I can't imagine burning off that kind of energy in just twenty feet, but whatever the distance was you thought you were in trouble and avoided disaster so your brakes are in fine shape.

Building a brake system is kinda like building a drivetrain in that an investment here can often lead to more investments elsewhere. My approach is to put on the stickiest tires I can justify paying for, then upgrade the brake system until it is capable of just surpassing the adhesion limits of those freaking expensive tires -- if you can make the tires growl under hard braking, you're there.

FWIW, with stock brakes on my Ram I can make the Michelins (LTX M/S2) growl and when I do the speed falls off surprisingly fast for three tons of truck.

 

What up unregistered?!?!?!

That 'growl' is snapping back of the lugs, and what is called 'threshold braking', which is the point just prior to lock-up.. race drivers spend years perfecting this... In a straight line it's fairly easy to find, but unweight a corner and that one will skid while the other chirps, or, growls as you call it.

I went to a anti terrorist evasive driving school some years back, and this was hounded.. we took the cars to 100mph and were told to lock them up, and we'd pass the 100' mark by a wide margin.. once we learned the threshold point of the cars, we were stopping them in 100~120'... These were ol cop cars, caprice classics with beefed brakes and wide tires, so the bet was hedged, but it was still impressive.

 

I have those michelins too. yeah, they are sticky. Cost me about 1200 for all four installed. I think the shocks helped a lot as well. They seem to wear decently for a very sticky tire.

I do think that my rears need to be adjusted a tad tighter. Also I might need new guide pins. What are you running for brake pads?

 

Well, you know... a lotta ins, a lotta outs, a lotta what-have-yous. And, uh, a lotta strands to keep in my head, man. Life is good and weed's legal.

I hope all's well in your world!

Yeah... The sound I want to hear is lower in pitch than a bark, and a lot lower than a chirp. In a panic braking situation I almost always get an initial bark (because the tires are usually running cool), followed by the sound that's lower in tone once I've got that right seat of the pants feel, usually punctuated by chirps due to imperfections and debris on the road surface. And pinch marks on the seat cushions.

They're the stickiest light truck mud/snow tire I've ever had. I was looking mainly at longevity when I selected them, but the 50 mile drive home through the mountains, which came with an unwanted excuse for a brake test, really hooked me on the things. I didn't know my truck was capable of such good manners.

They told me at the dealer when I bought the truck what was on there, and all I can remember is that they're the premium level of a well known brand, but nothing very exciting. I'm not sure yet what I'm going to swap them out with when it comes time, which will probably depend upon whether I'm feeling more sensible or more silly at the time.

 

In my limited, wipper snapper experience. The difference in premium and cheapo pads has just been dust and squealing noises.


But what do I know ....

 

Crap! I have replaced my pads 3 times since 2008 (40K miles). But my commute to work involved going over and down 3 mountains.

Now I am thinking my rears are not adjusted properly. THANKS!!!

 

Wait, just noticed I have the E-rated LTX A/Ts (285/16). That better explains the $1200 price tag.

Those E-rated L/X tires come with DEEP tread. Which is probably why they don't offer a warranty on them. Tire warranties are bogus anyway. They only pro-rate you based on the mileage driven and tread depth left.

 

They must be some really good mountains! Have you got a nervous brake foot or a penchant for sporting it up? That's a lot of friction material to peel away over such a distance.

It's cheap enough to find out. If you were blessed with a sensitivity to mechanical things, then getting them dead nuts right the first time should be enough to get you away from having to crawl under the truck to know if the rear shoes require adjustment. When the truck is stationary, the first little bump you feel in the brake pedal's travel is the shoes meeting the drums -- the greater the resting gap between them, the more pedal travel is required to reach the bump. If the vehicle is in motion the servo action of the trailing shoes will make it hard to discern the bump -- there will be two of them before the proportioning valve actuates but neither as pronounced as the one you get with the vehicle being stationary. Once you know what correct (vehicle stationary) travel feels like, you don't have to look at the shoes to know if they're adjusted properly. Unless you're just naturally insensitive to such things, anyway.

 

That coefficient of friction matters?

 

When I back out of my driveway from a dead roll with it in reverse (it is on an incline) if I tap my brakes the truck jolts to a stop. When I am in motion (forward) I need about 2 inches of pedal travel before I notice the truck slowing matched with a very FIRM pedal feel after those 2 inches.

The mountains are big. going to work, it is 8 miles of mountains up and down.
Elevation differences:
1st mountain: 200ft above seal level to 1000 in about 2 miles. Then down to 600ft
2nd mountain: 600ft to 1100 ft. down to 200 ft over 3 miles
flat for about 2 miles
3rd mountain: after the flat it is 200ft to 800 ft down to 200 ft in about 1.5 miles.

The last mountain is the steepest and the speed limit is 25 MPH. It is a MUST to ride the brake the whole way down. Our trucks don;t really trans brake with our foots off the gas pedal. Reverts to neutral.