09 Tahoe 6.2L Goes Fast, Now Needs Better Brakes

[thirdcoast]

I have used EBC on previous trucks and they did not meet my expectations, went back with AC Delco PPV Calipers, Rotors & Pads., (I have a new set of EBC Rotors sitting in my shop that I am reluctant to use)

Now I need to do a complete brake job in my Tahoe with the 6.2L and want a better stopping brake system without springing for the Baer or Wilwood type money.

Has anyone used R1 Concepts? Supposed to be made in CA out of domestic steel better than EBC and they offer a F&R set for around $600.00 which includes rotors & pads.

I am making good horsepower and this vehicle goes very well I just want to be able to stop it when some idiot pulls in front of me..

Actual use input appreciated.

Thirdcoast

 

[kctyler]

I ran Powerstop brand drilled/slotted all 4 corners on my 07 Tahoe. Good upgrade. Improved braking, good pads.

I run Brake Motive brand drilled/slotted all 4 corners on my Denali. They are OK, but the Powerstops were better. Cheap pads, won't ever buy again. Barking was improved slightly.

Those R1 black ones are sick, probably go that route when these need replaced. Hell, might not even wait that long.

I know you asked for an R1, just wanted to give some more feedback on "comparable" brakes.

 

[thirdcoast]

Well after reading a lot of stuff about R1, I would not put them on my vehicles. The problem with all the lesser brand name products is the metallurgy. The steel comes from overseas and is nowhere comparable to what is used by Willwood or Baer.

I am really thinking about the Wilwood Brakes, ran them on all my race cars with great success, the only down side is they are $4000.00 for all 4 corners..

The great thing is this Tahoe will stop with the 6 piston calipers and 16" Slotted rotors. Since I have had the intake, exhaust done and a Nelson Performance Tune, I figured what the heck, why not complete the package. I know I am making over 400 at the wheels so might as well be able to stop.

I will not run drilled rotors on a street car.. race car only.. slotted gives you much more swept area and still has slots for gas evac and cooling air inlet.

A bunch of money, but I will keep this car a long time as i love driving it and it is pretty rare in the world of Tahoes.. I have not seen another one in my area..

TC

 

[kctyler]

What is so rare? The 6.2L?? Post up a pic of her...

 

[FrankU]

Look into installing a hydro boost system.

 

[thirdcoast]

Yep, the L9H 6.2L which has VVT but no AFM..

Looks the same as any other LTZ, just more GO.. Going to be removing roof rack, but other than that it will look stock.

Has AirRaid MIT w/ dry filter, 3.5" exhaust with Flowmaster BB 50 Series muffler, Hotchkis Sway Bars and V rated Goodyear Eagles. Not going to lower it as it is 4WD and want to be able to go exploring on our upcoming West Coast & Alaska trip..

Just a nice American Grand Touring Tahoe.

TC

 

[Tiki]

Would you mind sharing some of the information surrounding your research?

The idea that a company is "out" because they are from overseas is quite silly. Many U.S. and European based companies procure semi completed goods and either finish machine/assemble/test in the states to later slap a "made in the USA" logo on their box. Large Chinese manufacturers as an example, for lower metallurgical requirements (consumer grade), are quite capable of meeting "U.S. quality" standards.

I have the 6.2L in my Sierra and I wish I had it in my Tahoe. You have a great vehicle, glad you decided to not sell it.

 

[CHOO CHOO]

I used r1 concepts and thought they were fine. I have had 2 sets total. On wifes jeep, and my tahoe. Braking was better than owm imo and not alot of brakedust either. Go to freedom motorsports vendor here or on fb and look them up. Chris is a great guy(owner) and very helpful at anytime you need. Quick response and great communication too.

 

[kctyler]

I used r1 concepts and thought they were fine. I have had 2 sets total. On wifes jeep, and my tahoe. Braking was better than owm imo and not alot of brakedust either. Go to freedom motorsports vendor here or on fb and look them up. Chris is a great guy(owner) and very helpful at anytime you need. Quick response and great communication too.

Did you get the black ones by chance? Courious as to how the color holds up.

Sent from my LG-H811 using Tapatalk

 

[CHOO CHOO]

No, i got them before those came out. I got the drilled and slotted premium ones. Not the eline series. Pads seem to last a while too.

 

[thirdcoast]

OK, I looked very hard at the Wilwood & Baer systems, but did not think I would need this much braking as I am not going to do much more than some acceleration bursts and a bit of spirited driving around the hill country here in Texas (and Alaska next year)

So after a lot of research I am going with the Raybestos EHT Hybrid pads, which are Semi Metallic/Ceramic and the PER-300 Rotors F&R.

These rotors have degassing slots on the rotors and no drilling of the rotor. They do have a "Better PPV Rotor & Pad", but I did not want to deal with the dust of a pure semi-metallic pad like the EBC stuff I tried and took off.

I actually called and talked to one of Raybestos" engineers and he explained the metallurgy differences in the EHT & PPV rotors, which is what helped make my decision to go with the EHT products.

I looked into buying the AC Delco Specialty Performance Rotors as they are the Raybestos EHT product & I get jobber prices from a local AC Delco parts house. It is a bit odd though as AC Delco buys the rotors from Raybestos but uses their ceramic pads and not the EHT pads. However they could not match Rock Auto's price even though I get Jobber pricing.

All of the EHT products are available from Rock Auto and get our 5% discount, so I am going to order all of the parts at one time and get what I think is a good deal.

Total for F&R EHT rotors & EHT pads is $476.59 including freight & no tax.. I can not get that good of a deal from my local parts house using the AC Delco part #.

