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Brakes ..upgrades for towing?


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1 hour ago, Arch Angel said:

So as of recently I have been towing on and off on weekends my 20ft Pontoon boat (wt of maybe 3,300lbs with trailer and load nowhere near my max tow ) and noticed when driving everyday my brakes vibrate specially coming off highway. 

 

Soo i was thinking of upgrade brakes to something better seems OEM suck. any suggestions? Kinda pissed at 25k miles my rotors are having issues already. 

 

 

2017 Silverado 1500 LT All star edition -- is what i currently have. 5.3l Crew cab. 

My advice......take to dealer and play games?  End up with adequate components again? 

 

Spend 400.00 buy the EBC kit online with slotted rotors and "Orange"  Heavy duty towing pads for front....Problem solved! 

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Best upgrade to brakes for towing will always be trailer brakes. You only have so much traction. Some quick googling puts boat trailer brakes around $270... Let the dealer do the work for free, then spend your $$$ on a decent set of boat trailer brakes and be done with it.

I never understood this aversion to trailer brakes. Before I got my truck, I towed regularly with an econobox. I even looked at putting trailer brakes on there, but got flamed for not getting an f350 to pull a couple dirt bikes. Ehh..

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Glad the dealership is taking care of the front rotors for you AA.   Pads are considered a normal wear item and not covered under warranty.  Purchase some and have them replaced by the dealership or if they want to rape you price wise take it to your trusted mechanic or DIY.  No longer have my HD jack or jackstands due to thieves but I changed out pads in older cars and trucks I owned.

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Normal stops even an occasional emergency stop do not generate enough heat to warp rotors. Incorrectly torqued lug nuts, or torqued without using the star pattern are your most likely culprit at this stage. A defective rotor from the factory would have shown up a lot sooner, before 5k miles.


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As others have said let the dealer replace the front rotors and even if you have to pony up for the pads on your own dime, do it, the old pads may groove the new rotors. With a boat trailer I'm guessing you have surge trailer brakes, might want to check the hydraulic fluid  reservoir, if there is an adjustment on the surge brake that might need tweaking too. As Hizzo3 said, check the trailer brakes too.

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The #1 cause of warped rotors besides heat is along with the heat the lug nuts are improperly torqued. If the sequence or a difference in torque between lugs occurs your going to warp rotors. This usually happens when someone like a tire shop rotates your tires. If your towing or don't know, loosen then tighten correctly with a torque wrench in the correct sequence. 

I have had 4 of these trucks and find the brakes Ok to marginal. I tow 6000 lbs and never had an issue, but I do have trailer brakes. I will bet at some point the lugs were improperly torqued then you got some heat into them and kaboom= warped rotors. 

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Warped rotors are rare.
More often than not, its an uneven transfer layer of pad material that causes warp symptoms and measurable, excessive runout.

Rotor thickness can actually increase with use due to the transfer layer of pad material.

Don't believe it?
Google is your friend.
Or talk to a brake engineer.

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