I will have to put new brakes on my 97 F-150 2wd soon. Does anyone have experience with aftermarket parts. rotors, pads, and especially calipers. I have seen many posts on pads and rotors in here but not much on calipers. I will need to replace mine and prefer to have something that will bolt right up. As many of you know the brakes on a 97 are not too good so I wouldn't mind upgrading a little.

Thanks for any help.
David

 

why do you have to replace the calipers? I don't know about a 97 2wd but on most of these trucks the calipers are made by Bosch and they are aluminum twin piston and they are very good. When people on this board say the brakes aren't good they are usually referring to the cheap rotors and pads that Ford sources out.

If you really need to replace the calipers I would stick with OEM but upgrade the pads and rotors. (OEM Brembo rotors and either EBC 6000 or Hawk pads)

Later-

 

I agree w/ hcmq - sorta
I went w/ PowerSlot rotors, which are Brembo blanks that have been slotted, and Hawk HPS pads on my truck (00 F150 4x4) and put PowerSlot and EBC 6000s on my Dad's truck (02 F350 4x4).

the Hawks seemed to have a lot of dust for the first few months, however, the EBCs squeled for a couple of weeks. Next time I will probably go w/ the EBC on my truck.

 

Thanks for the replies guys. This is a work truck that has over 200K on it. The calipers were rebuilt at about 110K and I was told that I would be better off to buy new ones the next time. (by the Ford dealership mechanic.) I am starting to have problems with the pads not seating properly. I have had 4 sets of pads put on in the last year. This is the same problem I had at 110K and rebuilding the calipers fixed the problem.

Although I am mechanically inclined, I have not taken the time to look at the calipers on this truck. I have been told the pistons are made of some kind of plastic?

I may have to take a look at them myself but I hate to work on newer vehicles. I just don't enjoy it the same as classic cars or racecars.

Thanks again.

David

 

you might try brembo kits. You might save some cash by gettin in on the group order that is going on.

here's a link to it:
https://www.f150online.com/forums/sh...hreadid=149670