I am going to get new brakes for my runner and was wondering if there was anything out there that would make my brakes harder.

 

Harder? Explain.

 

Well, I had the same inquiry. I went with carbon metallic brake pads for a '96 land cruiser. They fit, but there isn't much difference, I can tell you. Now what might make them more responsive is shortening your brake cable by maybe a centimeter or two. And then on eBay I saw Kevlar Brake Pads. They might give you what you want. Kevlar is amazing -- there's this one Kevlar manufacturing plan in NC and in their front entrance they have a CAR hanging by three threads of kevlar, no joke! What I think would make a difference is slotted rotors. They're big bucks, but provide faster cooling than stock and are more durable than drilled/slotted rotors. That might be the key, I'm not sure though. From my experince, the only benefit of going to Auto Zone and getting the carbon metallic pads is a lifetime guarantee.

Zach

 

I figured there were better calipers out there or something. I just don't get the feel of hard braking.

 

You might look into some braided steel brake lines. Also sometimes when you take it to the shop they don't bleed the brakes fully and you end up with a softer pedal. I've been able to get my pedal pretty tight by taking it back to them to get it re-bled until it's right.