Half Ton Brakes - Current Models

[iowahiker]

The latest Trucktrend magazine arrived today with brake test data for a good selection of CURRENT generation trucks:

Truck 60-0 empty braking 60-0 loaded braking load

Toyota Tacoma 135 ft 134 ft 500 lb
Ford F-350 Crew Cab dsl 146 ft 147 ft 1500 lb
Toyota Tundra Crew Cab 129 ft 137 ft 1000 lb
Dodge 2500 Crew Cab gas 132 ft 140 ft 1000 lb
GMC 2500 Crew Cab dsl 141 ft 149 ft 1500 lb
Chevy Colorado 128 ft 131 ft 500 lb
Chevy 1500 Crew Cab 130 ft 137 ft 1000 lb
Ford F-150 Crew Cab 118 ft 120 ft 1000 lb

Hope the format holds on upload.

 

[100acrehuphalump]

So you're saying the F150's are better for braking?

 

[iowahiker]

The top post is not an opinion, just a post of published data. Someone asked to see changes in braking distance when a load was added for both half ton and heavy duty trucks so I posted the data when I saw it. Obviously, if you want to payload 4000 pounds, a half ton is not "better". "Better" depends on the truck task. If anyone wants a technical explanation of a published data point, then please ask because a lot more data is available.

 

[Lighthawk]

Thanks for compiling this information, Iowahiker. It is useful data. I do acknowledge that I wish my Tundra was able to stop my Hawk more quickly. I have a '01 F150 with 8' bed and it does stop much quicker, but also has disks front and back, and I believe the '06 Tundra has drums in rear.

 

[100acrehuphalump]

I take it that disc brakes are more efficient than drums? If so I'm happy for the fact that all four of mine are disc, and that I had my rotors turned and new ceramic pads installed yesterday.

 

[ntsqd]

The 350 and 2500's aren't 1/2t's, but are good for compare/contrast.

Disc brakes shed heat better than drums, so for higher speed stopping discs are better. Drums are "self-energizing" and tend to work better for holding position. Which is why those rear disc brakes have a small mechanical drum brake inside of them for the parking brake system.

I've long wondered just how much rear disc's contribute to stopping distance reduction in pick-ups. I suspect that while there is an improvement due to them that mostly why they are there is marketing. The rear brakes will work better with a load in the bed than without, but that is true regardless of brake type. Characteristically pick-ups have light rear axles and that reduces the rear brake's effectiveness significantly.

Were a person willing to do the research I'll venture that a later model's brake system can be transplanted onto a slightly earlier truck of the same model without too much custom work, if any. The further apart the truck vintages are, the more likely custom work will be needed. Whether or not it is worth the time, $$, and effort would up to how badly rear discs are desired.

Re: turning of rotors: http://www.stoptech.com/technical-support/technical-white-papers/-warped-brake-disc-and-other-myths

 

[Kolockum]

Anybody else notice that being weighed down improved the Toyota's braking distance?

Were a person willing to do the research I'll venture that a later model's brake system can be transplanted onto a slightly earlier truck of the same model without too much custom work, if any. The further apart the truck vintages are, the more likely custom work will be needed. Whether or not it is worth the time, $$, and effort would up to how badly rear discs are desired.

I have looked seriously at doing this to two different types of trucks. One was a 02 Dodge Dakota and the other was 97 Chevy 1500 short box. As long as you can find a similar model year in a junkyard with a rear axle with disc brakes AND same gear ratio it is not very expensive. But if you need to get the axle regeared it is very expensive. To my knowledge and research you don't need to upgrade your master cylinder or add an after market brake booster when making the swap. All said I could not justify the $150-$300 for the swap on either truck.

 

[iowahiker]

The Toyota Tacoma has rear drum brakes in these tests while all other trucks are disc at all wheels. Computer controlled Dynamic Brake Proportioning can create the lower stopping distance with a load. Base brake force distribution could be 80% front/20%rear with no load and be changed to 60% front/40% rear when the computer detects a load. Any truck with DBP would not show a drastic reduction in braking performance until the load size causes full rear brake engagement. I do not know which trucks have DBP but would suspect all do since vehicle stabilization (braking a single wheel to prevent a rollover) is required on all trucks. Brake control modules are amazing in these vehicles.

My Ford dealer measures and reports brake wear every service visit and my rear brakes are worn as much as the front with the camper on full time. DBP?

 

[Squatch]

A good mechanical proportioning valve will do much the same though maybe not quite as precise.

When the fancy electronics work well it's awesome. When they don't it's a nightmare. I've had 2 new trucks since 2000 that had brake issues with the computer braking stuff that the dealers couldn't fix. I had to do lemon law buybacks on them. Yet another nightmare. The last one sat at the dealer waiting for factory help for 4+ months while I was making payments. I had to buy a beater car just to get to work. That $2k beater was more reliable than my last 3 new trucks.

That's a big problem with new trucks. You get to pay $40-60k to be a prototype tester for the factory.

 

[ntsqd]

The rear wheel only ABS on our '91 Suburban got disconnected immediately after it took away my ability to stop in time and caused us to jump the truck about 18" into the air. Literally as soon as I did get it stopped.

I've never felt the rear wheel only (?) ABS do anything on our '96 CTD. No idea if it's disabled or fully functioning.

I run into this at work, it's much easier for the EE's to change the code than it is, presumably, for me to make an adjustment. In most cases they're probably right, but when it fails it's never the fault of the code. It's the fault of the mechanical device. Just ask them.

I'm slowly regressing towards simpler vehicles. Maybe they don't have all of the fancy features, but there are very few of them that I need to have.