Brakes ......

[TwinStick]

OK, is going on here ? I have been on PowerStops web site, RockAuto.com, Summit Racing, Jegs, & others & just can not find the right parts or part #'s. Went to PowerStops site & according to them the part # is KC5468-36. I want the 1 click Z-36 rotors/pads/red caliper kit, for all 4 . I look up that part # on others sites & it says it is for a 1500 ? RockAuto.com has been showing "out of stock" for over 3 months ? is going on. Isn't PowerStop made in America ? If so, then why is everyone out ?

Thanks for the help. My brakes are toast, calipers must have been sticking & wore them out quickly. EBC is 2x the money, so thats out.

[Pit Slave]

Change your lines on the calipers first. Mine had started to collapse and I didn't know it until I had to hit them hard. It steered the truck in the next lane! The passenger side wouldn't allow the fluid to return and held pressure in the caliper. An easy way to see if you have a bad line is to push the piston in the caliper. It should be relatively easy. If not, crack the bleeder valve on the caliper and then try again. If it's easy to push the pistons in, then it a bad line. Cheap easy fix. If it's still difficult to push in the pistons after the the bleeder is open, then it's the caliper.

I had replaced my line with a stainless type from CJC Offroad. They sell the lines as a set.

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[Pit Slave]

Here are two links to the lines, both units appear to be made by "Crown" (mine is made by Crown via CJC Offroad).

CJC Offroad type via same website(for up to 4.5" lift):
http://www.cjcoffroad.com/CJC-Off-Road- ... -3gblk.htm

Carli type via CJC Offroad(for up to 6"lift):
http://www.cjcoffroad.com/Carli-Dodge-R ... -d6bbl.htm

Carli type also has the option for the extra line for the rear.

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[TwinStick]

Thanks Pit, for the $5 difference in price, it would seem the 6" is the way to go. On the off chance that I may lift the truck someday.

[BoldAdventure]

To bad those only go to 2011. This is on my upgrades list. New brake lines and brakes.

[RustyPW]

On my '99 Dodge. I used these lines.

http://www.egrbrakes.com/brakelinekit.htm

[TwinStick]

So, after 3 months of checking RockAuto, Summit, Jegs, etc, I finally called Summit Racing & talked to a real person. I asked him is going on with the PowerStop products, they have not been in stock for 3 months. I could find rotors but no calipers, I could find pads but no rotors, etc..., etc. No one place had everything in stock. So, anyways, I said I wanted the 1 click Z36 brake package w/pads/rotors/calipers. He said they had the rotors & pads & I will have them in 2 days but the calipers won't ship until Dec 12th. He was nice & I was pissed. He knocked $100 off the price. He said "if you order the 1 click brake kit w/pads/rotors/calipers, it goes over the weight limit & then we have to charge you for shipping, but if you order pads & rotors separately from the calipers, no shipping charge." Weird right ? RockAuto had cheaper prices but they charge you shipping. So it ended up being cheaper from Summit Racing, plus -the $100 he knocked off. Plus he said that Summit will price match anything on the web.

He had no idea why they have been so hard to find in stock lately.

[RustyPW]

So .....how much this costing you? Pads, rotors and calipers. Is the calipers a standard caliper?

[TwinStick]

So .....how much this costing you? Pads, rotors and calipers. Is the calipers a standard caliper?

$967.97 + $130 core charge.

https://www.summitracing.com/parts/pwr-kc5468-36


The cost for all 4 corners is the same as the cost for the front OR rear using EBC . $1035.97 to my door. Way more than i would like, that's for sure. I think not putting the miles on my truck (43,800 now) hurts it more than driving the hell out of it. The salt around here kills your brakes quick.

Has to be at the worst possible time too, still broke from my retirement (checks have not stabilized yet & they owe me $3600+ & counting), working on getting the wife to retire, she is having more health issues & the way it works for us (I know this sounds morbid, but) is this: if you die not at work, nobody gets nothing, if you die at work, your spouse gets 3x your annual salary---then it is taxed @ like 47%, if you retire, & choose a "pop-up" option, then your spouse gets what ever you picked for the rest of their life. You can pick 100% but that reduces your monthly pension check by $800+ (which we can't afford), we picked 75%-which reduces your monthly pension check by $200+. It is so wrong, that someone can put in 25, 35, 45 years & no one gets nothing.

A wife can leave it to her husband.
A husband can leave it to his wife.
A husband can leave it to his husband.
A wife can leave it to her wife.

