2021 Yukon Denali - Upgraded to AKEBONO brakes for 5500lb trailer

[tagexpcom]

We pull a 5500lb 7x14 Cargo Trailer -> Camper and just did a 2000 mile trip to Palm Springs routing thru heavy I-5/I-10 north of LA interstates and mountains around Palm Springs. It was heavy breaking compared to our normal trips due to insane interstate traffic and we developed severe vibrations (warped rotor kind of thing) mid-way thru the trip.

The Curtis brake controller is set to 3 of 10'ish - e.g. moderate/light trailer assist and this has worked fine till the Palm Springs trip. On this trip, coming back, I had to supplement with trailer brakes only during some tense interstate fast/slow situations as the vibration was too violent to rapidly slow 60->30mph!. I'm surprised because our 18K miles of towing prior to this was no trouble and I assumed the 2021 Yukon Denali would be up for heavy breaking with 5500lb trailer as part of the stock/base design.

So... I just upgraded to AKEBONO disc pads and matching rotors all around. We'll see how this goes and I'll try to report back after a few more trips.

Am curious if others have warped/burned rotors while pulling 6000lb'ish?

 

[jerry455]

My 2021 Suburban pulls just fine with stock pads and rotors. I put new pads on when I bought it 2 years ago at 70,000 miles. I have 96,000 miles currently and I pull a little over 6,000 pound travel trailer. This is the best towing vehicle I have ever owned. I am going to upgrade to the PPV/ Performance brakes early this summer.

 

[Stbentoak]

The stock brakes on this vehicle are pretty mushy, really. I upgraded to the Brembos on my 25. They are a pretty reasonable improvement. The stock brakes are adequate if you have nothing behind you. But just adequate. I pull a 6k Tritoon. And you want all the braking you can get....

 

[Padraig]

I am pulling a boat that's approximately the same weight. No problems but I am not in LA. Do hAve plenty of hills. The trailer brakes make a big difference. I would turn the trailer brakes up some. What type of brakes and system do you have on the trailer. I am a big believer in disc brakes on both axles with electric over hydraulic operating them.

Padraig

 

[tagexpcom]

I am pulling a boat that's approximately the same weight. No problems but I am not in LA. Do hAve plenty of hills. The trailer brakes make a big difference. I would turn the trailer brakes up some. What type of brakes and system do you have on the trailer. I am a big believer in disc brakes on both axles with electric over hydraulic operating them.

Padraig

I have a standard 7 x 14 dual-axle cargo trailer (made into a camper / 5500lbs) with 'shoe' brakes.

Yes, after burning up my rotors, I'm going to increase the Curtis brake controller a bit but while this is OK 'at speed', I get a pretty good jerk near the final stop (<2mph). The shoe pads seem to grab at the final part of a stop. Annoying.

Perhaps a conversion to disk brakes on the trailer - but not sure of the cost / is it worth it. Annoyed doesn't mean unsafe.

 

[tagexpcom]

My 2021 Suburban pulls just fine with stock pads and rotors. I put new pads on when I bought it 2 years ago at 70,000 miles. I have 96,000 miles currently and I pull a little over 6,000 pound travel trailer. This is the best towing vehicle I have ever owned. I am going to upgrade to the PPV/ Performance brakes early this summer.

I replaced the front brakes at 49K (when I bought the rig) and back brakes (originals) showed 40% at this trip. I've pulled this trailer from 49K -> 67K with no trouble, but this last 2,000 miles... perhaps I much heavier on the breaking? discolored the front rotors. In fact the shop gave me a $300 discount on this upgrade because of front rotors (that they installed 2 yrs ago) failed.

 

[tagexpcom]

My 2021 Suburban pulls just fine with stock pads and rotors. I put new pads on when I bought it 2 years ago at 70,000 miles. I have 96,000 miles currently and I pull a little over 6,000 pound travel trailer. This is the best towing vehicle I have ever owned. I am going to upgrade to the PPV/ Performance brakes early this summer.

Agree - towing performance, ride, *room for stuff*, all fantastic for us. Really nice rig to drive.

 

[dbphillips]

Gasser? We have 40k on our 2022 Babymax RST and dashboard claims 80% front pads remaining. About half that mileage towing a 7000# TT. And i kind of wail through the west coast mountains.

 

[StephenPT]

I replaced the front brakes at 49K (when I bought the rig) and back brakes (originals) showed 40% at this trip. I've pulled this trailer from 49K -> 67K with no trouble, but this last 2,000 miles... perhaps I much heavier on the breaking? discolored the front rotors. In fact the shop gave me a $300 discount on this upgrade because of front rotors (that they installed 2 yrs ago) failed.

What brand of brakes did you put on when you replaced them at 49K? If you had a shop do it and did not specify the quality/brand of brakes to use you could have easily got "20K mile" brakes. A good friend of mine manages the under carriage service in an automotive shop and he said if you're doing your brakes yourself, get Centric CTEK and Akebono pads. He also said that Akebono has been the OEM pads GM has used for years.

 

[tagexpcom]

What brand of brakes did you put on when you replaced them at 49K? If you had a shop do it and did not specify the quality/brand of brakes to use you could have easily got "20K mile" brakes. A good friend of mine manages the under carriage service in an automotive shop and he said if you're doing your brakes yourself, get Centric CTEK and Akebono pads. He also said that Akebono has been the OEM pads GM has used for years.

Good point!

I did not specify when front brakes were replaced at 49K but I know they were not 'OEM GM', some other brand. I've been using this shop for over 10yrs and they have been as honest as anyone - but even an honest shop might go cheaper or not know that the brand was not 100% up to original GM specs. I'll talk to them when I go in. They did give me $300 of because the rotors they installed were discolored - indicating overheating/cause for the vibration.