Okay, I wore my pads down to the metal early this spring and decided i wanted the best brakes i could get. I bought slotted and drilled rotors and ceramic pads from Brake Planet on ebay. They took a flippin month to get to my house, so the truck sat in my driveway for 5 weeks. I finally get them and I install them myself, that was fun I am pumped and ready to feel the porsche like braking and wow am i disapointed! They're actually down right scary! I bleed the brakes again and adjust the rear pads and still it seems like I have non power assisted brakes. I tow my hydroseeder and I really need to push down on the pedal to almost stop. my front right wheel seems to be taken the grunt of the work and still it takes some muscle to do that. So when I drive my 96' 3500 dumper which i know has crappy brakes, (in the winter i can mash the brakes as hard as i can and the rear wheels still roll on wet ice.) anyways when I first drive my 3500 i just tap the brakes and I almost slam my face on the steering wheel. Did I buy crappy pads? I have no idea how my power assist works or how to check it, help. The brakes have gotten a little better over time but man they suck grass. I replaced one flex line to the caliper that was a little worn. HELP. Should i just go buy some wicked cheap pads and see if thats the problem?

 

There has been some talk about brakes in a post about "braking style". I can't say for sure, but it sounds like you've got a variation of high performance breaks and they work best when you get some heat built up in the rotors. My brother-in-law put high performance breaks on his Lincoln LS and peaced and moaned every time he went to stop because they would squeak every time. The problem is he never got them up to 'operating temperature'. This might be a similar contributing factor. Not recommended, but one way to check it is really horse the breaks as if you're on a road course and see how they respond.

 

I tried every conceivable combination of pads and rotors on my '99 only to return to Napa premiun solid rotors and D/C stock pads. It restored the braking to its marginal stock form. Only when I added the EGR rear discs did the thing stop decent.

 

Like Danderson said , ALMOST, I use the plain Jane, Canadian made rotors & the CERAMIX pads from NAPA. This has always been best. I am about to pull the plunger out of my RWABS sensor, to see if that will release more pressure to the back brakes. I was told this could be done, by someone who did it to his race truck. The 99's just plain stink when it comes to brakes & that sorry front wheel bearing assembly.

 

Ceramic pads sacrifice some braking power for longer pad life and low dusting.

You'll rarely if ever see ceramic pads in a hi-po application, as they tend to run a carbon-kevlar or a carbon-metallic composition blend.

Many ceramic pads are marketed as "lifetime". I personally don't understand why people buy "lifetime" brake pads. Engines are supposed to last a lifetime (and a Cummins usually does), but BRAKES ARE NOT supposed to last forever.

What you give up to get long lasting pads is braking performance-- plain and simple. Yes, you'll replace pads more often with another pad. But something has to give. To get a longer-lasting pad that dusts less, you almost always end up with something that 1) has weak braking power, and 2) eats the rotors, or 3) both.

When I replaced the carbon composition brakes on my Nissan with the Napa ceramic pads, braking power was down about 35%. Yes, they were smooth and quiet, and the older pads were occasional squealers, but I was astounded at the difference. Also, on long Rocky mtn roads, the Napas would deliver less braking power as they heated up, while the carbon comp pads would actually brake harder.

 

My Braking power is better with the Ceramics. I also have tried the severe duty pads from Napa. They didn't hold up either. One thing I found out is, that by ordering a whole new caliper from NAPA, you can get Severe Duty Pads included, for less than what the Pads cost alone. Go figure that one.

 

I agree as mentioned above ref. the ceramic pads. I personally would keep the rotors you now have and change out the pads to a softer compound which would wear faster but help with stopping.....pads are fairly cheap and easy to replace.