Upgrading Chevy Brakes

buckland

buckland

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My mechanic tells me there are standard brakes and premium quality in the past though lately he finds all seem to be being made of cheaper steel (less carbon?) As I now have the camper on full time and the brakes are about due for a change, I was wondering if there is a company who specializes in brakes that are of a higher quality and durability? He used to believe aftermarket brakes were as good but lately has drifted back to OEM.

I have thought to check out the Overland portal as well but thought I'd try here first as FWC folks must have the specific experience with what we haul around. My truck is a 2016 Chevy mini diesel Colorado.
 
Rob,

Standard brake discs are made of cast iron, not steel, although I wouldn't be surprised if cheap ones use lower-quality ingredients. If you've upgraded your pads and brake fluid (from DOT 3 to DOT 4 or 5.1), the only way to genuinely improve braking is with larger/wider/heavier discs.

Jonathan
 
Thanks Jonathan, Do you recommend a source who makes wider heavier disks?

BTW... you helped me way back when I first got the Colorado... I love this mini diesel lots of power. We drove from New England to AK across the Yukon, we crossed Labrador and Newfoundland and lots of mean roads in the North Marine Woods. It has done great.
 
I don't have a Chevy, I have a Ford. I usually find I get better info on my truck mechanicals from the Ford Truck Enthusiasts Forum - www.ford-trucks.com - than I get on RV forums. You might consider searching for a similar Chevy truck forum. If it's anything like the Ford site, they will have separate sub forums on both your specific model, the Colorado, as well as one dedicated to brakes and suspensions. It's just a thought . . .
 
I did a quick scan of the GM forums and it seems folks are generally really happy - impressed even - with the Colorado/Canyon brakes. Have you noticed a problem with yours? As a general rule of thumb, if you can get the Anti-lock brake mechanism to fire off, then your stopping ability is not limited by the brakes, but by your tires. Upgrading tires can reduce your braking distance.

On the racetrack, brakes a major concern because the cars are de/accelerating as quickly as possible. Doing that repeatedly overwhelms the brake rotors ability to shed heat. Long hills can be an issue in RV's, but you don't have that problem in your rig since long hills are managed pretty easily with the exhaust brake on your diesel.
 
Cpt, I have to admit those look and sound good and knowing next to nothing about brakes makes a a more difficult task to weed out the bright and shiny from tried and true. I wish that were the answer but they don't make brakes for my Colorado from what I could find at their website.

Vic I guess the reason I was wanting to beef up the brakes isn't because they have not been good stopping the truck but the length of time it takes to wear out. Carrying that camper adds a lot more to the variables that wear them out. I really like the diesel load/tow mode with the diesel brake. I can usually take the foot off the brake and glide down with an occasional tap. I live in the Berkshires on VT border and there is nothing but up and down (The VT motto is : "Vermont, It's not flat").
I have replaced the rear brakes at 35K miles and now at 55K and will do the front and probably need doing the rear as well. I am trying to be frugal in the longterm. More than likely I will get OEM premium but thought it worth the hunt for beefier it they existed. Thanks for your input.
 
Rob-
you’re right in that rotor quality is not as good as they have been and with the added demands of the additional weight on your rig you’re right in looking to upgrade if possible.

In heavy duty applications like you have and in racing the use of “Cryoed” rotors has shown to be beneficial. We’ve used rotors from Frozen Rotors in both my F-350 for my truck camper and in my Porsche race car. I swear by them…

https://frozenrotors.com/all-products.html?find=2016-chevrolet-colorado-all-models-37841&sid=ni7ZdErcXI


There is also a whole scientific discussion about pads as well, much too long to get into here but basically you can get pads with a sharper initial bite when cold but will wear faster or get longer lasting pads that don’t have as strong of an initial bite. Performance Friction, as well as several others, make a series of different pads depending on your application and desire.
 
