The time has come to replace the blue beast's front brake rotors. I would like to do them myself, but have not changed the rotors myself on this vehicle yet, and am wondering what will be needed in addition to the obvious (L&R rotors & Pads)? There is usually something you need but don't think about, and I just don't want to have to stop in the middle and search for parts. Thanks!!!

 

Other than rotors and pads, the only other conceivable item of brake hardware would be the caliper pins. These are a two part metal/rubber composite that can sometimes shear in two pieces when being driven in/out of the caliper. That said, I am still using the original ones that came with my '91. These can be driven out using the square end of a 3/8" drive extension and a soft face hammer.

A thorough brushing of the caliper slide areas with a wire brush is essential for proper operation. Apply a thin coating of brake caliper grease to the same surfaces. As long as you are at it, purchase a quart of brake fluid and flush all the brake lines.

The new pads should fit snuggly into the caliper mounts. If not, a careful bending of the 'ears' on the pads may be necessary. If they fit loosely, they tend to rattle. The manuals tend to show anti-rattle clips, which apparently were used on some models, but not all. Since you did not specify a model/year, you may want to check first to see if yours' is fitted with clips or not. Also, it is not uncommon for this procedure(retracting the caliper piston) to upset the RABS brake system, giving you warning lights. Open the bleeder valve on the caliper before retracting the piston. Do not force fluid backwards into the master cylinder.

Overall, replacement is an easy and enjoyable task. Correctly torque those lug nuts or you will warp those shiny, new rotors.

 

Great, thanks for the info! Do you happen to know the torque settings (I have a standard length, 2wd 3.0L)?

 

85-100 ft/lbs

 

Just my two cents worth. Don't buy cheapo discount rotors. I've had tooooo many problems with warping. I bit the bullit and bought raybestos premium rotors, different part #s for each side, at about 65.00 each and premium pads etc. Keep your work area spotless and don't forget to clean your rotors with brake cleaner to remove any anti rust coating. And absolutely use a torque wrench to tighten your lugs per the previous post. Good luck.


cajunbull61

 

cajunbull,
I had similar experiences early on with my Aerostar, warping new rotors within several months. I too, was convinced it was the low priced rotors. I was also constantly cleaning brake dust off the wheels and going through pads quicker than I should have.

After years of dealing with this van, I have changed my opinion on this matter. I now believe the problem of rotor warping is caused mostly by two common mistakes. One is improperly torquing the lug nuts. The second, is not cleaning the caliper slides and pins during pad replacement. If the caliper hangs up, it causes premature pad wear and obviously, increased heat on the side of the rotor the pad is hung up on. And, Duh, increased dust and pad wear.

After finally figuring all this out, I have used the same set of generic rotors without problems for the last 6 years and my brake pads are lasting far longer than they ever did before. (standard composite pad, nothing fancy or special.) Bottom line: clean those caliper slides/pins and lubricate them for proper action.

 

No doubt that improper cleaning and lube can be a problem. I still had trouble with mine being very careful to clean and lube with silicone grease and change pins when worn. What rocket scientist came up with that setup anyway? Not one of Ford's "better ideas". I have a 1982 granada with 209000 miles and have put on several sets of pads without changing rotors without any problems. I remove 2 shouldered bolts and pull the caliper off. Couldn't be any easier. Can't wait to see how my Expy's brakes hold out.

cajunbull61

 

New user here, although I've found info in these posts the last couple of months to help me out!

I've owned my '90 3.0 XL/EXT for about 8 years now, bought it with about 80k and now it's at 20.4k. It has mostly been very good to me throughout the years, but the last 3 have been crud regarding brake problems!

Up until 2 mths ago I was doing a brake job every 6-9 mths due to warped rotors! This to me was insane as I previously drove a '72 VW Westfalia (pretty harshly at that...) for 10 yrs and NEVER replaced or resurfaced the rotors! My first replacement was a year or two after I bought and, for the record, I've only used Raybestos premium parts for years on all my vehicles. Caliper pins were new and I paid close attention to the channels and all related moving parts.

When things started going South a few months later I started having the brakes (for the first time in my life) being done professionally. Same deal, within 3-4 mths the first signs of warpage would show, and then a replacement/resurface a couple of mths later... Most of these revisits were covered somewhat by warranty, but not all.

