Best brake setups/places to buy?

factive said:

I have the R1 rotors and pads installed and up until yesterday, I haven't had any issues or complaints. But I was going down a super long, super steep gravel road that was full of switch backs and by the end of the road I literally could not stop my truck with the pedal pressed all the way to the floor. I obviously know how to use gearing and drive down hill but on this particular road, using the brakes was unavoidable unless i wanted to crawl down.

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I would recommend checking your front brakes as soon as possible, the only time any of my customers have had issues is when they have had both inner pads installed on one side and both outer pads on the other. This will be obvious when looking at them due to the fact that on the side with both inner pads installed will show wear on the rotor where the pad had only been touching/wearing about an inch of the rotor surface. At times you can get away with what seems like normal braking for long periods of time without noticing an issue and then when you need them it becomes more prevalent.

I would also check for signs of glazing on your rotors, look for a glass like coating on the surface. This happens if the pads overheat and start to melt on to the rotor, I done this with ebc Reds on my downhill bike a few times and the best option has always been find a soft spot to get off without hitting a tree and let the brakes cool off then a couple of hard stops to knock the glaze off. Another option is bad fluid brake fluid absorbs moisture over time then when it gets hot the water boils creating compressible steam pockets and a soft peddle.

t_j brings up a very valid point as well about the brake fluid. Most folks rarely change their brake fluid and it brakes down faster than any other fluid in the truck due to it's moisture absorbing properties.

t_j said:

I would also check for signs of glazing on your rotors, look for a glass like coating on the surface. This happens if the pads overheat and start to melt on to the rotor, I done this with ebc Reds on my downhill bike a few times and the best option has always been find a soft spot to get off without hitting a tree and let the brakes cool off then a couple of hard stops to knock the glaze off. Another option is bad fluid brake fluid absorbs moisture over time then when it gets hot the water boils creating compressible steam pockets and a soft peddle.

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No glazing and there was never any melting, at least couldn't smell any. I've only had these on my truck for a couple months now but I'll check the fluid again.