Silverado Brake Pad Materials and Decreasing Stopping Distance

The brake pads are one of several components of your Silverado’s brake system that helps your truck come to a halt. When you hit the brake pedal, fluid is sent through the brake lines that activate the pistons in the calipers. The calipers put pressure on the pads and are pressed against the rotors, creating friction, ultimately slowing your Silverado until it is completely stopped. 

Brake pads are a high wear item that need to be replaced every so often as they wear away over time from the friction of them being pressed to the rotors. Your brake rotors will need to be resurfaced and replaced over time as well, but not as quickly as the pads. It is a good idea to check on the life of your pads every few thousand miles (5,000 to 10,000 miles) to see how much more life they have in them.

When it comes to replacing the brake pads on your Silverado, you should replace them either when you want increased braking performance (i.e. by upgrading them) or when your current brake pads are worn out/near the end of their life. 

You can tell when your current brake pads need to be replaced if your braking performance feels lethargic/slower than usual or you’re hearing a scraping/screeching sound when you hit the brakes. Although sometimes a screeching sound coming from your brakes can be something like a damaged heat shield, more often than not your pads are getting low and cutting into your rotors. If you let this go for too long, then you can end up damaging your rotors and needing to replace them sooner than you would otherwise.

Brake pads come in several different types of materials, each of which offer different benefits. Brake pad materials include the following:

• Organic
• Semi-metallic
• Ceramic

Organic material brake pads, also known as non-asbestos pads, are constructed from glass, rubber, resins, and some in, Kevlar. This compound mix is excellent for enduring high heat from braking. The higher heat can actually be beneficial to organic brake pads as the heat will bind the pad’s material together making them stronger. 

The main benefit of organic brake pads is they are quiet and rarely, if ever, produce a screeching noise. The downsides of brake pads are they can wear out quickly due to their softer construction, and in doing so create a lot of dust. Organic brake pads are not an ideal pad for trucks as they tend to wear out more quickly due to the having to stop all that weight. 

Ceramic brake pads are made from ceramic fibers, filler material, and bonding agents. Some ceramic pads even have a small amount of copper fiber in them as well. Ceramic pads do not produce much dust as they tend to break down slower than conventional pads over time. 

The biggest benefit of ceramic pads is they are very heat resistant. Their biggest drawback is their price tag as their compound tends to be more expensive to produce. Ceramic pads are more ideal for racecars as due to their benefits, but would make a fine addition to your Silverado. 

Semi-metallic brake pads are constructed from materials such as iron, copper, steel, and graphite. Semi-metallic brake pads are fairly common on most newer vehicles due to their reasonable price tag compared to other options. 

The main benefit to semi-metallic pads is they provide durable and persistent braking performance and do a fairly good job at fighting heat. Their downside is they are heavy and can cause slightly more damage over time to the brake rotors as there isn’t a lot of give in them due to their metallic compound construction.

If you really want to take things to the next level, then a set of racing brake pads is just for you. Racing brake pads are typically made from a more dominant mix of ceramic or carbon fiber. The main benefit of this design is that both materials are excellent at dissipating heat and keeping the brakes cool. 

The problem with race pads is they don’t function as well when they are not at the proper temperature. Race pads have to be heated up first to get to the proper operating temperature in order to stop in the distances they are designed to. 

While most folks will tell you not to use race pads on the street due to the drawbacks, such as the reduced braking efficiency unless at the ideal temperature and the cost, race pads are very expensive due to the materials needed to make them. However, race pads on the street will provide you with a lightweight component that will provide you with incredible stopping power (once they are up to temp), making spirited driving more enjoyable.

When you have a heavy load hooked up to your Silverado, you’ll want to be able to stop it quickly and safely should and when you have to. With that said, your best choice of pads will be either ceramic or semi-metallic. Both options will work to keep the temperature down, last a long time, and produce less dust than other conventional pads.

The only question is how much money do you want to spend? If you want to keep your parts’ cost lost than a semi-metallic pad is the way to go. If you don’t mind spending the extra money then you can’t go wrong with a ceramic pad.

Breaking in your new Silverado brake pads is incredibly important because if you do not break them in you will not get the same level of braking power or longevity. To break in the pads after installing them, simply do the following:

1. Accelerate up to 35 MPH then press the brakes slowly to come to a soft stop
2. Repeat step 1
3. Accelerate up to 45 MPH then press the brakes slowly to come to a soft stop
4. Accelerate up to 45 MPH then press the brakes harder to come to a quicker stop
5. Pull over and let your Silverado sit for 15-20 minutes for the brakes to cool
6. Accelerate up to 45 MPH then press the brakes harder to come to a quicker stop
7. Accelerate up to 60 MPH then press the brakes hard to come to a quick stop
8. Repeat step 7
9. Pull over and let your brakes cool down for 30 minutes
10. Your brakes should be properly broken in and good to go

For more information around the different brake pad materials, read our guide on ceramic vs. semi-metallic vs. organic brake pads.