Carbon fiber brakes

[Longhorn Man]

Who has a link to the company with the carbon fiber brake shoes?
I don't have a link on this computer and a search came up with nothing... any help?

[68w/sbc406]

r u talking like hawk brake pads??? they are not carbon fiber they are a carbon semi-metalic. couldnt find a site for them but some other sites came up talking about them when i did a search. if thats not what you were thinking of heres a ttt for ya

[Longhorn Man]

brake pads yess...Hawk...no
TTT

[neonlarry]

Andy, are you thinking of this place:
http://www.praisedynobrake.com/

[68w/sbc406]

i didnt see front pads for our trucks on there, they just had 4wheel shoes
P.S. if they cost that much they better be gold

[Longhorn Man]

Thank you larry...yes, that's what i was looking for.
68w/snc406...my truck has shoes on all 4 corners.
These shoes make drum brakes almost as strong and fade resistand as disc brakes, and last 4 times as long. (4 times as long....that is an educated guess from all the stories i have heard which range from 100,000 miles to 50,000 miles.)

[4x4Poet]

I use Praise Dyno brake pads & shoes exclusively. I recently ordered PDB's Stage I kit for my K10. The package arrived today. I wish I had a digicam. The integral backing plates and pad sides are lime green. It kinda grows on ya.

The pads/shoes do work very well and last long while placing less wear on the rotors/drums. I think it's because they use kevlar in their composite which enables more sparing use of metalic particles. PDB emphasizes getting better braking performance from both front and rear brakes. They claim that the wheel cylinders they sell have oversize bores. I will be sure to mic 'em when I swap out parts. I've had Praise Dyno's Stage I Disc & Drum kit parts on my K20 since '94. I like everything about them but the price.

If you want a trick brake set-up using oem-sized componets, Praise Dyno offers cryo'd rotors and drums made from nodular iron, not plain cast like oem. Praise Dyno claims that their 4 wheel cryo sets perform better than many oversize brakes offered for 67-72s, but with no need for larger rims or non-stock replacement parts. I went with Stage I this time. One day, I hope to upgrade the K20 to 4 wheel discs with cryo'd rotors.

I found them very knowledgable and they've helped me dispell several misconceptions I had about high-end brake componets. For instance, SSBC offers their cool looking, aluminum, Force 10 calipers available as upgrades to stock 1/2 & 3/4 ton chevy calipers. Praise Dyno tested them and found that a 4-piston Force 10 caliper has only about 50lbs more clamping force than my K10's single piston calipers. That's little upgrade for the whopping price difference. Judge PDB's products for yourself. I use them because I like better braking than oem with oem replaceable parts.

Some examples:
Stage I (you use your rotors/drums)
Stage II Street Performer Kit (rear drums not included)
Stage II Disc & Drum Kit
Stage II 4-Wheel Disc Kit (My K20 upgrade)
Stage III (Bling Bling)

[68CST327]

Wow, I'm drooling over that Stage III kit. Bling bling, indeed.

I like drums. Unfortunately, I don't have $800 handy. Someday, I'll probably invest in that Stage III setup.

[68w/sbc406]

Originally Posted by Longhorn Man

Thank you larry...yes, that's what i was looking for.
68w/snc406...my truck has shoes on all 4 corners.
These shoes make drum brakes almost as strong and fade resistand as disc brakes, and last 4 times as long. (4 times as long....that is an educated guess from all the stories i have heard which range from 100,000 miles to 50,000 miles.)

so what about us guys that have (are going to have) front disc???

[Budweis]

i used those type of pads on my vette and had to take them off and throw away. they squeak constantly and i cant stand all the noise. every time you hit the brakes they squeak

[4x4Poet]

No kidding, Budweis?! I have never heard a peep from mine. Did you contact PDB? Or do you mean carbon fiber pads from another brand? AFAIK, PDB does not offer carbon fiber pads or shoes. I think the thread starter just asked about carbon fiber pads because he was trying to recall the company and site and knew they were high-end brake componets, like carbon fiber stuff.

[64fleetside]

I have a 64 I would like to keep drum, but $178 for a set of shoes??? I think I will just go disc. Brian

[Longhorn Man]

4X4...it has been a whle...kevlar...carbon fiber... OK small difference.
Squeeling pads...did you have new or turned rotors? Did you use anti squeel stuff on the back of the pad?

[Longhorn Man]

As for the price, do you think you can do a disc brake swap for less?
Will the stock old discs that you swap, will the pads have an extended life?

[67chevemall]

Well this solves that problem! Truck was made with Drums and these kits
are sweet! forget the disc conversion and 5 lug crap.

