1997 - 2003 F-150

Brake pads and rotors

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Old 04-19-2011, 10:30 AM
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Brake pads and rotors

The time has come to replace my brakes and I'm wondering what my best option is. I had them done previous at a Ford dealer with Motorcraft pads and rotors, and the pads are guaranteed for life, so those will be a free replacement with only labour charges.

Ford wants 100 bucks per front rotor but I'm wondering if there are better ones out there for value and performance. I run 33's and tow a 2000lb trailer fairly often so an upgrade might be a good idea!
 
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Old 04-19-2011, 10:50 AM
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The Ford pads are ok on these trucks it seems but never having to replace them again for the life of the truck in your hands might be worth it. They're fine.
 
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Old 04-19-2011, 12:51 PM
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id go with thermoquiets for pads an motorcraft rotors would be fine but if you want you can get slotted or drilled to help when towing.

its about what you want to pay for rotors really. are your rotors too thin to me machined?
 
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Old 04-19-2011, 11:22 PM
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I just upgraded my rotors and pads on the front. Bought slotted rotors and Wagner thermoquiet pads up front. Stops much better now.. no fade whatsoever. Some will argue you don't need slotted rotors, maybe i don't, but very happy with them so far.
 
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Old 04-20-2011, 03:23 AM
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Carquest Pads (Blues) if you pull heavy or light. You'll NEVER have to pay for pads on the vehicle again. I never have and purchased Blues back in 2000. NO Brake dust. I believe they're $70- $80 a set. Expensive, but the best IMO, -also Life-Time returnable's, - no questions asked.

Not a fan of Ford Rotors. Ive been using nothing but Brembo's since I warped the Ford set a few years after purchasing the truck , new (well about 30,000 miles or so). I was hard on them tho, pulled a car hauler (across two states (MICH - PA, 4 years) and also placed 5-7000 lb vender's trailers for misc events, in MI only, but not just a single vender,had six at one time. The truck pulled,- placed their trailers and took off for the next lol. Yea, the brakes HAD to be there lol.

NOTE: Get braided lines for smooth and fast flow. You'll want them to get that "better than new" stopping power consistently.. Ford factory lines expand/flex to much and to often. That eventually will cause the line to internally break down, -flow decreases, pistons will not pressure equally, in-turn, overheats the rotors and prematurely wears the pads out. I've seen them wear at a diagonal from bad lines lol.

Paranoid and @ 257,000 miles I decided to gut every hard line on the truck and made up new ones. That's the only part (s) of the system I haden't replaced yet anyway. Easy to do and allot cheaper than I thought it might be. A small potion of the factory line nuts had rusted down to the line on one side in a few locations so I was little lucky I caught when I did. Didn't make any difference, just peace of mind...

Yea, not sure what's out on the market now a days, -slotted rotors sound nice. I've also read you can purchase over sized rotors and run larger pads. ~ $$$ I expect.

Good Luck.
 

Last edited by jbrew; 04-20-2011 at 07:58 AM.
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Old 04-20-2011, 06:19 AM
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I say Bendix which is used by Ford. They are awesome. Last along time and never have a problem with them. Problem is they are hard to find. Well, dont know about NAPA but none of the other autopart stores carry them anymore. They all went to wagner which sucks terribly. I have a set of wagner thermos on mine right now and all that truck does is squeek.
 
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Old 04-20-2011, 09:42 AM
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That dealership deal is good if you are going to own your truck for a long time more. I actually got AC Delco pads and rotors for the front, $120 for everything. Gonna try them out, got my buddy's discount that's why I went AC Delco. Otherwise I get Carquest stuff, very good. Wagners are also very good.
 
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Old 04-20-2011, 01:28 PM
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If you watch the Power Block on Spike TV (with insanely hot Courtney Hanson), they keep promoting EBC brakes for F150s. Not sure if its just marketing, but they seem like a good product. I don't know anyone that has ever used them, though.
 
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Old 04-20-2011, 03:55 PM
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stoptech rotors, Hawk HD pads. stops on a dime
 
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Old 04-20-2011, 09:13 PM
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I know im going to make a few madd with this one ....

If you bought brembo rotors you usually pay way too much and they are a bit over priced for what you get. Your not running a race car, your driving a truck and all you need is a good set that will get the job done without breaking your wallet in the process. I just did a full front and rear brake job on my ford yesterday. I used a company called Rotor Pros and let me tell you I have run Baer, Brembo, AEM, Axxis and Rotex. They are all great brakes but one down side is the cost of the systems which to me... just isint worth it for a street truck. I got my front and rear rotors w/ pads shipped to my front door for $340.00. The rotors are warrantied for 2 years against warpage or cracks/breakage and the pads are hawk full ceramic front and rear. I could not believe the "bite" the brakes had when I got done with the brake job. I was very impressed at how well they performerd for a fraction of the cost as the other guys. I took the liberty of painting the hubs on my rotors with ceramic blue paint to help keep rust away. Below are some pictures of my rotors and then the rotors installed on the truck. i do have factory rims so you cant see them that well but im more about stopping than looks. Http://www.rotorpros.net or Phone 1(714)309-3620















 

Last edited by blitz_; 04-20-2011 at 09:25 PM. Reason: original pics too small
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Old 04-20-2011, 09:18 PM
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Old 04-20-2011, 09:25 PM
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holy huge pics batman!
 
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Old 04-20-2011, 09:29 PM
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sorry tried to resize and got big just redo the zoom on your browser at the bottom lol. Had to make sure you guys could see the quality for the price.
 
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Old 04-20-2011, 11:12 PM
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I recently did mine, check out rockauto.com for good pricing and quick shipping.
 


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