Thread: Disc Rotors & Pads Front & Rear

I'm at 187k and looking to replace rotors and pads, front and rear. Still got (afaik) the original rotors. Replaced the pads front and rear at 120k

Most of our future km's will be towing the Kimberley Kamper, so a partially modified D2a with drawers, gear, etc,etc and up to 1.6T on tow ... Mainly touring duty and occasional off-road play duty, so around a 4T give or take all up weight.

Seems DBA rotors & Bendix pads are a common upgrade ... I'd like some better braking ability than I've currently got ... especially for long downhill windy stuff where the current pads & rotors seem to fade pretty bad ... but, that's original rotors and pads with nearly 70k on them. Gentler touring speeds, not grand prix speeds

The intention is to replace all caliper seals and rubbers and probably flexible brake lines at the same time.

What say you all ... DBA T3 rotors with Bendix Heavy Duty pads for the front and DBA T2 rotors with Heavy Duty pads (or maybe Bendix 4WD pads) for the rear (only about $10 difference) ??

A quick scratch around the nett looks like I'm up for around $400 for the T3's and $280 for the T2's, and maybe $100 front/$100 rear for the Bendix Heavy Duty pads ... add seals, rubbers and hoses, and I'm up for about $1k ... labour maybe by me / not included in that price.

Any better options and maybe better places to get pricing ??

TIA !

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Originally Posted by Pedro_The_Swift

There is a different way to look at it,,
same discs same pads = same brakes.
steel is steel, a different pad (softer) will only make so much difference,
at the end of the day increased hydraulic pressure is the only sure way to stop better.

Well yes & no ... More hydraulic pressure will create MORE friction, more stopping force, yes, and hence more heat ... more heat without being able to dissapte it leads to brake fade ... composition of the pads and the rotor steel has to play a pretty important part

One of the more famous trailer brake component manufacturers say to adjust your electric trailer brakes to just off lockup on dirt,,

Maybe with old fashioned on/off style brake controllers but with newer proportional style controllers (like my Tow Pro) that's just not gonna work (unless I set it to off-road mode so it then functions like an old style dumb controller).

If, Fluids, you have your trailer brakes wound up that tight,,(as we all should--) and still have brake fade, I would adjust your downhill driving speed!!

The proportional controller relies and detecting the G force created during deceleration ... if the tow vehicle can't create sufficient deceleration force the brake controller isn't going to respond with sufficient braking application for the trailer ... and I'm not stopping at the top of every big hill to switch the Tow Pro into off-road mode .... that would be however a very effective way of "throwing the anchor" out the back

and you have, gasp! a manual!

No no dude, it's an auto, and I always downshift and lock the auto into 2 or even 1 on big downhill runs.