2001 4x4 ext. cab.

33,000 mi. Took it to local dealer for oil change and inspection. They passed me but said I'll need front brakes in 3,000 mi. I have never had any problems with my braking so I assume my rotors will not need turning. I am running Procomp 33x12.50x17's that weigh 65 lbs. each.

What pads should I get for replacement? Are their any tricks to changing these out? Thanks.

-AR

 

Personaly, I like to stick to OEM (Ford) pads. I put a set of Auto Zone pads on my wife's truck and they squeeled and screeched all of the time. I threw them away and bought Ford pads. Ford pads were more expensive, but they were much quiter. (Quieter pads = Quieter wife)

As for turning your rotors, conventional wisdom was to always turn your rotors every time you changed your pads. (And places like Midas will still tell you that you MUST turn your rotors.

Not everyone believes this anymore, believing that rotors only need to be turned if they're grooved or warped, and that unneccesary machining only results in decreased rotor and pad life.

I haven't turned the rotors on any of my vehicles in years and have had no problems and it takes no longer for the pads to wear in than when I did have them turned. Not everyone's going to agree with this, but it is a growing opinion among professional mechanics.

Of course I must mention, you should still measure your rotor thickness to ensure its above minimum specs. A thin rotor can't dissipate heat and WILL fail. (crack, shatter, break)

Changing the pads is pretty straightfoward, pull the two bolts out, (torx head bolts) remove the caliper, and pop out the old pads.

 

Bendix Titanium

I would take the rotors off and have them turned, or measured before using new pads.

 

Thanks guys, I've been advised to use Bendix Titaninum and Raybestos QuietStop which is supposedly a ceramic & copper mix. What are the pros / cons of each? Thanks!!!

-AR

 

The QS may be a bit better (I have Napa Ceramix which is suposed to be the same pad), but they eat up cheap rotors. I have heard noting bad about the Bendix Titanium with OEM or OEM replacement rotosr. Improvement over stock in performance, and less dust.

 

So you're saying the QS's will eat up my stock rotors?

-AR

 

I was told by 3 places that our trucks came w/ ceramic pads and the pads should be replaced w/ ceramic pads. Supposedly pads of other compostions will be noisy and not stop as well.

 

Just got off the phone with service, they said stock "Ford" brand pads are $70, Motocraft is $40 and Wagners are $30. They say they put on Motocraft and Wagner pads all day long. Are the stock pads ceramic, as indicated by the price? Should I just stick with the stock ceramics then since I've had suck good luck with them rather than to try the QuietStops or the Bendix on my stock rotors? What is the deal? Why so many conflicting opinions about brakes when everyone seems to agree on every other product on the board?

-AR

 

Why the confusion? Experience - no one has it. People change their brake pads hopefully only every 40-80k miles. We don't often just change them just to try another set, so any single person doesn't have a variety of experience. And since everyone has different requirements and backgrounds, his perception of a certain brake pad can be different from the next person.

I have seen too many black F-150 wheels to think the factory brake pads are ceramic. And Dealer prices are rarely competitive. If ceramic pads go for $70 at the auto parts store, then they would be $120 at the dealer.

Regardless, you have had excellent luck with the OEM pads that it would be worth getting the same. You are in the minority, though. Most have warped rotors well before 33k miles. I changed my pads around 40k miles and bought Autozone "OEM quality" rotors because the stock were warped. The pads are great, but the rotors were warped after a year. When I have time, I plan to replace the rotors with some better ones.

 

wow - I must be a minority here because I've gotten 61K out of the stock brakes. Of course I plan on changing them soon, but even my rotors are still good (not warped a bit). I do a lot of highway driving, and I'm really easy on the brakes.

 

I am with crashz on this one. I have 35,700 on my truck with the original pads all the way around. My pads have a lot more miles on them to go before I will need to replace them. No warped rotors, no noise nothing, and brakes excellent. I would also add I have NEVER had any problems with brake dust. I am willing to bet I won’t have to change my pads until somewhere around 60k or after. However that is just a guess but I feel quite confident I will get at least another 20 – 40k out of the stock pads.

As far as turning the rotors, as someone mentioned no need to turn the rotors unless you have some bad grooves in them. It is good practice to maybe have them measured to insure they are still to spec as far as thickness. If you only have approx. 30 – 40k on your rotors the chances they are below the min. thickness spec are neal to none. Still good practice to measure, waste of money to turn.

As far as buying pads for “stopping distance” do not worry about that. Unless your racing on a road course and your reaction time is far and above the average human you will never really notice any advantage in “stopping distance” it’s a sales pitch, same for vented rotors they are basically for looks only as far as a street driven vehicle. About the only time you will have an advantage with vented rotors is racing or you do an abnormal amount of braking compared to the average person. Vented rotors look “good” but offer no real advantage. Will the vented rotors last longer then the standard rotor? Yes, so what, compare the price of a vented rotor to a standard rotor and again NO advantage long term (for the street driven vehicle).

 

I should add that I was told that ceramics were stock on my truck- 2000 XLT 4x4 extended cab w/ 4 wheel disc and 4 wheel anti lock brakes.

I can't say that I've seen too many 4x4s w/ black wheels, but I have seen a lot of the base models w/ black wheels. Maybe the 4 wheel disc/4 wheel anti-lock has diferent stock pads.

I had the rotors turned at ~22k miles, and now they are warped again at 45k, the front pads need replaced, and the rear are at 30%. I expected to get 60-70k miles out of the stock pads, but I guess I wasn't figuring in how heavy my truck actually is.