OK, so my 2011 Lariat has 22k on her, and with the last few drives around the capital beltway, it's apparent that the rotors are warped.

At highway speeds, you feel "the pulse". At anything under 45 mph, it's not really noticeable. So they're bad, but not too bad.

I am looking to upgrade them - anybody had good experience with upgrading the rotors and pads? What did you go for? How have they held up to repeated hard braking?

Thanks!

-John

 

this has been beaten to death for the 04-08. i dont know if it applies here, but it should. majority there, including myself, say go with OEM rotors and wagner thermoquiets. Some also prefer the slotted rotors and hawk pads.

i dont know what kind of driving/braking you do, but at 22k with warped rotors.... youre not really going to fix the current issue you are having by changing rotors or pads imo. youre rotors are getting too hot and so the heat warps them. generally means youre riding them or trying to stop too hard too fast. only way to prevent rotors from doing this with the same style of driving is to go to a larger rotor/caliper/mc

 

It's not warped rotors. It's a buildup of brake pad material on the rotor. It's a function of the pad selection and the pad overheating and "melting" leaving an uneven buildup of friction material on the face of the rotor.

 

OK, if there's a buildup, how do you remove it to get back to smooth braking again?

Thanks,

-John

 

Are you still under warranty? I had a pedal vibration and a burning smell (around 23K miles) and the dealer resurfaced my front rotors for free. Now they feel as good as new.

 

Resurface the rotors and change to a different brake pad. I've had it happen on a few different Ford vehicles with OEM brake pads.