what's with the brakes?

I recently bought a 99 with 108K miles on it. The only problem- so far- seems to be front brakes. I had them replaced, then there was a burning smell, so my mechanic put on new rotors, hoping that'd take care of it. It was great for a couple of weeks, then when I drove it hard the brakes felt mushy and I got the smell again. They're fine when I drive mellow, but this truck is too much fun to baby.
I'm hoping I can fix this by putting better brake pads on- my mechanic did a cheapie job. Can anyone recommend what pads work best for this truck?
Thanks a lot!

I recently bought a 99 with 108K miles on it. The only problem- so far- seems to be front brakes. I had them replaced, then there was a burning smell, so my mechanic put on new rotors, hoping that'd take care of it. It was great for a couple of weeks, then when I drove it hard the brakes felt mushy and I got the smell again. They're fine when I drive mellow, but this truck is too much fun to baby.
I'm hoping I can fix this by putting better brake pads on- my mechanic did a cheapie job. Can anyone recommend what pads work best for this truck?
Thanks a lot!

This is a heavy truck to stop so regular pads just won't do the trick for the kind of driver I expect you to be. That mushy feeling is brake fade. from your pads getting too hot and loosing their ability to grip. also the smell is from overheating the pads. I am "that" type of driver and the only pad I have found to work for heavy braking is the performance friction carbon Metallic pads from autozone. they do make a little more noise than stock especially during the break in period. they do tend to stink a little after a hard day of heavy braking. but I have yet to have them fade on me and they stop my heavy 99 quite well. a step up from those would be something with a ceramic compound but I've never tried them. The carbon mettalic pads will wear your rotors faster than stock pads and ceramic pads will eat your rotors even faster. but if you really want to stop those are your two choices. in my opinion the standard semi mettalic pads for this truck are only good for people who drive the speed limit all the time and leave lots of room up front for a nice and easy stop. The first day I had replaced my pads with generic semi mettalic pads and I was coming off an of ramp from the highway and I had to stand on the brake pedal to get the thing to stop they were fading so bad. sorry about the long post. Try the performance friction carbon mettalic pads part#0746-20 53.99. you could try the Morse Ceramic part#746C 55.99. since you have new rotors try the ceramic but I don't know if they are better at stopping the durrango or not. IF You do go with the ceramic let me know what you think I may try those next time I need brakes.(once a year)

another way to keep the pads from heating up is to see if toy can get the rotors with the holes and slots cut in them to cool them faster

I bought some Brembo Slotted rotors and Akebono Ceramic pads ( I have a Honda not sure what kind your car needs) but this has given me solid braking and no fade at all, with low heat and no brake dust. Go to Tire Rack (tirerack.com) they have some nice stuff.

Thanks for the input. I've been driving like a girl and the brakes have been fine, but as soon as I can I'm gonna try the carbon metallics. I've have bad experiences with ceramics on my 240sx, so I'm hesitant to give those a try.
Again, thanks!

Try these guys for rotors. I bought cross drilled / slotted rotors for $79.00 for the pair: [email protected] or by Phone at 562-218-3888 between 9:00AM-5:00PM Monday thru Friday PST. These guys sell Kevlar brake pads on Ebay. I bought a set for $32.99 and love them: [email protected]. You might search canada2005brake on ebay and see if you can find them. It cost me around $125 for this total upgrade and my durango stops on a dime with no brake fade and BONUS!!! Kevlar is non-corossive and does not make a peep. Driving it really aggressivley the majority of the time may require you to change the pads more often since the kevlar is a slightly softer compound but short of changing the calipers to the 4 piston jobs (which are the cost of a small country) this will be the best brake upgrade you can do for the money. Hope all this helps. Good luck

I would advise against a drilled rotor on a 5,000lb truck the brembo powerslots are probably a better bet. Also consider ceramic pads often don't perform really well until they're a "little warm". The brembo rotors with a semi metallic pad like the performance friction would be the way I would go. If that doesn't do it, Consider a big brake kit (requires bigger wheels and tires)-$$$$

Try these guys for rotors. I bought cross drilled / slotted rotors for $79.00 for the pair: [email protected] or by Phone at 562-218-3888 between 9:00AM-5:00PM Monday thru Friday PST. These guys sell Kevlar brake pads on Ebay. I bought a set for $32.99 and love them: [email protected]. You might search canada2005brake on ebay and see if you can find them. It cost me around $125 for this total upgrade and my durango stops on a dime with no brake fade and BONUS!!!
Gawd
I had replace my warped front rotors and pads due to the genius of the Les Schwab technicians that crank the lug nuts down to 250ft lbs with an air wrench. Then they go over it with a torque wrench. lol I have had nothing but problems with those guys. But I digress.
My point, it happened at about 3 years, 2001, before a lot of after market parts were available. Metalic pads and better than stock rotors ran around $280.