[TugOwar]

That is impressive stuff indeed. Wonder if they have 3/4 ton stuff (8 lug drums/12" shoes). I want to keep the 8 lugs on my 68 and this would be a nice upgrade in stopping power, although I would dread to see the price.

[Longhorn Man]

A few years ago we had a 68 3/4 ton longhorn owner and he had them on his rig. His name was Stan...screen name was something like inline lover or something like that.
Anyways...he is the guy who clued me in on these. He had them on hos longhorn and said they were neater than 2 chicks makin out.
I highly doubt they were THAT cool...but I'm sure they are pretty neat though.

[TugOwar]

Originally Posted by Longhorn Man

A few years ago we had a 68 3/4 ton longhorn owner and he had them on his rig. His name was Stan...screen name was something like inline lover or something like that.
Anyways...he is the guy who clued me in on these. He had them on hos longhorn and said they were neater than 2 chicks makin out.
I highly doubt they were THAT cool...but I'm sure they are pretty neat though.

LOL Andy, nothin is cooler than that.

Thanks for the info, I'll have to check into that more someday. I'll probably have to buy one piece at a time though.

[Longhorn Man]

I plan on calling them after the holliday

[Budweis]

i dont recall which particular brand they were but it was from ecklers catalog and its only ones they had for my application. rotors were brand new as well and i tried turning anyway and it didnt help. they didnt squeak till first time i washed the car then they never stopped. if i took off the pads and rescuffed they would stop for day or so but thats about it. now im using semi metallic and never had any squeaks since. i believe they were called carbon full metallic. is that what your talking about or you guys talking bout ceramic? seen the title carbon so just figured. anyway i took it twice to the dealer as well as was busy at the time and they tried the anti squeal gel stuff and the stick on squeal pads but nothing would stop it. sounded like train stopping every time i stopped.

[cableguy0]

ceramic brake pads in my opinion are awesome havent used kevlar but the ceramics last a hell of a lot longer and stop better. just figured i'd throw this option out there. there was definately a noticeable difference on my truck as well as every other car i have put them on at work. they arent much more expensive than regular semi metallics they wont squeal and dont create any dust

[neonlarry]

I have had these on the 70 for about a 1½ now and I think they great a real improvement over what was on the truck when I got it. I haven't pulled the drums lately to see how well they wear so can't help there.

[4x4Poet]

Originally Posted by TugOwar

Wonder if they have 3/4 ton stuff (8 lug drums/12" shoes). I want to keep the 8 lugs on my 68 and this would be a nice upgrade in stopping power, although I would dread to see the price.

If you have a D60 8-lug FF rear axle, then I would say yes, most likely. They also should have the 2wd front drums/shoes (or rotors/pads). (Front 4x4 D44 drums/shoes or rotors/pads, too) If you have the Eaton H052 rear axle, read on.

In '94, PDB had the 12" shoes for my K20's Eaton H052 rear axle. IIRC, they could not source the drums. Nor could any local parts house or brake parts suppliers (I wasn't "online" then and haven't check internet sources since). So I've got a story. I may be wrong about the D60 application, but here goes:

My local brake repair shop/brake parts supplier found that 12" D60 8-lug rear drums fit the H052 8-lug hub and were the right height, but the H052 backing plate's curled outer lip interfered with the lip of the D60 drums. So the brake shop turned the outer edge of the D60 drum's lip to remove just enough material to let the D60 drum's lip slip inside the H052 backing plate's lip. Whalla! Replacement drums. And the D60 drums came with cooling fins, unlike the original H052. The 2 D60 drums cost $240 total then.

Turns out I prolly wasted my money. I have it on good report that one can use rear 14bFF disc brake conversion brackets to convert rear H052s to disc brakes. Apparently, the H052 and 14bFF share the same axle housing, end-flange bolt pattern. One must use the H052 hubs. Add emergency brake-equipped eldorado calipers (or other applicable calipers) and flex hose connections to the axle hard line and your pretty much done. I haven't personally done this, though. I intend to because the Eaton H052's 12" shoes are good, but 2" wide is a little skinny.

[TugOwar]

Great information Poet. Yes my rear is a dana 60 8 lug. 12"x 2 1/2" shoes. Had a tough time just finding plain old shoes for it back in the summer. Finally O'reileys had to order them.

[Budweis]

yeah i bought the d60 drums as well when i was trying to find a fix for my eaton. hell bought every kind of drum and could tell it could prob be modified but wasnt sure if i could find a place to modify as most dont like messing with brake stuff as they afraid of lawsuits and i didnt have any cnc equipment to do myself. thats outrageous price. at that rate cheaper to make the switch to disc in long run.