Got my autozone ceramic pads today, and will be putting them on this weekend. I still cant ge tover how much dust the stock pads pump out.
I am planning on boxingup the stock pads, writing a very coporate letter, and maling it to Ford coporate..

 

One thing we all have to remember is that everything on our trucks from the factory was some sort of compromise. I too changed out my front pads (to Porterfields) because of the dust. Believe it or not, all pads "dust" to some degree. (Where do you think that pad and rotor material goes when pads wear?)

What most of us that changed our pads out don't know yet is how long our new pads will last, how bad they'll chew up rotors, how well they'll stop with heavy loads and / or repeated stops, etc. The factory knew all of this on their pads and figured it was the best compromise. Heck, some people don't even worry when their wheels get dirty. Would I want clean wheels and pads that allow me to sail straight through a stop light with my boat trailer behind me? No. So the jury is still out on my new pads when it comes to ALL aspects of ownership. (They do stop great though!)

 

Yep -- I wish the brake dust issue was one Ford would look into at a corporate engineering level. They have to drive around town like the rest of us, and surely they must notice how everytime you see a Ford vehicle on the road, the front wheels are usually coated with an inordinate amount of brake dust!

Sure, the brakes work fine this way, but it's one of those "little things" that should be easy to fix by slightly modifying the brake pad compound, and would go along way toward increasing an owner's overall satisfaction with the vehicle -- especially for true car enthusiasts!

 

I rather doubt it was an engineering decision, most likey a cost accounting decision. I had a 2002 Silverado that had 75,000 miles on it when I traded it for this Ford, and the pads were not even half worn. I never noticed brake dust on the wheels. When I drive around town, most F-150s I see have black front wheels. I never see any other brand truck with this problem. I replaced my pads with a better quality pad that is semi-metallic like the factory pad. Just better quality. I have no dust problem. I think it is just the cheap, sorry pads Ford chose to use to cut some cost.

 

I also traded an 02 Silverado with 60K miles. Never changed brakes, little to no brake dust, much more power and much better gas mileage. I think this will be my one and only Ford. $40,000 and I am not very happy. Hopefully after I dump more cash into this thing it will be truely build Ford tough

 

I am very happy with my Ford. I think my Ford would take the Silverado in a 1/4 mile. Would be close. And, I get slightly better gas mileage with the Ford. It is more comfortable and much quieter, better materials, put together better and just looks better. I had a couple of problems early on, but am totally satisfied with it now with 27,000 miles.

 

Ah yes, and cost is a compromise - unfortunately. Sometimes cost wins out over other things. That may be the case here. Interestingly enough, a brand well known for not compromising on cost - BMW - has some pretty messy front pad materials.

 

Unmentioned so far is that fact that softer pads (ones that shed more dust) squeak a lot less. A big cost factor to dealers is "repairing" an otherwise working braking system because the owner doesn't like the noise.

And you can't say that just Ford has the problem. Ever see the front wheels on a BMW? Holy crap!

 

My 03 had brake dust change them to ceramic from NAPA and never had an issue with stopping or brake dust after the change. I will be doing my pads and rotors on this truck at 20k. Because of the brake dust and feels like I have some bad rotors.

 

I have only run Raybestos QS pads on my '97. They are a low dust ceramic matrix with excellent wear characteristics. I have run 305,000 miles and about two thirds the way through the 3rd set of QS pads.

 

It makes a guy wonder sometimes......An inordiante amount of dust....thats a good way of saying it.....washed my wheels 2 weeks ago....the dust on them makes it look like they havent been washed in 6 months.....I have a warped rotor one side but the other is fine, they both dust the same. Very Odd.

 

My 06 is 2 months old, all of 1200 miles. I've never seen so much dust on a set of wheels. I drove my 03 Mach 1 for about 8,500 miles and NEVER had a brake dust problem. Got to be cheap parts. When you get your oil change let us know if they replace the pads. I am going to complain as soon as I get back from vacation next weekend.

 

Just buy ANY ceramic pad. the factory pads are carbon metalic. the make dust. no way around it. ceramic do not. as for the front more dust than the back. the fron brakes provide 90% of your stopping power. thats why they are larger. if the grab harder they wear down faster. CERAMIC!!!!!! problem solved. 45.00 at advanced auto.

 

I just went back to stock pads 2 days age and they may be dirty, but man are they quiet.
I changed the pads out on my 04Screw for Hawk Ceramic and they have been a noisy headache ever since I put them in. I finally gave up after my neighbor heard me hitting the brakes down the block.
Basically you haev 2 choices: dust or noise

 

Not true. I think I posted above, Wagner Thermo Quiet. They are top of the line semi-metallic instead of cheap semi-metallic like the factories.