Brake friction material recommendation?

[Serious Johnson]

Hey y'all (with an implied "wautch thee-us"!):

I'm looking for upgraded pads & shoes for my '83 Wag. Primary use is plain transportation, but this entails a rather challenging hour in 4LO, often in sub-zero temps, just to negotiate my driveway. I also need to pull a 5,000# Airstream trailer in the mountains.

The trailer brakes are in good shape, and can be made to lock 'em by adjusting the controller. Short of stickier trailer tires, I'm getting about all I can on that end. The stock Jeep brakes, when in good condition, work passably well on & off road (other than scant vacuum up home at 12,000'), but do fade significantly when taking the trailer down long grades.

What I'd like is a miracle compound that provides good cold bite, fine low speed modulation, and enough heat stability to keep the Great Googley MoogleyGreat Googley MoogleyGreat Googley MoogleyGreat Googley Moogley trailer from passing me, but I s'pose everything is a compromise. Trailering is the priority; I don't give a hoot about dust or noise, and I'm prepared to treat rotors & drums as expendable. I'm not much interested in swapping to 3/4 ton axles, but won't entirely rule it out.

Just wonderin' if any of y'all have gone this route before and can recommend a specific pad/shoe, or even point out something that I may have missed.

Thankee kindly -- 'preciate it.

:-

[carrotman]

I use EBC brake pads on my motorcycle and they are terrific. They also make pads for the Jeep. Haven't gotten around to ordering them yet, but they are called EBC Greenstuff 6000 Part #DP61145. Has anyone tried them?

[Serious Johnson]

carrotguy:

Thanks. Some of my sporty-car friends use EBCs on their dual purpose street/race cars, but I hadn't thought of them as a source for Jeep pads. I'll e-mail them and see what they say about this particular application.

:-

[gearhead77]

I put on semi-metallics when I went to the mountains to get my other wag they worked well,but I think your mountains are bigger:)

[SBJeep]

I use Carquest ceramic pads on the front. Pricey(+-$75), but bite really hard and don't fade when towing the trailer in the mountains. I think I warped the rotor recently, which is a first, but they didn't fade. I only tow a large tent trailer but we load the Jeep to the roof and have a full rack on top.

[Serious Johnson]

Thanks y'all:

I got a reply from my e-mail to Carbotech (none yet from EBC), and they have off the shelf Jeep front pads for a mere $119! They can also make up a custom set of rear shoes on my cores, but that would be quite a bit more expensive, and something of an experiment. I think I'll look into those Carquest ceramics (thanks SB), and see if they offer a suitable rear shoe.

I also just found out that the part # for pads changed in '84. Since I'll be getting new calipers & rotors anyway, I might look into whether the later parts are better in some way.

gearhead77: I live in both Colorado and Carolina, and the Rockies are mostly only bigger in altitude numbers. Typically, in Colorado you might leave the valley at 8,000' and top the pass at 11,000. Just out my South Carolina back door is a 2,000' high granite wall that runs some 40 miles. While in Colorado they might just push one road over such a thing with 2 or 3 turns, in Carolina there's a road for almost every ridge & holler, and they have hundreds of tight turns with 10 & 15 MPH signs on them. If you've ever crossed Deals Gap on glare ice, then Boreas Pass on good, grippy white-pack is a piece o' cake.

:-

[gearhead77]

Yeah,I did take some pretty tricky back roads with that load, but the hard part was going through Raleigh with truckers whipping by on both sides!But I still want to see the rockies