Front brakes -- better than stock kit available?
 

My mechanic says that I need front brake pads, rotors, calipers, and hoses. He is an excellent and trustworthy mechanic; so, I do not doubt the need to replace everything. However, I was wondering if there was an "amped up" (i.e. better than stock) complete front brake kit that I could have him install?

Thanks,

Michael

yep, there is but it's expensive. Cost is in the range of $2500 to $4000 the last time I checked. And you may have to buy larger wheels to get them to fit over the larger brakes.

Just have him install "premium" parts.

Yeah, the brakes on our vintage trucks suck big time. They are marginal running empty. With a load they are pathetic. I bought a new 2000 supercab 4x4 that I put 105k miles on and I've put 80k miles on my current 02 so I know.

Roadie and glc,

Thanks for your feedback. Much appreciated. I did some research and came across the following on JC Whitney's site and then reviewed it on the Powerstop site and called the company to make sure that it fit to OEM spec.

https://www.jcwhitney.com/details/Fo....html#plpslot1

https://www.powerstop.com/product/z3...with-calipers/

FYI. Powerstop does not charge JC Whitney a core charge on the calipers; however, you can still ship the cores back to Powerstop and get $40 back from them (but, of course, you have to pay for shipping).

Michael

Some braided stainless steel flexible brake lines will help some too.

I used Centric premium rotors and ceramic pads on my first brake job. They lasted 115k miles!

When they finally went, the shop I took it to used premium rotors and ceramic pads from NAPA.

Power Stop is better at marketing than manufacturing.

The calipers that Power Stop sells are just rebuilt factory calipers that have been powder coated red and the rotors/pads are junk IMO.

Any of the cheap drilled and slotted rotors available for these trucks will not hold up to abuse and will warp quickly.

The best combo I've found is factory style premium rotors with EBC Yellow Stuff pads. The EBC pads make some noise when cold and produce a lot of dust but they stop much harder than anything else I've tried especially when towing.

Google brake pad material and read about semi-metallic versus ceramic etc and decide what type of pad you want. From what I remember, the semi-metallic pads will provide the best braking but the ceramic pads are recommended for towing because they are not as likely to fade with hard braking. Brakes convert mechanical motion energy into heat energy. With ceramic pads the pads don't get as hot but the rotors get hotter compared to semi-metallic because the same amount of heat is generated when stopping regardless of brake pad material.

Ceramics also don't leave a lot of dust like semi-metallics and conventional pads.

Best pads I have ever used are the Wagner Thermoquiets semi metallic. Used them for years now, great stopping and no visable dust

I realize it's been a few weeks, but you can install Expedition brakes on our F150's with little or no trouble.

And I second the Wagner TC's.

So, the Expedition brakes you are talking about are just the caliper/caliper bracket/pad change? Maybe the flexible brake line has to be changed too? The rotor is the same part, right?

It's been a while since I dug into the details, but I believe the rotors are replaced as well. I believe the thread I linked has an overview of all the parts required.