BUT A SINGLE PARENT (MAN OR WOMAN) CAN NOT LEAVE IT TO THEIR KIDS. So-all that time you put in & no one gets nothing. Just don't seem right. I have brought this up to our Union for over 28 years. Nothing has changed. I get that kids live forever, but there is no reason they can't make a 10 yrs & done policy for children of single parents.

Yes, we have small Life insurance policies, but that just seems wrong, what they do to single parents.



Figured we need good brakes for when we start traveling. Right now they are making a horrible metal on metal sound. I think the calipers rusted & are sticking/stuck, which is why they wore out so quick. I think I may (depending on how bad they are) keep the old calipers & just rebuild them, so I can swap them out every few years & just keep rebuilding the ones I took off. I HATE THE SALT.

[BoldAdventure]

If I was just going to throw money at the truck, I think I'd like to upgraded to larger 4 piston brakes up front and dual in the rear and switch to hydraboost. Also replace those lines.

Maybe carbon ceramic rotors too. Truck would stop on a dime.

[TwinStick]

Can't afford none of that shit. Not an option for me. It needs brakes, pads & calipers so it's not throwing money at it. If i still have issues, the ss braided brake lines will be next. If it is the brake lines causing the issues, I guess I/we can thank the manufacturers that force the engineers to make things that seem to be designed for failure for that too. I mean, brakes & brake lines have been being made for almost 100 years, yet they can't seem to get it right. Tire manufacturers, spark plug manufacturers, truck manufacturers, etc, etc., etc.

On a side note: Guy i worked with for 28 yrs bought a car that had brake lines made out of some organic soybean byproduct material. He went on vacation with his family & stopped by a State Park while in Ca. for the day & went hiking. Came back at the end of the day & squirrels had eaten all his brake lines. $2000 & a week later, they were on their way. Wonder whose bright idea that was ? I mean really, who couldn't see that coming ? Makes you wonder.

[DamageWagon]

I just put my PowerStop Z36 pads on today, but I found out the very last slide pin is completely rusted inside the housing. Hours of PB blaster, torch, vise, sledge hammer.... It's not moving. So I had to undo everything and put the old brakes back on. When I get a new bracket and pins I will let you know how they work. They are the nicest brake pads I have ever held in my hands, they were absolutely beautiful. They are definitely a quality item.


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[TwinStick]

Yup, I already put these on my truck once. Did not replace calipers though. They were sticking & wore the shit out of them in about 2 yrs & less than 10,000 miles. I couldn't tell by feel. Did have lots of brake dust though. But because it was the first time I used the Z36 pkg, i had nothing to compare them too. My truck gets 8 mpg, has 4.56's & the G-56, so it is geared so low, i couldn't tell by feel. I did smell they were hot a few times but i was hauling ass to work, so thought it was just that. I have used the z23 pkg on my wifes Corolla, sons Corolla & daughters Subaru. Big increase in stopping power. This time, everything comes out & gets cleaned, lubed &/or replaced.

[TwinStick]

Still waiting on the calipers to be delivered.

[TwinStick]

still waiting

[DamageWagon]

still waiting

Lame... My Mopar slide pin bracket arrives today. I can finally out my new brakes on. Hopefully your caliper shows up quick.


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[TwinStick]

I called Summit yesterday. She put me on hold & said she would call Power Stop. After 15 min she came back on & said they just can't keep up with demand. Rear calipers are in stock & ready to go. She said she could ship just the rear for now if i want. I said no, I don't want no screw ups. Send me all 4 at the same time. She said they should be shipping out to me in about 2 weeks.

[TwinStick]

This is such bull crap. This is what our Nation has come to. Power Stop products are supposed to be made in the US. Our production of things is so lame because we are so used to out sourcing to somewhere else. Imagine, seriously, just imagine if China said "F$#@ the US of A", & just flat out stopped shipping ANYTHING to the USA ? We would be in a world of hurt almost instantaneously. Because they make almost everything we buy. Especially if they planned for this wayyyy in advance, so their people could "ride out the storm", so to speak.

Some old Army quotes:
Airborne Rangers : Death from above.
Artillery : Death from afar.
Head Cook : Death from within.

China would be:
China : Death from without !

[Pit Slave]

This is why I'm an American that will be an American company.

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[TwinStick]

Which is awesome.

But also, the reality is, there are many Made in America products that people just can't afford. Do you pay $200-$250 for one of these https://www.madeinamericastore.com/the- ... -8717.html ?

Or $12 for one of these : https://www.walmart.com/ip/Small-Port-G ... about-item

Most people will choose the $12 one. I think we are all guilty of doing this at one time or another. I know I am.