This last visit I told them to do it all, front/rear and whatever, the rears had never been done since I owned the van but had not shown any wear and I thought that pretty odd...

Guess what? 2 mths now and no sign of pulsing. The pedal takes a smooth touch instead of serious pressure and the van stops in a progressive, linear fashion! Seems to me the front brakes had been doing all the work and none of the "professional" mechanics had picked that up!

I'm happy now but not satisfied, I want drilled rotors for "ugly ol' blue"... anybody know a source?

Thanks!

 

Usually the parts I forget to buy when pulling the rotors are new grease seals. You are going to replace/repack the bearings at this point, I presume?

I have used a torque wrench to install lug nuts for many years & (almost) never have a problem with warped rotors. The last time I had warped rotors was about a month or two after a tire shop installed the lug nuts with an impact wrench. My solution after that was to take the wheels in to the shop to have the tires mounted and balanced & put them on & properly torque the nuts at home. I have never had a warped rotor since.

Cheers,
Eric

 

Grease seals and repack bearings? Wasn't planning on it, but if it's a good idea and easy to do while I have the rotors off, might as well (I'm at 120k now). It seems easy enough looking at the Haynes manual, should the auto parts store be able to recommend the correct grease, or is there a specific kind I should watch for?

 

My Aerostar is a 95 2WD & the front rotors are the traditional one-piece hub-rotor style. Therefore replacing the rotors requires pulling the bearings out of the old one & installing in the new rotor. I am never lucky enough to pry the grease seal out without distorting it or nicking it & I inevitably drop some brake dust into the bearings. So I always make another run to the parts store to get new seals and I always clean and repack the bearings. I may be too cautious, but I never seem to have wheel bearing troubles.

Packing the bearings is easy, but messy (cleaning out the old grease first is messier). Any auto parts store will sell tubs of "wheel bearing grease".

I have never seen any manual that really explains the proper procedure for packing a bearing, but the pictures do nicely show how to hold the bearing while packing it. Once you see it done properly, it seems obvious. I'll try to explain the best I can: Put a dollop of clean grease in your palm and then use your palm to push the grease between the rollers. The proper method is to push the grease between the cage (roller retainer) and the inner race - not in through the face of the cage & not just smearing it everywhere. I typically push the grease from the fat end of the rollers until it sprouts at the skinny end. I try not to rotate the cage relative to the inner race while packing because it makes it difficult to tell where it's packed & where not. Keep working around the bearing until the grease has sprouted between all of the rollers. In my opinion, packing a bearing this way tends to push any remaining solvent or crud out with the sprouting grease.

Ok. I admit it. I'm pretty particular with stuff like this. Then again, I never seem to have problems with wheel bearings going bad.

Hope this helps.

Cheers,
Eric

 

> I still had trouble with mine being very careful to clean and
> lube with silicone grease and change pins when worn

FWIW: After I clean the brake dust and every thing off, I coat mine with anti-seize and have not had problems. One thing that helped is I ditched the Ford pads and bought premimum ones from Autozone and NAPA the next time I did rotors. It use to be a 20K problem.

Someone mentioned it before, so I will too. Except when changing a flat, I always torque my lugnuts on. I have seen IDIOTS at Ford dealers crack locking lugnuts on my Aerostar using an impact wrench (my impolite comment was something along the lines like dont do me any more favors). while I worked there.

I would carefully inspect the rubber brake lines on something ten years old and certainly flush the fluid. I would spray WD-40 on the right hand side nut for the brake line connection inside the engine compartment/fender well. It is where the A/C drips on it and rusts it out over time. Then I would cover it with a big gob of blue grease.

 

Did the brakes yeterday, MUCH better. Thanks for everyone's help. Hardest part was getting the rear bearings/ grease seal out, but with a little patiece and elbow grease, everything went well!!

 

when i remove my inner bearing and seal after i remove the nut and outer bearing i put the nut back on a few turns and slide the rotor out with a firm pull and usually the seal and inner bearing pop out and are left on the spindle for easy removal.

 

Cool tip! I'll have to try that the next time. Dollars to donuts it'll pop the seal out without damaging it, too. Now I won't have to make that last-minute dash to the parts store any more (maybe). Why do we always find out we need another bolt/nut/seal 15 minutes before the parts store closes?

Cheers,
Eric