51,000 miles and my rear brake pads are shot.( inner rears are zero, outers are 1/4 left) Anyone have a recommendation as to which brand to replace them with or should I stick with OEM.? Perhaps Raybestos Super Stop or Pro Grade? Thanks.

I am suprised they wore out that quick. I have 93,000 and still have roughly 50% left all the way around. I wonder if your rear calipers arent sticking? OEM's seem to last for me. Raybestos makes good brake stuff though. Dont get the Quiet Stop pads though, they have a tendancy to warp rotors quickly. Get them PGD###M's if you go Raybestos.

Brake life can vary a lor with driver, loads, speed, braking habits and tire size. 51000 miles is not really what I would call bad pad life.

Im not saying it is bad pad life, but most others I have heard from with an HD had long brake life. Look around on here, there arent that many threads about brakes.

Im not saying it is bad pad life, but most others I have heard from with an HD had long brake life. Look around on here, there arent that many threads about brakes.

I could be because it is a normal maintaince item too and people do not post it. Whether they last 30k or 60k means little to me. I am only concerned if they work properly when needed and that pads are not so hard that they eat rotors. I have and have had several vechical go well past 200K with original rotors because I stay away from real hard pads.

Guys that have changed them have had to replace rotors in some cases, so you need to mic the rotors and make sure they are thick enough to turn.

Guys that have changed them have had to replace rotors in some cases, so you need to mic the rotors and make sure they are thick enough to turn.

I have never turned my rotors either and they are fine. Personally, I do not belive in it because turning them will make them thinner and even more prone to hot spotting and warping. If you stay away from hard metalic pads, rotors will general last a very long time if you do not ever let pads were down to rivets or metal.

Gravel roads and water are hell on the rear brakes. Salty slush also does it in too. It is always the inners that are in worse shape due to the cross-spray from the front tires. I have virtually elimated this with big flaps that catch all cross-spray (which also help to keep the belly clean too...). With 30K on mine, I expect at least 75-100K looking at the current condition.


Our trucks have a decent set of brakes and pads on them. Because they wear quite well and don't dust excessively bad, I'll most likely replace with OEM parts. Make sure the rotor has the thickness to turn, but I'd get them cleaned up to accept the new pads as best as possible.


Good luck.

You can do what you want snoman, but you need to turn the rotors for the pads to properly seat and wear like they should. Most rotors are warped by the time a set of pads are wore out, this is hard on pads and calipers when rotors are warped and is also very annoying to drive.

Snoman, yes turning them will make them dissipate heat slower, but thats another reason they have a minimum thickness. I have never seen a set of used rotors that were not warped to an extent.

You can do what you want snoman, but you need to turn the rotors for the pads to properly seat and wear like they should. Most rotors are warped by the time a set of pads are wore out, this is hard on pads and calipers when rotors are warped and is also very annoying to drive.

I have never turned a rotor in a normal brake job in 30 years. I have broken the glaze on a few with coarse emery cloth. If a rotor is warped enough to be a problem, you will hear it or feel it in hard deceleration and if not they are not warped enough to be a problem. they should be scraped if they are "warped" it is from uneven stress in metal and turning it makes it worse and more prone to warp again. Brake shops push turning drums and rotors so that the can sell you replacements in a few brake jobs after they get too thin or too warped. I have a 89 4x4 burb with 170k on it that I have had since new, rotors have never been turned and they are still smooth and quiet braking and work the same now as they did when truck was new. It has gone through about 4 or 5 sets of pads so far as I recall. It is bad science to turn rotors as regular part of brake job as will leaded to earlier rotor failure and increased maintaince costs.

Almost all vehicles we do brakes on that are coming in for their first brake job are warperd enough to feel it in the brake pedal or in the steering wheel while braking. You must be very very careful and easy on your brakes not to warp your rotors.

Almost all vehicles we do brakes on that are coming in for their first brake job are warperd enough to feel it in the brake pedal or in the steering wheel while braking. You must be very very careful and easy on your brakes not to warp your rotors.

If you can feel in in the pedal or the steering when braking, the rotors should be scraped not turned because if you turn them they will generally rewarp even easier the next time. OEM's need to stop shaving a few extra pounds out of rotor designs and put some "meat" back in those things.

I had my tires rotated recently and I noticed significant wear and deep grooving on my rear rotors at only have 15,000 miles! My mechanic pointed out a problem in design, any dirt will get thrown from the front tire especially on dirt roads, and I'm on dirt alot. The problem is worse on the 1500 and GM has issued a tsb with a solution which involves a thick rubber shield placed in front of the rotor. GM recognizes the problem with the tsb but the customer has to pay for the solution. They haven't issued a tsb to my knowledge on the 2500, I guess the figure the 2500 rotor is more rugged and will last longer.

Persdnally I still like big drums in the rear and atleast everthing is enclosed and better protected.

Snowman does not beleive in resurfacing flywheels either. http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/HiHi.gif

Snowman does not beleive in resurfacing flywheels either. http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/HiHi.gif

How did you come to that conclusion?

I can't believe I'm doing this but, didn't GM have something out at one time stateing to not turn the rotors for normal wear and tear. I think it's only recommended if there's a problem. I do believe they said to break the glaze though. Something I heard from a GM mechanic a couple of years ago. May have changed since.

You may be correct because they are not a thick as they used to be and each time you turn them, they get thinner and even more prone to hot spotting and warping. Back in the 70's and into the early 80's they had some meaty rotors.

I like having 4 wheel disc, the stopping power is a lot better and you need to clean and adjust like you would with drum brakes.

I like having 4 wheel disc, the stopping power is a lot better and you need to clean and adjust like you would with drum brakes.

I beg to differ on stopping power. Properly designed drum brakes can stop quite well. Undersized brake be it disc or drum will perform poorly. As far as adjusting, No big deal, I have never done it to my 2000 K3500 yet and still have plenty of brake and pedal and rear drum brakes too. I have never experianced any brake fade on it even with GVW's of over 9000lbs.