I love this forum… but

I find this forum to be awesome. Got plenty of good information, tips and tricks. BUT, I really wish some of my questions were directly answered as it relates to my specific ask. I asked in one post specifically for recommendations on SEMI METALLIC brake pads and all I got was response after response giving me recommendations for ceramic. I asked in a new post if anyone can confirm something regarding the pillar post vinyl and asked for a response from someone who actually removed it and I get a response from someone who answered but didn’t actually remove it. Come on guys.

I look at it this way. By someone commenting on it, it's keeping your post from getting buried. Eventually someone may see it and have the answer for you. If no one comments on it, then it will get lost and buried. Then you would be posting on here saying NO one is reading your post.

Here's another way to view this - An answer that isn't specific to your ask is keeping your post near the top of the list, instead of dropping down the list and out of sight, for those of us who sort by "Latest Posts"
The person with your precise answer may not see your question if it's three or four pages back

Good, quality, response @wrench78

Dredger said:

Here's another way to view this - An answer that isn't specific to your ask is keeping your post near the top of the list, instead of dropping down the list and out of sight, for those of us who sort by "Latest Posts"
The person with your precise answer may not see your question if it's three or four pages back

Good, quality, response @wrench78

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I did not know that. I guess it helps. Just sometimes might be looking for a quick straight answer if ready to hit the button on a purchase if needed item quickly

Sorry I didn't see your brake pad post.

After you hang around here a while or searched older posts, "Best Brake Pads?" posts get to be pretty subjective, like "Which is the 'best' oil?" threads. People start out nice and friendly recommend their favorite pads...and eventually the threads often devolve into one person not understanding "The Facts" ..and then things can get unfriendly sometimes. For what?? Sometimes the thread starter is a fly-by-nighter and never says what he does, or doesn't take the recommendations, etc. Those threads feel like a waste of time to get into meaningless back-and-fourths ...for the 50th TIME. Same with the best oil and best filter posts.

That might be why nobody touched your post. Maybe guys just didn't have the energy to get into it?? IDK. Sometimes "Best oil" threads fall flat right away too for the same reason, or sometimes they take off too. And besides, those Oil/Filter/Brake pads threads are plentiful and have all been beat to death, just do a search.

So maybe that was another reason you didn't get very many replies on your brake pad question.

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I think it's a pretty good and knowledgeable forum. But you know...it's only what ya make it. Sometimes ya have to wait for certain specific posts. Some guys who know their area of expertise, could be on vacation for a week. Or maybe some missed the post, or weren't sure what was being asked. IDK.

duckman631 said:

I did not know that. I guess it helps. Just sometimes might be looking for a quick straight answer if ready to hit the button on a purchase if needed item quickly

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My point of view is this is a volunteer based site, if someone is in a hurry, hire a professional.

I do understand that asking a simple question, should result in, at the least, related answers but that's not always the case.

As the author of a thread, it's up to you to guide the thread, keep it on point, and add follow up criteria as required.

Don't expect for 1 second that the thread will guide itself and that members will understand or interpret your questions as you intended.

If people aren't answering your questions correctly, politely redirect them without being condescending, see where it goes.

Are you steering your thread to gain your intended results or just watching it fester?

My father used to drive me insane as a kid by saying the following; You're part of the solution or part of the problem. So, which side are you contributing to?

Now, I feel that verse hits the nail on the head, more often than not.

Cheers

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For Brake information, i go to Google, others search on DuckDuckGo

After i have done my search, i then ask a question here in the Forum.
Maybe take a Poll, they always get responses

Power Stop
Wilwood
EBC

stay away from Centric ! especially Stop Tech

Please don't forget that the source of the information you seek is as important as the information you receive. There seems to be an overabundance of experts on some forums.
Jay

RamDiver said:

My point of view is this is a volunteer based site, if someone is in a hurry, hire a professional.

I do understand that asking a simple question, should result in, at the least, related answers but that's not always the case.

As the author of a thread, it's up to you to guide the thread, keep it on point, and add follow up criteria as required.

Don't expect for 1 second that the thread will guide itself and that members will understand or interpret your questions as you intended.

If people aren't answering your questions correctly, politely redirect them without being condescending, see where it goes.

Are you steering your thread to gain your intended results or just watching it fester?

My father used to drive me insane as a kid by saying the following; You're part of the solution or part of the problem. So, which side are you contributing to?

Now, I feel that verse hits the nail on the head, more often than not.

Cheers

.

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I agree and I did keep trying to steer back.. “thanks guys but I am only looking for recommendations for semi metallic” and did that a few times throughout the thread.

So, this board is basically like every other one out there?

duckman631 said:

I agree and I did keep trying to steer back.. “thanks guys but I am only looking for recommendations for semi metallic” and did that a few times throughout the thread.

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Did you look into the semi-metallic pads that were recommended to you in the thread?

Michelin makes some really good tires and I love Krispy Kreme doughnuts. Look, over there ->, a shiny object ....

duckman631 said:

I find this forum to be awesome. Got plenty of good information, tips and tricks. BUT, I really wish some of my questions were directly answered as it relates to my specific ask. I asked in one post specifically for recommendations on SEMI METALLIC brake pads and all I got was response after response giving me recommendations for ceramic. I asked in a new post if anyone can confirm something regarding the pillar post vinyl and asked for a response from someone who actually removed it and I get a response from someone who answered but didn’t actually remove it. Come on guys.

