Recommend to me some good brakes

[derekjl]

The NAPA brakes I put on my 1999 Tahoe 4-door are shot after just 14,000 miles. The front rotors are warped and the rear brakes make all kinds of vibrations. The first set of rear drums that were put on were out of round and wobbled the rear of the truck when stopping. So I think I'm done with NAPA parts. I have an independent mechanic who is willing for me to bring him parts to install. Other than ACDelco Durastop parts, is there any other company that makes high quality, long lasting brake parts for this type of vehicle. All I want is good SMOOTH stopping power and for the parts to last a good 25,000 miles or more. I baby the truck and never tow anything. Thanks very much.

EDIT: I just had a look at the invoice for the brake job. NAPA "Premium" and "Proformer" parts were used, not their "Ultra Premium" line. Does it matter?

 

[SunlitComet]

it is still napa house parts. i use powerslot slotted cryo rotors and hawk sd pads.

 

[jerryjoe28]

ill 2nd sun. I have hawk pads on the TA and love them. however on my HOE I have wagner thermo quiet SDs. I really like them. they are pretty low dust and stop 100 times better than the cheapies that where on it when I bought it

 

[willxfs]

I had a set of Baer drilled and slotted rotors and Hawk pads (green box). Got 60K miles out of them. Bought the powerslot rotors and Hawk sd pads. Working great too. Rear brakes on my rig haven't been changed since I bought the truck 10 years ago and 125K miles ago. Still pad left but need attention soon.

 

[derekjl]

To make a long story short, I got in touch with the District Manager of NAPA where I am and told him how incredibly disappointed I was that my brakes lasted 14,000 miles before warping and wearing out, etc. They are completely re-doing the brake job, covering parts AND labor. I asked if I could upgrade to the "Ultra Premium" line of rotors, pads, and rear shoes and pay the difference between those and the lower end NAPA parts that were originally installed. So it goes in Thursday morning, hoping it all comes out well. Is there anything I should be telling them before the work is done? I know 9/10 the rear brakes need to be adjusted after a brake job, at least that was the case in the first time they were done. Thanks.

 

[derekjl]

So kind of an update here, NAPA agreed to redo the brake job including Ultra Premium pads, rotors, etc. They didn't have the top of the line shoes in stock so they used the same ones that were on before. I must say there is a WORLD of difference in the braking just from the better parts on the front. However, I do believe that the brake pads are shifting inside the calipers for some reason. This same thing happened before but only on the left side of the front axle, now it's both. It will only happen when the truck changes direction from forward to backward and vice versa. I posted a video from YouTube showing what happens. This isn't my car, but the concept is the same. Is there any kind of fix for this?

 

[SunlitComet]

Looks like improperly size backing plates from many uses and resurfacing for reuse that takes away material over time or possibly the caliper adapters are bent. Not critical but very annoying. You can try another brand and type of pads for comparison to a better fit. I think I forgot to mention that I also converted to a hydro-boost system. That adds an automatic increase no matter what you have for rotors and pads. In fact if you got cheap stuff on there it will destroy them very quickly from the extra force it applies.

 

[derekjl]

I thought that the pads have shims built in, if that's the same thing as a backing plate? I really don't want to go through this again right now. So really the only thing to do is change the pads to fit the calipers better? What about the hardware?


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[SunlitComet]

the plate it the thick metal pads are glued/riveted too. those thin plates you see attached to them some times are really there for noise reduction and wear reduction. i don't see the caliper moving around so hardware should be good. if you can deal with it the way it is then leave it till the next service.