i have mine installed, and the braking is excellent! you wouldnt believe how well they work once warmed up a hair.

 

This is a good deal for this kit. Also sometimes is good to put a fresh set of calipers on after lots of miles as I am sure most of us don't replace or rebuild them. Fresh new calipers with new parts will function more efficiently and might help relieve some heat issues where some are slow to respond to movement, etc.

I think next time I will go this route but will keep checking back to see how you do over time.

I have the Powerstop Cryo's now and the Hawk SD pads and so far, so good. I think I only have about 10K on them though. Been blowing through rotors every 50K ish due to warping.

 

It's not about the rotors, other then ensuring they are mounted to the lowest runout. All pulsation is due to thickness variation in the rotor, typically worn by the highest runout of the rotor touching the pad when not braking. It's aggravated by the rotor abrasive ness of the pads, so if you are doing more driving then stopping the off-brake wear wears the high spot down. If you have higher abrasive pads so the on-brake conditions wear the rotors true more then the off-brake conditions you will not have an issue, well, except if the rotors have a high installed runout.

The main issue with the Excursion and '99-04 Superdutys was the OE pads were too low in abrasion unless the vehicles were worked in a commercial setting. For the way they were publicly used, a more rotor abrasive pad like was used after '05 would have been the better choice. The Hawk, Motorcraft, and some other aftermarket choices have demonstrated that.

 

That doesn't make sense to me. The rotors wear as you drive?......I don't think so.

 

Are you referring to ceramic as a better choice or ? According to the service manual it says semi metallic was OE.

I just put on new rotors and semi metallics and light braking it feels good, heavy braking is terrible.

 

I think he means, any high spots on the pads/rotor that touch while brake is off - will wear themselves down as you drive. So, if you drive long distances "some" of the high spot(s) will get rubbed down. But, if you do lots of city driving, you use the brakes more thus it allows any unevenness to grow.

Not sure I agree, but I think I see what he's trying to say..

 

Yep. It's called off-brake wear. Many tests show it.

And why it's important to have good seal rollback of the caliper pistons and ole hysteresis in the slide pins. You want the pads back away from the rotor.

It's why around 2001 the "V" springs were developed for the top of the pads in the Akebono calipers and why the K-H caliper brackets of 2005 and beyond have the strong pushback clips in the brackets.

 

Why, why am I not surprised.

Google: Raybestos Brake Tech School, Part One: Rotors Don't Warp

Or not. You might come across an article that also states the is not flat.

 

So I guess my rotors went 170k K miles and they all stayed perfectly true the whole time with no pulsating.............not buying it. The pad re-tractor springs are to increase gas mileage, prevent squealing, and keep the heat down on the pads. Also, I don't believe everything I read.

Well, I got to "tires might not be torqued right" tires?, but I had to laugh and quit reading. Almost everyone knows you shouldn't torque the first nut with all the rest loose, I'm just not buying any of the article. (I did go back and read to whole thing but he sounded like a novice).

 

Since I was there during the discussion about the design and implementation of the V springs I think I know their purpose. And the change with the new design.

He may have been a novice, don't know him. But there have been so many trade articles surprised you haven't read them.

 

I'm not a mechanic anymore so I don't read about it but I am sure those V springs are for gas mileage, rattling, squealing, and heat reduction, but not rotor wear. You will never convince me the rotors wear to the point where they cause a shudder when they are not applied (wear as you drive), and I am done with this thread.

 

Like in the other thread I could post links to SAE technical papers, Bendix training literature or the many tech articles written in the trades by Larry Carley, a prolific technical writer. But as you said, you're not going to read them.

 

Seems those springs are not working for me if my rotors get to a severely warped stage after about 50K miles.
I do normal driving between some city and highway, mostly suburban combination.
I think there is some merit in the calipers ability to retract. If they don't, I think the pads drag and cause excessive heat buildup which can then lead to warping once you have to jam on your brakes for those that decide to cross in front of you or stop unexpectedly.

I always lube my slider pins well with high temp brake grease. I can see the wear on them. I probably should have considered buying new pins and will do so next time. But next time, likely over 200K miles, I might just go ahead and replace the calipers with this kit.

I wonder if it is possible to fit up the 2005 model calipers in place of the 2002 model year if they are improved? Is that what I am getting here?

 

The V spring force is too light and it can be easily overcome with sliding pin stiction (rubber bushing or rust), piston hang up, or rust development where the steel backs fit in the bracket. If the pad composition is not rotor abrasive enough, like the OE pads, or there is excessive rotor runout, then they will not perform well anyway. They will only help push the pads back to the amount of caliper seal rollback.

In all the tests we did we never saw these rotors "heat warp" and we ran tests over 1400F. If you have access to a heat gun you should check how hot they actually get in your style of driving.

The 05 calipers and brackets do not fit.

 

Make sure the caliper bracket is not slightly bent... this will cause the pad to "stick".