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Your first question has been beat to death. I don't answer those. Used to suggest people do a search as there is already a ton of great info already posted, but I no longer say that. Some took offence, some are just too lazy to enter a simple search. If you search metallic Brake Pads, you get 9 pages of results, if you Boolean search "Metallic Brake Pad" you get two pages.

Your second question is pretty Arcane. If you get REALLY lucky might be one or two people who have done that. I have removed the Vinyl/plastic trim covering on a few vehicles, never on a Ram so would not have answered a question that specific.

I also rarely answer questions by first time posters any more. They contribute nothing, generally post no where near enough info, have a lot of tude when asked for details, and rarely bother to post outcome or a thank you. I will still answer well formulated questions by new posters.

I do post a fair amount trying to help those with issues I have knowledge about. There are a large number of members that invest significant time helping people with some pretty complicated problems,and they do it for FREE. Posts like this one you just put up, doesn't seem very balanced to me.

EdGs said:

Did you look into the semi-metallic pads that were recommended to you in the thread?

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I did. I actually went with ac delco. Been on the truck for a few days and no issue.

Dean2 said:

Your first question has been beat to death. I don't answer those. Used to suggest people do a search as there is already a ton of great info already posted, but I no longer say that. Some took offence, some are just too lazy to enter a simple search. If you search metallic Brake Pads, you get 9 pages of results, if you Boolean search "Metallic Brake Pad" you get two pages.

Your second question is pretty Arcane. If you get REALLY lucky might be one or two people who have done that. I have removed the Vinyl/plastic trim covering on a few vehicles, never on a Ram so would not have answered a question that specific.

I also rarely answer questions by first time posters any more. They contribute nothing, generally post no where near enough info, have a lot of tude when asked for details, and rarely bother to post outcome or a thank you. I will still answer well formulated questions by new posters.

I do post a fair amount trying to help those with issues I have knowledge about. There are a large number of members that invest significant time helping people with some pretty complicated problems,and they do it for FREE. Posts like this one you just put up, doesn't seem very balanced to me.

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Considering I’m a senior member with over 300+ posts I think I’m good there. As far as the vinyl, I have seen a huge amount of posts regarding replacing with regular vinyl so if a lot people are posting about having replaced them with regular vinyl from a roll or sheet, they had to remove the stock “vinyl” that was there from factory so expected a better result with that inquiry post.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZ8O2tJOGLE&t=378s

According to the above video which tests a variety of brake pads on an actual industry-approved brake pad testing machine, under testing standard procedures, and does other tests, OEM pads consistently delivered the best results. Good aftermarket pads are also good. Obviously they didn't test every pad of the bazillion brand pads out there, so that doesn't mean Wagner Premiums are bad, or another brand. It is what it is. But beware, when oners claim "These are the best pads and I know 100% for sure!" well, what are they comparing that to?? IDK. I've tried many different pads out there, but obviously not all. Nobody has. But there are many good pads which I'm sure will provide you 'good' braking.

Akebono premium pads were supposedly the OEM supplier/pads for Ram trucks. Or, at least that was true when I checked like 1.5yrs ago. You can search it out. So....if you want presumably the best ...as shown by a brake pad dyno (OEM)...I'd consider spending more and going Mopar Pads, or the Akebono pads. But NOT the Mopar Value Line. The value line is not the same.

That said, I've used lots of different pads over the yrs and I can't say I've had terrible braking with any of the 'better' pads out there. Except, in the rust belt where I live OReilly Pads...they brake ok, BUT, the backing plate rusts quick and flakes off the friction material in a few years. Then you can get metal on metal and screw up an aluminum wheel from sparks embedding into the clearcoat! Sure they warrany the pads, but you still have to go change them, and fix the wheel. Pads which have 'fingers' AND adhesive seem to hold better...and ones which use a more expensive yellow cadnium plating, hold up better than powercoated pads, in the rust belt. For those guys in the rust-belt.

As for ceramics, I've installed ceramic pads in place of semi-metallics and had the same issue you had, in two instances. It felt like I lost 30% braking. They were Napa Premium Ceramics (this goes back quite a few years, so that may not be true today). Lower dust, but terrible braking. But ceramic pads in systems designed for ceramic pads I haven't had issues.

So there you go... information you can quickly disregard and buy the cheaper pads with the skimpy swimsuit-wearing-lady on the box.. LOL. In short IDK which pads are "the BEST" even though I've tried MANY brands over the yrs (usually the premium grade of a certain brand) ..and they all seemed to work fine. Try to find some non-powdercoated pads (Yellow Cad plated if you can) and finger-pressed-on since you live in NJ. Semi-Metallic, low dust. You're still going to get dust, but at least you'll stop well. Obviously every mfgr says theirs are the best and here's 20 reasons why. Buy a premium pad from a better mfgr and you should be fine.

...And now every expert is going to promote their pet-pads...and here we go!

duckman631 said:

I did. I actually went with ac delco. Been on the truck for a few days and no issue.

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That's good. AC delco usually good stuff.

When I changed my OE pads to the Wagner MX series at 100k miles, I was amazed that they still had almost 1/4" of pad left on the fronts.

My FIL said to me some time ago that for stuff like brakes, he always preferred staying OE even though the cost was substantially higher, and he was a heavy equipment mechanic by trade.

I am just happy you love this forum. Most of us are just lonely dudes with absolutely nothing to do.....we join these forums to show everyone how smart we are and to occupy our time.......thanks for allowing me this time. I love to sing in the shower.

Hey EdGs and Jeepwalker, can we stick to whinging about the answers one gets to a question rather than answering the original question the OP was whinging about? :-O