Originally Posted by Tradesman

It depends on what you would call a good set up. What are your driving habits like? Do you tow/haul anything? If so, how often and how heavy? This is my current set up:

2003 Ram 1500 SLT Crew Cab 5.7 Hemi 4x4
AP Racing Front/Rear Rotors
EBC RedStuff Front/Rear Brake Pads
Factory Calipers
Factory Brake Lines
Aggressive driving characteristics, haul 8,000lb trailer daily. Brake pads need minimal warm up time but once they reach temperature they stop as if I threw a boat anchor off the back of the truck. Takes a while to get used to at first. Almost no brake fade at all, even when going down mountain passes with the heavy trailer.

2004 F-150 FX4 Crew Cab 5.4 Triton 4x4
AP Racing Front Rotors, Factory Rear Rotors
Hawk Ceramic Yellow Front Brake Pads, Factory Rear Brake Pads
Factory Calipers
Factory Brake Lines
Aggressive driving characteristics, haul 8,000lb trailer daily. Brake pads need no warm up time and have very progressive and linear braking performance. Very easy to modulate and control braking. No brake fade at all, even when going down mountain passes with the heavy trailer.

Originally Posted by VTX1800N1

Good to hear that about the Hawk pads. I just put those exact pads on mine, but haven't driven it yet. I need to get the rear center hose off the axle to install the stainless braided line, and it's being stubborn. Going to pick up some flare wrenches today. Replacing that line and bleeding the system is all I need to do now.

Originally Posted by Tradesman

Coming from bone stock factory brakes and going with a high end front brake upgrade as mandatory for me with the heavy hauling I do. I would have fried my factory brakes in no time, either that or else I would have crashed somewhere. I was undecided on which brakes I wanted to go with, I really do like EBC RedStuff but I don't like the on/off feeling I get with them but I haven't found anything that has as much bite as them. Hawk has some good brakes, they even have a light truck specific brake pad which is classified as "green". I went with the ceramic "yellow" because it seemed quite popular with high performance vehicles. The yellows paired with the expensive AP Racing rotors are fantastic. I'm going to replace the rears sometime shortly as they're starting to squeal. I highly recommend owning a set of flare nut wrenches in both SAE and metric. They always come in handy and should be part of your regular tool inventory if you do brakes on your own. Also a Motive brake bleed pays for itself the first time around. Good luck with your truck brother!

Originally Posted by VTX1800N1

I have a vacuum brake bleeder here that hooks to my compressor. Cheap Harbor Freight junk. Says it's rated for 120 PSI but it blew up at 120. Harbor Freight = no. Back to the hand pump I guess...

Originally Posted by Especial86

Lol! HF is def hit or miss!...
I just use speed bleeders. They are checked bleed screws that screw into the calipers... 1 man bleeds are now painless... Just crack them, run your hose to a cup and pump the pedal. They are great for flushing the system too.