What rotors?

mattymax · August 5, 2017

I would stick with OE and price the three grades out and decide on your budget. I have had no luck with the cheap cra* at the local auto zone/car quest type places.

sdeeter19555 · August 5, 2017

I'm leaning either the Delco Pro or the Raybestos AT...about the same cost and the same part according to some folks. The extra coating on the AT is interesting as corrosion seems to be my biggest enemy as far as brakes are concerned. Cost really isn't a factor because any of the quality rotors are about $100 each.

I'm really considering the AT and the Power Stop "36" tow/haul pads.

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Raptordude · August 5, 2017

I'm telling yah, brakemotive off eBay is what you want. Super cheap. Sure they're probably not quite as good as OEM, but they've been great so far. They've been on for a few months now. Very good, quiet braking. For the price of them, you could go through about 3 sets of brakemotive pads and rotors for the price of 1 set of AC delco

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jhplak325 · August 5, 2017

Have you looked at the GM Duralife rotors? - http://media.gm.com/media/us/en/gm/home.detail.html/content/Pages/news/us/en/2011/Nov/1130_fnc.html

GM started putting these rotors on the 2015.5 HD trucks.

You aren't to far from me and I know what I went through replacing brakes on the 2009 2500HD that I had and I did the job about the same mileage you are currently at. Just based on what I went through, I would be looking at coated rotors.

sdeeter19555 · August 5, 2017

That's the point, I can buy cheap and replace three sets, or buy better quality and it's once and done. If I can do this once, and get another 115k out of the brake components, I won't have the truck that long. I don't mind spending the money if I only do it once, the truck has been good to me.

I've looked for the duralife rotors, and they never come up as replacements...only the AC Delco lines.

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jhplak325 · August 5, 2017

The duralife rotors won't show up for your truck due to when GM started using them. When they where making the 2015 model year (started like January or February 2014), trucks built before August 14, 2014 did not get duralife rotors. Starting August 14, 2014 trucks got the duralife rotors.

If you look at aftermarket rotors and pads, they cover 2011 to current.

How long are you planning on keeping the truck? When I replaced the brakes on the 2009 2500HD, I ended up going with the better Wagner rotors and pads. I can't say how well they held up since I ended up trading the truck in about a month and half after doing the brake job on a 2015.5.

sdeeter19555 · October 6, 2017

Powerstop z36 pads front and rear, Raybestos RPT rotors, new hardware. Just waiting for the rear two rotors which should be here tomorrow...

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mattymax · October 6, 2017

Sweet.

sdeeter19555 · October 7, 2017

Old stuff...120k miles...

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sdeeter19555 · October 7, 2017

Passenger side, brakes are obviously Akabono...

You can see the scale that has crept up onto the rotors, there is no stopping it once it starts. And since it expands at a different rate than the steel rotor, it causes a bad brake pulsation once the brakes get used hard (think trailer towing).

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sdeeter19555 · October 7, 2017

Well, the Powerstop rears are odd...note to one's self, remove all the pieces and see what's there. Each rear pad is dedicated to a particular location...the fronts are not this way, but the rears are. They also have two pins sticking out on those inboards, which means you have almost no clearance to install even with the calipers completely retracted.

Rear rotors fought me the whole way, even with the adjuster backed clear off, the parking brake shoes hung me up. I found one set of slide pins rusted (greased, but rusted)...otherwise it was rotors, pads, and a lot of cleaning.

It's done, started at 10am and finished at 1830...long day. But I replaced everything but the calipers and some of the caliper slide pins...it takes time to do it right, especially here in the salt belt.

I didn't even have time to seat the pads tonight...buttoned it up and closed shop. Tomorrow is another day.

I'll make an appointment with the local garage to flush the fluid (so they can cycle the ABS pump). This leaves the fuel pump, which I will do either November or December.

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sdeeter19555 · October 8, 2017

Another note on the Powerstops, the hardware they provide is slightly different than OE and it is so tight that the pads won't even move in the caliper bracket. I tossed it to the side, buffed the old hardware clean (which is also stainless) and used it over.

What is the trick to getting the little rubber plug back in the caliper pin slot? I used new rubber parts, the old stuff is swelled beyond reuse. I cleaned the groove, I made sure to push the caliper back to give some room in the groove...but it was next to impossible seat them.

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I hate auto correct...

sdeeter19555 · October 8, 2017

Bedded the pads/rotors this morning, you don't realize how bad something is until you replace it with new. Rotors were actually causing a slight vibration either from the surface being scaled and dragging irregularly on the pads or from the scale causing an out-of-balance (you could feel this without applying the brakes).

Everything seems to be working well...job complete, hopefully for the time I own this rig.

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mattymax · October 9, 2017

What was the break in procedure that power stop requires ?

sdeeter19555 · October 9, 2017

What was the break in procedure that power stop requires ?

Five moderate to aggressive stops (without coming to a full stop), followed by five moderate stops (without coming to a full stop)...all the time not allowing the brakes to cool, then drive around to allow the brakes to cool when all the cycles are completed. They have a fairly nice writeup on the procedure...which I will point out there are two writeups they have, one with more stops than the other.

It was harder to do than it sounds today, we had some rain so the roads were wet and I live on some back roads with stop signs at every intersection (and blind intersections). I'll finish then off this week, I drive 100 miles a day of 50/50 highway and city.

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