[cruz]

Therein lies the paradox. In our own short sightedness to stretch our buying dollar, we seek the lowest prices for our goods and buy the low cost and inferior imported crap, then American manufacturers say they cannot compete and either move offshore or shut down completely. We now lose more of our decent paying jobs and therefore we have to buy the cheaper crap because that's all we can afford. It's not because of healthcare costs, or unions, or ... (you fill in the blanks).
Greed by corporate America and consumers have created this viscous cycle.

[DamageWagon]

Which is awesome.

But also, the reality is, there are many Made in America products that people just can't afford. Do you pay $200-$250 for one of these https://www.madeinamericastore.com/the- ... -8717.html ?

Or $12 for one of these : https://www.walmart.com/ip/Small-Port-G ... about-item

Most people will choose the $12 one. I think we are all guilty of doing this at one time or another. I know I am.

I work at a company that makes BBQ's and outdoor grills, fireplace inserts, that sort of thing. I could care less about that stuff, I get to play with our lasers and robotics so I'm happy... But the company drives me up a wall! We proudly put "Made in USA" stickers on our products, but the burners, grates, fittings, and all of the raw stainless and carbon steel all comes from China. Our designs our outdated and I personally don't think our BBQ's are much fancier than a cheap Weber from Homie Depot. I believe that our grills are the most expensive in the world though... Our base model is $2500 and our nicest is almost $30,000. Thats for a freaking BBQ. Our engineers are bad designers, we hire cheap labor and have horrible work practices, we break every rule listed on the syllabus of a Business 101 class, we do not innovate. It's driving me nuts. We have to change how we practice business in the US. It all boils down to basic education I think. We ruin ourselves by hiring teachers who are nearly useless, making simple things seem difficult and telling kids to leave it to the experts, not challenging kids or pushing them... Always aiming low and settling for even less. And everyone gets a gold star

:rant over:


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[TwinStick]

Yup, everyone gets a trophy today. No child left behind. Hold back the smart ones just to make the slackers feel good about themselves. I am ALL IN FAVOR of change---for the better, not just to say "see what I did today".

Too many employer catch phrases today.

"We were looking for someone with more experience" is one. Thats code for, we just don't want you.
"We feel your overqualified for the job". Code for, we really don't want to pay much.

If I was an employer, I would welcome qualified people for the job, no matter if they seem overqualified, as long as they were willing to do a good job for the pay offered. I would welcome suggestions of people who could make my product better and keep it within the pricepoint, or last longer, or even cheaper---as long as longevity & quality & function did not suffer as a result. Wanting to do the job and enjoying doing the job, and wanting to learn, makes it not even seem like work.

Unfortunately today, many places lose sight of those things & end up creating a bad/hostile work environment. Can't fire the slackers or face a lawsuit of some sort. Sad. Businesses need to change. We had a female corrections officer who threatened/warned a union official, that if they put her in the tower, she would shoot some of her fellow employee's !!! Keep in mind, legally, we also have ZERO TOLERANCE for workplace violence in NY. He turned her in for saying that. There were other witnesses. What happened ?
She was suspended, WITH PAY, for almost a year !!! Her sick time, vacation time kept accumulating during that time. 10 months later, her State appointed Shrink said she was not fit for duty at this time. Re-evaluate in 30 days. 30 days later, she was back to work.

[TwinStick]

Still waiting.

[DamageWagon]

Still waiting.

Hey Twin, I'm going to hijack this thread a little since we bought the same pads. Hope that's ok with you!

So I finally reinstalled my Z36 pads this weekend, for good this time! I only did pads, the calipers and rotors are stock Mopar. I have to say that the feel is very different than what I expected. I don't know what pads were on before but they worked ok. Front and rear were very balanced.

How the new brakes feel:

- as soon as the pedal moves, braking begins. My previous pads took some movement before you felt something. The new pads give response with any movement.

- Even with these pads that I thought were supposed to be really good, I am very disappointed by the braking feel. I don't know how to describe it best, but it doesn't feel like I have HD truck brakes. I did all the prep and install to the T, followed Powerstops bedding procedures closely, and I was so disappointed with the feel of the brakes that I bled both front brakes 6 times. No change. I'm used to it now. They are better than my previous pads, but they aren't nearly what I expected.

- the brakes between front/rear feel unbalanced now. I only did the front. It just feels off, but I'm not sure how. Maybe adding the Z36 to the rear would fix that, but my rear pads are brand new from the previous owner.

I don't know if I'm expecting too much, or if the brakes work better when hot (they faded fast during break in but I assume that's normal). Does buying the PowerStop calipers and rotors make that big of a difference? Do you think there could be something else at play here?


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