Hawk LTS pads eat rotors

[TowGMC]

After a year of putting up with the squeeling from my front Hawk LTS pads on Powerslot rotors I took the time to pull apart the front brakes to clean and re-grease (with the Hawk brake grease) the caliper slides and the back of the pads. Found two things that bothered me.

First, the backing plate glued to the back of the pads is different from the OE pads, hadn't noticed this when originally I'd installed the pads and rotors. So the caliper doesn't sit square on the backing material. Doesn't affect braking performance but could be contributing to the noise.

Second, after juat 10,000 miles, my rotors were worn enough that I had to put them on a brake lathe to get the inner and outer ridges off. At this rate the rotors will be below min before the pads wear out.

All the work and I got rid of about 80% of the noise. I absolutely love the braking power of the LTS pads at all four corners in combination with the slotted rotors especially when towing, but I'm searching for another pad that won't make as much noise.

 

[Jewel or Jalopy]

Thanks for the info. Have you tried anything else previously?

I'm looking for new pads that have good bite cold, and no fade when towing. But I'd also hate to go through rotors as fast as pads.

 

[TowGMC]

No, up to 35,000 miles I ran stock pads and rotors. Love the LTS pad bite even in the cold winter months, and I could live with the rotor life too, I'm used to BMW SUVs that need pads and rotors every 18000-20000 miles when towing. It's the LTS noise in the hot summer months that gets on my nerves.

Unfortunately I don't think there's another pad out there that's specifically made for heavy SUVs that tow trailers.

 

[JennaBear]

Are you seasoning and breaking in your rotors/pads?

Sent from a jelly bean.

 

[soulsea]

I hate Hawk pads, I had them on my Denali for two months before they started squeaking worse than the worn out OE pads they replaced. Threw them out and put a new set of OE pads. And yes they were installed and broken in properly.

They were these ones: http://www.hawkperformance.com/truck/ceramic.php ... maybe the LTS are better I dunno. I certainly won't be buying any of their products again to find out.

Unless one upgrades to R1 pads/rotors package or a BBK, OE pads are the way to go imo.

---------- Post added at 10:18 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:15 PM ----------

Adding PNs for clarity: HWK-HB561Z-710 (front) and HWK-HB568Z-666 (rear)

 

[TowGMC]

Are you seasoning and breaking in your rotors/pads?

Sent from a jelly bean.

Yes sir, same way I've bedded in my SUV, performance car and race car brakes for 30+ years. And in the case of this vehicle, I started with all new pads and rotors on all 4 corners, yet get noise from all 4 corners.

I think the LTS pads are happier when loaded and really hot. When I've got the trailer behind me and I'm on a 600+ round trip to a race the brakes are virtually silent. But once home and after a few days in stop and go traffic the noise comes back.

Per Hawk, LTS = Light Truck Severe duty. So makes sense that they work so well when used hard.

As for going back to stock, that's my last resort. Not nearly the same hot bite when towing. Sadly not much choice out there for our big NNBS SUV's.

 

[Jewel or Jalopy]

These are the pads I'm currently leaning towards:

http://www.centricparts.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=230

I haven't found any reviews yet about noise issues. They are dusty, but then they are an old school semi-metallic. I can live with dust for no fade and good performance cold.

I read that this is the same basic compound as the Stoptech Street Performance pad.

If I do go with them I'll report back.

 

[TowGMC]

These are the pads I'm currently leaning towards:

http://www.centricparts.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=230

I haven't found any reviews yet about noise issues. They are dusty, but then they are an old school semi-metallic. I can live with dust for no fade and good performance cold.

I read that this is the same basic compound as the Stoptech Street Performance pad.

If I do go with them I'll report back.

Good find. Let me know if you go that direcdtion and where you find them. I just called my contact at TireRack since they distribute Hawk and Centric, but they can't get the 306 compound since it's a fleet pad.

---------- Post added at 06:34 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:03 PM ----------

These are the pads I'm currently leaning towards:

http://www.centricparts.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=230

I haven't found any reviews yet about noise issues. They are dusty, but then they are an old school semi-metallic. I can live with dust for no fade and good performance cold.

I read that this is the same basic compound as the Stoptech Street Performance pad.

If I do go with them I'll report back.

Good find. Let me know if you go that direcdtion and where you find them. I just called my contact at TireRack since they distribute Hawk and Centric, but they can't get the 306 compound since it's a fleet pad.

 

[Sancho]

Were you using cryo treated rotors? That may help longevity with the more aggressive pad compounds.

 

[TowGMC]

Were you using cryo treated rotors? That may help longevity with the more aggressive pad compounds.

Yes, Stoptech slotted rotors, cryo treated. No warping at all, just lousy rotor life. Not sure if that's the LTS pads or that the Stoptech rotors are softer than OE, but the stock pads and rotors that I took out at 39,000 miles were silent, no warpage and both the pads and rotors still had lots of life left on them. But the OE pads could fade easily in hard stops with the trailer behind me.