On my '99 with 98k miles I was looking at my FIFTH brake job! Twice on the fronts and twice on the rears (drums). Had to have the drums turned at 22k. Brakes on that baby were a real gem.

Hopefully, I'll have better luck with my 04.5 with a 6 spd manual and a jake brake.

Larv

BTW, sorry if I hi-jacked your thread!

 

Stick with the OEM NOT the VALUE line of brake pads. I tried 3 different types and 5 different sets of pads and they all Squeeled until I put back on a set of the real expensive OEM pads and the squeel went away. I even had the rotors turned and one replaced and it did no good until then.

 

Ditto on the OE pads, nothing better as far as I can tell.
Tom

 

So, how many miles on your rig Zilla? How many miles do we have to look forward to?

 

I'd stay away from any pads Napa sells. Way to many comebacks at our shop with them, we've tried every line they sell. Now we try to use O.E. on every vehicle if possible.

 

Thanks for all the replies. I'll call Dodge this morning.
I've got 39,000 miles on the monster.....
I've done many brake jobs and according to the manual it seems pretty simple. Has Dodge done anything stupid to make this a difficult task?????
Special tools etc........

 

Briman


Miles on a truck mean nothing when it comes to life of your brakes. It is the type of driving you do and how often you need to apply your brakes. It also makes a difference in drivers. My brother replaces his brakes 3 times as much as I do and that has not changed in 40 years. I sold my 95 Dodge Diesel with 75K on it last year and never changed brakes and they were still good! I towed a 5er most of those miles but I did have a exhaust brake. Just my thoughts. Merry Christmas.

 

Well, I picked up the OEMs this morning. When I called they quoted me $110.00 which I was expecting. When I got there the guy must have been in a good mood because he gave me a price of $92.00! Still expensive but anything is better than nothing...

 

Four brake jobs????

Mine is sitting on 157000 miles and I still have the original brakes all the way around, never been touched. Fronts are still well over half and the rears are probably three quarters or so. Guess that Jacobs has paid for itself already based on what I read here.

 

Jacobs brake and the way and type of driving you do.

 

What about those Raybestos heavy duty pads? Semi-metallic or something like that. Aren't those any good?

 

I learned my lesson the hard way - OEM for me from now on.

My lesson was learned on my daughter's Lexus ES300. At 110k miles, I took it to Brakemasters to have the brakes done. They put on their "lifetime" warranty pads and resurfaced the rotors for about the same cost as the pads alone from Lexus. Well, within a month, my daugher was complaining of severe vibes on braking. Brakemasters said the calipers were sticking and causing the pads to rub constantly on the rotors causing excessive heat and warpage. So, I had them change the calipers. One month later, same vibe. I concluded that it was their POS lifetime pads that were causing the heat.

This time, I took it to a Lexus specialist and insisted on having new OEM rotors and pads installed. Problem solved and lesson learned.

Neil

 

ive never gone for lifetime pads. For that reason Always been under the impression that they manufature the pads harder(the brake material) than normal pads which give you that lifetime use But at the cost of your calipers which arnt covered under your pad warrenty :P