Any thoughts on which brand brake pads to replace with? Seem to be more than a few to choose from. Also, any thoughts on repalceing the rotors with something slotted etc...Dodge Delaer quoted me $750 for a brake job, fornt and rear. Figure I can do it for about half that if not a little less.
I wouldn't go with drilled rotors as they cool faster than flat or slotted which is good for sports cars, but can more readily cause warping through the heating/cooling cycle. I replaced my front rotors and pads with Brembo parts on a '99 Ram 1500 and it was very easy and inexpensive (as I recall less than $300).
In the "olden days" of sports car racing, rotors were drilled to allow the escape os gasses produce during heavy braking. Had nothing to do with cooling. Same thing with slots. Nowadays, they are done for looks by the ignorant. One of my favorite brake pads is Performance Friction carbon metallic. Low dust, low noise, work better than stock, reasonably priced at Autozone. Unless you are really abusing your brakes, stock replacements from Autozone will also work very well.
The whole job is pretty easy. Open the valve and compress the piston with a C clamp. Put the new pads in with some Permatex disc brake anti-squeal. The 4x4 rotors pretty much drop off, and the new ones drop on. I did mine at 75K miles and that's all it took. But I've heard of people having trouble getting them off. Maybe from the snow belt? In any case, the lug nuts keep them on; no secret fastners.
The rear drums are the same as drum brakes from 50 years ago. No magic there, either.
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