DodgeForum.com

Dodge Ram: Brake Modifications

Here are a few brake modifications and upgrades that you can do to gain some more braking performance in your Dodge Ram.

By Jeff White - June 24, 2015

This article applies to the Dodge Ram 1500 (1994-present).

Stopping power is very important, and while most factory brake systems are very adequate at stopping your Dodge Ram, sometimes you need something with a better bite. If you happen to do a lot of heavy towing or expose the truck to extreme duty situations, you will start to see the holes in the factory game. Lucky for you, there are some basic upgrades you can perform on your truck to fill these holes and increase performance of the braking system.

The Basics of Braking System Upgrades

There are three basic components of your factory Dodge Ram brake system that you can upgrade to get significant improvements out of your truck. These improvements will help especially for towing/hauling, or just having to submit your truck to extreme driving conditions. Most factory truck brake systems are pretty well structured, so the basic architecture is already there. We just need to squeeze the potential performance out of it with upgraded parts.

The three components are the brake pads, brake rotors, and brake calipers. These components can be easily upgraded without having to change the fundamental structure of your truck's factory braking system. This will allow you to net some massive improvements over how your stock braking system can perform. For any modifications more than these basic components you'd be looking at re-engineering the brake system all together, and that is neither feasible nor necessary. Plus, if you did decide this was something you wanted to do, you should consult a brake system expert to help you determine how to go about doing this. For the upgrades discussed here, a person with a basic knowledge of how to remove and install brake components can successfully perform these with no problem.

Brake Pads

DIY Cost – $74-104

Professional Cost – $20-400

Skill Level – Easy

Brake pads are a quick, easy, and affordable way to improve your truck's braking performance. Also, because you have to change out pads more often than any other brake parts on your truck, you have numerous opportunities to swap in an upgraded pad set. There are even some upgraded pad sets that can cost just as much as any factory replacement set. So the question really is, why not?

There are a few companies that make very good sets of upgraded pads, such as Hawk Performance and EBC Greenstuff. One of the benefits of these companies is that they make pads for different applications and uses. So you can match what you're using your truck for with the type of pad you should use as an upgrade.

Brake Rotors

DIY Cost – $120-350

Professional Cost – $300-800

Skill Level – Easy

The next step in brake upgrades is rotors. When looking at rotor upgrades, the attributes we're looking for are fairly simple. We want them to be made out of a metal that can withstand high temperatures, and we want them to be able to shed those temperatures at a fairly quick rate so they don't overheat. The metals that do this very well are not cheap, and a brake rotor is a fairly big chunk of this, so brake rotor upgrades tend to be a bit more pricey than pad upgrades. There is also the question of drilled, slotted, or both? Each manufacturer will have their own opinions on this.

Again, like with pads there will be a few manufacturers that do a very good job and most of them also manufacture upgraded pads to match their brake rotors. One opinion is that it is important to upgrade both the brake pads and rotors simultaneously so that they match. For instance, if you decide to go with EBC pads, it's a good idea to match them with EBC rotors. The reason for this is because these manufacturers are more than likely testing their own pads on their own rotors, so you are going to get the maximum upgrade if you match the same pad with the same rotor company.

Brake Calipers

DIY Cost – $600-800

Professional Cost – $850-1500

Skill Level – Moderate

When doing basic brake upgrades, this is about as deep as you would want to get. Changing the calipers would require a bit more work, and really should only be done if you are looking to squeeze every last ounce of performance out of your braking system. Most companies that manufacture brake caliper upgrades are not similar to the companies that manufacture pads and rotors. This is most likely due to the added engineering required to develop a brake caliper that can actually deliver upgraded performance. There is also a possibility that by going with a different brake caliper, you might have to use a different brake pad design that is not similar to the stock design. Keep this bit of information in mind if you are considering going down this road.

Some of the companies that manufacture brake caliper upgrades are SSBC and Summit Racing.

Related Discussions