Have a 3rd in the 3rd gen also - but you guys have good opinions also - so posting here.Good bang for buck on rotors and pads !!! And where to get themthx

Your not going to like my answer... I bought the absolute cheapest brake pads and re-used my stock rotors after being turned. If I cleared 185K on OE brake pads and OE rotors I don't see any reason to spend more money on name brand parts. I know when Dodge builds these truck they use the cheapest parts they can to keep the profit margin up.I would say look into the exhaust brake since you do tow... Yes I know you would have to have a lockup controller for the transmission to make it work properly.

Your not going to like my answer... I bought the absolute cheapest brake pads and re-used my stock rotors after being turned. If I cleared 185K on OE brake pads and OE rotors I don't see any reason to spend more money on name brand parts. I know when Dodge builds these truck they use the cheapest parts they can to keep the profit margin up. I would say look into the exhaust brake since you do tow... Yes I know you would have to have a lockup controller for the transmission to make it work properly.

yeah your situation is a little different. Im going with 3rd gen rotors and pads - so Im happy to put on the OEM replacements for $60 each as long as they work well. But if they don't - happy to spend more. Would love and exhaust brake - but not happening any time soon. So good brands ? OEM or aftermarket ? Anyone heard of powerstop and got reviews ?

Ijust put 2 on the rear from Advance auto. $50 each and made in china. They looked ok and work fine. How long will they last? We will just have to see. I kept my oe and will have them turne later and reinstall them.

I bought a set of powerstop rotors from Auto anything and got the drilled and slotted ones for my 2nd gen. Also bought Hawks pads (the LT high performance. Been running them for about 4 years and have about 80k miles.Was worried because I have gotten some junk with China made manufacturing, but these have seemed to work fine for me and the pads are really good. If I have to anchor the truck I can really make it stopfast. Way better than the stock stuff ever was and the 2nd gen only has disks on the front.

I bought a set of powerstop rotors from Auto anything and got the drilled and slotted ones for my 2nd gen. Also bought Hawks pads (the LT high performance. Been running them for about 4 years and have about 80k miles.

Was worried because I have gotten some junk with China made manufacturing, but these have seemed to work fine for me and the pads are really good. If I have to anchor the truck I can really make it stopfast. Way better than the stock stuff ever was and the 2nd gen only has disks on the front.

Yeah I am really thinking of a combo like this right now. Wish there was a website with my reviews on these brands/products. Thx for the info.

--- Update to the previous post...

Yeah I am really thinking of a combo like this right now. Wish there was a website with my reviews on these brands/products. Thx for the info.

Nope changed mind Amazon had best prices I could find and options

Thinking

Akebono Pads

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0019HWD1M/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?ie=UTF8&m=ATVPDKIKX0DER

Raybestos Rotors Advanced Tech

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000C6WKKA/ref=gno_cart_title_2

Drilled and slotted rotors do nothing good for breaking, they only look cool. There's been a ton of measurements made and they just perform worse. High quality pads are the most important thing you can get. All cast iron blanks are about the same quality, a lot of racers with cars prefer the Centric brand rotors from rockauto.com, the cheapest they sell. If you don't believe me, think about how brakes work: pads + friction on the rotors slows you down. There's 0 friction over holes and slots. Add all that missing iron and you'll see that it's far better to get truck rated aftermarket pads then bling-y rotors. Here's a link that came up quick with google: http://honda-tech.com/showthread.php?t=1437513

If you feel you must have drilled rotors, make sure you get high quality ones that were cast and designed that way, as the redrilled blanks can crack or explode from stress, and unequal weight. I admit I love the look of the slotted rotors, but I like stopping better :-)

As an aside, the premium coated rotors are a little better, in that they shouldn't rust in places where the pads don't hit. I just use high-temp silver paint and pay 1/2 the cost of the rotors, it's almost as good ;-)

--- Update to the previous post...

Here's a link to rockauto.com for the 2003 rotor prices: http://www.rockauto.com/catalog/x,carcode,1413470,parttype,1896

retailmenot.com has 5% codes for them all the time also.

Drilled and slotted rotors do nothing good for breaking, they only look cool. There's been a ton of measurements made and they just perform worse. High quality pads are the most important thing you can get. All cast iron blanks are about the same quality, a lot of racers with cars prefer the Centric brand rotors from rockauto.com, the cheapest they sell. If you don't believe me, think about how brakes work: pads + friction on the rotors slows you down. There's 0 friction over holes and slots. Add all that missing iron and you'll see that it's far better to get truck rated aftermarket pads then bling-y rotors. Here's a link that came up quick with google: http://honda-tech.com/showthread.php?t=1437513

If you feel you must have drilled rotors, make sure you get high quality ones that were cast and designed that way, as the redrilled blanks can crack or explode from stress, and unequal weight. I admit I love the look of the slotted rotors, but I like stopping better :-)

As an aside, the premium coated rotors are a little better, in that they shouldn't rust in places where the pads don't hit. I just use high-temp silver paint and pay 1/2 the cost of the rotors, it's almost as good ;-)

--- Update to the previous post...

Here's a link to rockauto.com for the 2003 rotor prices: http://www.rockauto.com/catalog/x,carcode,1413470,parttype,1896

retailmenot.com has 5% codes for them all the time also.

Awesome - this is what I had heard elsewhere also. So centric over raybestos ?

Also what pads - was looking at akebono ?? Any idea ??

Glad I found this I got to get new brakes here soon.

Glad I found this I got to get new brakes here soon.

Consider this when you do it http://www.cumminsforum.com/forum/98-5-02-non-powertrain/160226-my-3rd-gen-brake-swap-pics-56k-beware.html

I feel better with my cheapo chinese rotors already. They will still be on my mind though.