2004 F150 XLT, 5.4, 69,000miles.

Okay, I wanted to see what you guys might have to say about this before I take it to the Dealership here.

I took my truck into Brake Check because my brakes were squeaking and the rotor needed to be worked on, when I slowed down the truck would slow down smoothly....it felt like I was pressing hard then releasing etc.

I knew it needed new pads etc.

Well, they replaced the Pads, and did Rotor Reface on all 4. They recommended getting the Calipers Maintenance (front 2 wheels). They wanted $800 for new rotors too (in addition). I told them no.

Fast forward around 6 months. Truck was braking great, no squeaks etc for about 4 months. Then I begin noticing huge amounts of brake dust on my wheels. Might be normal not sure.

2 months later, but truck now squeaks again while braking. And when I'm going slow, I like in a parking garage I can hear this clicking noise while I'm on the brake. CLICK.....CLICK.....CLICK....CLICK.

If you coudn't tell, I don't know much about my truck. I'm trying to learn.

Well, whenever I slow down from ~50mph, my truck vibrates like nothing I've ever seen before. My windshield wipers are bouncing around it's so bad.

I took it to a Ford Dealership to get the works done, where they rotate the tires and change the oil etc, and inspect the brakes. The guy said the rotors need to be machined.

That's not normal right? I don't drive a lot. I don't ride the brakes, I haven't had to brake hard. 6 months from the work I've had done from Brake Check, and the rotors are bad again?

I'm just going to pay Ford to fix this issue and not go back to brake check because that means I'd have to drive 3hrs. I'm curious though, shouldn't their work on the rotor still be good.....not causing them to be worked on again?! I like my truck a lot, the brakes are just pissing me off. My last truck, a 2002 ford...I had till last winter till someone rear ended my truck totaling it, I never had to do any brake work on that thing.


I got suckered into buying the extended warranty for my truck, and it says it covers the calipers.

I'm taking it into a different ford dealership that is in my town next week, and was curious if any of you had some insight on my brake situation.

I know this was long....sorry.

 

my oem rotors warped after 30k miles and i got some replacements from autozone and they have been good for 70k and still going. also they are alot cheaper than your last quote.
Duralast/Brake Rotor - Front (54109) | Brake Rotor - Front | 2007 Ford F150 1/2 ton P/U 4WD 8 Cylinders 5 5.4L EFI SOHC | AutoZone.com

 

69k on orig rotors is not bad for fomoco rotors...once you turn them you may get 10k before they start warping which is the shaking you are feeling. You will need new aftermarket rotors and pads. If 2wd it will be really costly as the rotor comes with the bearings, 4x only requires rotor and no bearings. Wagner thermoquites pads are good and dont leave a lot of dust.

 

Had the same wobble feel, right after rotors were turned. Seems that they are not ment to be turned. I replaced my front rotors with the 2 piece set from centric, next time it won't hurt so bad, just do the 4x drive rotors. "Centricparts.com" is the place, and they have a choice of 4 or so types, slotted, crossdrilled, cyro ect. There may be some other brands, but this one was recommended on this site. You might want to look at other post on this site regarding it, it was very helpful to me. I ordered from "rockauto", and really like their customer service, even on sunday they answered the phone.

 

Thanks for the input guys. Ya, I have the 2 wheel drive.

Really lame how it's already warped, I googled what the clicking noise could be. And the best I could find was a problem with the Calibers being loose or something like that.


I'm checking out some of your recommendations right now, what a waste of money getting them turned. And that's what the first ford dealership said needs to be done too.

 

Brake pad dust has been an issue for years,especially if the new pads are the "composite" generic type.The actual name of these escapes me this early in the am,but Im sure someone here will chime in.....
Concerning Rotors,I too have used Rockauto components for many years,and have had virtually no problems.
I looked into having the rotors turned on my old 97 XL,and new ones were not much more than having the old ones turned.

 

Rotors on big trucks and vans are very susceptible to warping, especially if they have been turned; they use thinner metal than in the old days.

It's not necessarily hard use that will make them warp, but if the rotors are moderately warm and you hit a big puddle of slush, something like that can make them warp.

Also, if you have wheels removed and tires rotated, sometimes uneven torque can make rotors warp. If you've recently had someone mess with your wheels, you could loosen all the lugs and tighten them in the recommended star pattern. This will often help a slight warp, but if they are warped badly, not much hope with this process.

I've got an E150 van; rotors warped very early on (in the first 10k miles) and the dealer turned them for free under warranty. But when it was time for new pads (40k miles or so), I needed new rotors because the "light cut" they did thinned them out enough that there wasn't enough metal left.

The new rotors developed a little warp and the dealer turned them for free, but when the brakes needed a redo at around 80k, I had to fork out for another pair of new rotors...

69k miles on a set of OEM rotors is probably pretty good, and it's likely yours won't take another cut.

I like good quality American rotors (as opposed to cheap Chinese rotors)--I have found them to be less prone to warping. Not sure where Ford OEM rotors are made these days.

These big, heavy trucks are hard on brakes. Good luck. But $800 for rotors is stupid. You might want to try an independent shop that will use high quality parts. I think the front brakes on my van, including new rotors and pads, ran about $500.

George