Anyway, that is what is going on my 6.2L Tahoe..

To answer the question of foreign metals, their metallurgy, heat treat etc. and my aversion to it, I worked as Global O&G Product Manager for the premier US roller chain manufacturer. For not being a metallurgist, I learned a lot about steel, how it should be made by the steel company and how the steel is made into parts my the product manufacturer and the differences between US steel & foreign, i.e. chinese & indian in particular. There are a lot of differences and none of them are good.

I currently build parts, both machined and cast, steel & synthetic, for a very specific piece of oilfield equipment and metallurgy as well as the synthetic makeup is paramount. My customers will not accept foreign steel products as they tend to fail at the most inopportune time and blow people into small peices since we are working with 5000 PSI to 20,000 PSI. Just my personal opinion, but each to his own.

Thirdcoast

 

[CHOO CHOO]

Sounds like you did some good research! Haha let us know what you think when they come in and post up pictures of them installed!

 

[davidl13]

I am in a similar situation, I have a 6.2 Yukon xl with 65k miles and a magnacharger and I am heading to Central America (from Montana) and I want to upgrade my brakes for better stopping power and have fresh wearables before a long trip into areas where parts may be difficult to obtain. I can't go with wilwood or Baer, even if I wanted to, since I swapped my 20" wheels for 17" wheels so I can get better off-road tires. They offer more rubber, better gravel puncture resistance and if I need a new tire in Central America, 17" will be easier to source.

Please let me know how your choices turned out for you...

I do see that wilwood offers an OEM caliper pad replacement. They also recommend a higher temp brake fluid... To stave off brake fade...

Thanks in advance,

D

OK, I looked very hard at the Wilwood & Baer systems, but did not think I would need this much braking as I am not going to do much more than some acceleration bursts and a bit of spirited driving around the hill country here in Texas (and Alaska next year)

So after a lot of research I am going with the Raybestos EHT Hybrid pads, which are Semi Metallic/Ceramic and the PER-300 Rotors F&R.

These rotors have degassing slots on the rotors and no drilling of the rotor. They do have a "Better PPV Rotor & Pad", but I did not want to deal with the dust of a pure semi-metallic pad like the EBC stuff I tried and took off.

I actually called and talked to one of Raybestos" engineers and he explained the metallurgy differences in the EHT & PPV rotors, which is what helped make my decision to go with the EHT products.

I looked into buying the AC Delco Specialty Performance Rotors as they are the Raybestos EHT product & I get jobber prices from a local AC Delco parts house. It is a bit odd though as AC Delco buys the rotors from Raybestos but uses their ceramic pads and not the EHT pads. However they could not match Rock Auto's price even though I get Jobber pricing.

All of the EHT products are available from Rock Auto and get our 5% discount, so I am going to order all of the parts at one time and get what I think is a good deal.

Total for F&R EHT rotors & EHT pads is $476.59 including freight & no tax.. I can not get that good of a deal from my local parts house using the AC Delco part #.

Anyway, that is what is going on my 6.2L Tahoe..

To answer the question of foreign metals, their metallurgy, heat treat etc. and my aversion to it, I worked as Global O&G Product Manager for the premier US roller chain manufacturer. For not being a metallurgist, I learned a lot about steel, how it should be made by the steel company and how the steel is made into parts my the product manufacturer and the differences between US steel & foreign, i.e. chinese & indian in particular. There are a lot of differences and none of them are good.

I currently build parts, both machined and cast, steel & synthetic, for a very specific piece of oilfield equipment and metallurgy as well as the synthetic makeup is paramount. My customers will not accept foreign steel products as they tend to fail at the most inopportune time and blow people into small peices since we are working with 5000 PSI to 20,000 PSI. Just my personal opinion, but each to his own.

Thirdcoast

 

[DWebPro]

Did you think about replacing your front lines with stainless steel ones? I just ordered some Power Stop K2070 for all four corners, ATE 706402 Original SL.6 DOT 4 Brake Fluid and 950.66002 - StopTech SportStop Stainless Steel Brake Lines.

I am hoping this setup yields better breaking than stock, I will know by the end of next week.

 

[Tiki]

The per-300 are Chinese rotors FYI and the EHT pads are as well.

 

[fiatdale]

You could always do front wilwoods and just upgrade the rear. The wilwoods are amazing. I and others can speak from experience. Worth the $$ if you can swing it.

 

[thirdcoast]

Yep, I found out that the Raybestos are ***** so will not be using them..

And Fiatdale, it is Wilwood or Baer.. I used Wilwood on all my race cars so am partial to them..

Back to the drawing board

Been too busy to deal with the Tahoe, so that turned out to be a good thing.. Now I will have the time to put some work into it...

Thanks for the heads up..

Thirdcoast

 

[CHOO CHOO]

You could always do front wilwoods and just upgrade the rear. The wilwoods are amazing. I and others can speak from experience. Worth the $$ if you can swing it.

Definite upgrade when i did just the front. Really happy with the wilwoods i got. Pads seemed to last a long time too. Not sure what size wheels you have, but was a major improvement over 13" drilled and slotted r1concepts i had with 24" wheels. Just my 2 cents if it means anything.

 

[thirdcoast]

Choo Choo-- thanks for the review.. I have always known Wilwood's are great, so that is the way I am going..with Wilwood pads on the rear. I already have the SS hoses sitting on the shelf.

Running factory 20" wheels so the 16's will fit..

Also going with the Goodyear Eagle Sport V rated tires..

Thirdcoast

 

[CHOO CHOO]

Yeah the only downfall imo is the smallest wheel diameter you can go is 20". But thats really it imo. Good luck man