Those look mighty fine Eddie! Thanks so much for the steer...I'll start my reading and talk to the mechanic (he also has a camper).
Yet another area to learn about.
Rob
 
buckland said:
Thanks Jonathan, Do you recommend a source who makes wider heavier disks?

BTW... you helped me way back when I first got the Colorado... I love this mini diesel lots of power. We drove from New England to AK across the Yukon, we crossed Labrador and Newfoundland and lots of mean roads in the North Marine Woods. It has done great.
Click to expand...
I remember it well! I'm glad it's worked as well as we both hoped!
 
Cpt Davenport said:
Interesting, I'm trying to find an upgraded system for my Chevy as well. I have ordered these by Power Stop.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01AGBQZHE/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

They have great reviews and I'm optimistic.
Click to expand...
The ad does not say if their rotors are larger or wider than stock, which means they almost certainly are not. Drilling for "cooling" does absolutely zero; that's pure marketing hype. Drilling reduces the mass of the rotor, and the rotor relies on mass to absorb and dissipate heat. I've seen ads for drilled rotors that actually boast about how much weight it saves—arrant nonsense.

People get confused because they're always told about reducing unsprung weight. Drilling brake discs is not the way to accomplish that.

Linking to this article again. Please read!
 
Sounds like your brakes are good, just wearing faster than you like? Replacing pads is easy… are your rotors wearing out too?

I treat brakes like oil and tires . Keep them clean = frequent fluid flush/inflated, and replace them often = pads/ filter/rotation.
 
Here is a company that advertises a "big brake kit" for the Colorado. It might be worth investigating. Some of these kits require going up in wheel size as well; others manage to employ a slightly larger diameter or thicker rotor within the stock wheel size.
 
JHanson said:
The ad does not say if their rotors are larger or wider than stock, which means they almost certainly are not. Drilling for "cooling" does absolutely zero; that's pure marketing hype. Drilling reduces the mass of the rotor, and the rotor relies on mass to absorb and dissipate heat. I've seen ads for drilled rotors that actually boast about how much weight it saves—arrant nonsense.

People get confused because they're always told about reducing unsprung weight. Drilling brake discs is not the way to accomplish that.

Linking to this article again. Please read!
Click to expand...
I could not agree more!
drilled rotors are pure marketing BS. Slotted rotors have some benefits in a racing environment but for this application are not necessary.
 
After a lot of hand wringing I decided to go for broke (that about says the price!) and ordered the Frozen brakes and their pads (which when I called they said the photo of the box is generic...those pads are not racing pads but for street fleet vehicles. If these last as long as they say it will be worth the extra $$$. I will let y'all know when the are installed after July 4th!
 
I have the new brakes installed and as soon as have a couple hundred miles on them I will report in on these cyro-metal brakes wirth kevlar pads. BUT of course there ia always what next? ... The lug nuts. I read a thread some time ago about these (to me) new two layer lug nuts, with the shell. About half of mine are loose and as I hate to think of a flat tire I would hate to have even more trouble with the shell casing snapping off and then the nut beneath being smaller etc. So time to replace these. The mechanic said he prefers the steel painted ones that are capped to keep the studs from rusting. I have a Chevy Colorado. Anyone know of an aftermarket decent basic capped lug nut, Chrome or Painted steel. Don't think I will put on the stock jacketed ones again.
 
Rob Congratulation on getting the Cryoed Rotors. Please pay particular attention to how they recommend bedding them in. Once done they should give you long life.

Speaking of your brake system ….have you ever flushed your brake fluid? Thoughts vary on this but every 4 years for regular performance vehicles is what I do. As you probably know brake fluid is highly hydroscopic and even the smallest amount of water in the system can degrade the performance.
 
I was made aware of the break in for the first 200 miles from my mechanic.. I have a diesel with a exhaust brake that minimizes my brake usage so I hope that helps too. Thanks again for the rec. it
Was costly but if it is best over time than I feel better. And yes I had the brake lines flushed and new fluid! 4
 
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