Jason Gonderman
Contributor
Lift kit? Check.35-plus-inch mud tires? Check.Yosemite Sam mudflaps? Check.
You are all ready to go off-road now, right? Wrong. One of the most commonly overlooked areas of an off-road truck is the brakes. We see it all the time: Well-meaning people build awesome rigs and completely overlook one of the main safety features. The brakes on your 4x4 were designed to stop it safely and quickly in the form that it rolled off of the dealer's lot in. But now that you have added more leverage with larger-diameter tires that have more weight than the factory rubber, stopping has become a challenge, not only on the road but on the trail.
So what's the solution to your braking woes? You could go out and buy an expensive big brake kit with super wazoo calipers and rotors, but most of these high-end brake kits require an outlandish wheel size just to clear. Though some extreme rigs or race vehicles do warrant this level of brake treatment, the average trail pickup does not.
If you've read this far, you already know that before replacing brakes on your 4x4 you will need to raise your vehicle, properly support it on jackstands, and remove the wheels and tires. The worn-in groove and hot spots are sure signs that the rotors need to be replaced or at the very least machined. Since we also had severely warped the rotors, we chose to replace them altogether. After the caliper and bracket are removed, the rotor pops right off and the new GD Sport rotor is installed.
An easier and more affordable solution can be found in a set of EBC GD Sport slotted and dimpled brake rotors with a set of EBC's high-friction Stuff line of brake pads. This is a perfect setup for the daily driver and weekend wheeler. The advantage that these EBC rotors have over OE replacements is their wide slots that draw cool air under the brake pads. During heavy braking the cool air reduces brake temperature while also removing dirt, dust, mud, water ,and the gases created by the friction of braking. This makes for predictable stopping no matter what the (off-) road conditions. These rotors, when coupled with EBC's Yellow Stuff brake pads, make for some mean holding power.
Best of all, the EBC rotors and pads are designed as replacements for the OEM parts on your vehicle, so no modifications are required, nor do you have to buy new wheels. In some cases this setup is actually less expensive than the factory replacement parts.
We installed a set of EBC rotors and pads on our '07 Ford F-150 FX4 in a morning. After 500 miles of brake in time the new brakes stop our heavy truck better than it has ever stopped before.
PhotosView Slideshow
