So, I did my obligatory search on the forums but didn’t find anything about this. <O</O
<O
It seems my stop & go commuting on the highway, aggressive driving, and towing my car hauler have forced my hand in putting new brakes on. I don’t mind, as I wanted ceramics on this thing anyway. Finally got my excuse.<O</O

I’m putting Stoptech slotted rotors and Hawk ceramics on front of my FX4, and was wondering if there are any special tricks or concerns on removing and reinstalling the rotors. I’ve done countless brake jobs on other vehicles and am a fairly advanced diy mechanic. I’m not afraid to do this, just want to make sure I have whatever extra parts, replacements bolts/nuts/washers/seals, bearings, etc that I may need so I don’t have to stop mid-job and run out to the store.

Thanks for any advice.<O</O

 

I found a great video on YouTube for this. Go to YouTube and search, it should come up. The old boy did a great job showing us how to do it.

 

I'll look for it, but have so far only found older F150 instructionals. Is this video for a 2009 model year?

 

Mine is an '02 so that's what I was looking for, but can't remember the year he did. Type in for your year in YouTube search, something should come up.

 

I would remember to re grease the slide pins. Keeps the pads from hanging up on the rotor

 

Right, the ones on the calipers. I think there is special grease for those?

 

No 2009+ F150 brake jobs on YouTube. Blast it.

Thanks for the slide pin, advice. I always lube those up when applicable, usually with marine-grade grease. I've read in some places where those are suspect in "sticking caliper" cases because they weren't lubed up.

What about shims, brake-quiet gunk, etc? I guess that depends on whether or not the Hawks have a material already on the pads.

 

I have always re used the factory shims. They don't wear out. But replace the metal clips that hold the pads in place. I have put a little bit of grease behind the pads where it contacts metal to prevent them from squeaking. As long as its not on the braking surface it wont hurt anything.

 

Yea, you are supposed to use a silicon based grease. Ford sells some.

Petroleum based grease will swell the little booties on the pins.

 

Good to know. I'm sure I can get some at Pepboys or Autozone, too.

 

Hard to beat Sil-Glyde, though its not truly a silicone grease like the Ford spec.

 

Update fellas...

Front brakes and rotors are cake to do on these. The rotor practically falls off once you remove the caliper and caliper mounting bracket. Popped on the Stoptech slotted rotors, held them in place with 3 lug nuts until I got the calipers back on.

You don't need new anti-rattle clips for the pads, and I wouldn't change them unless they are corroded. Most aftermarket pads don't even come with them, and you can't buy them separately from Ford (I checked locally).

Used Ford's own silicone lub (also a dielectric grease, btw) on the caliper slide pins. Slapped some CRC disc brake quiet on the pad and reassembled 10 minutes later.

Each wheel took about 20 minutes once the tire was off, and that's with thorough cleaning of everything, triple checking things, and letting the brake quiet goop set a bit.

I did have to go back into the driver's side, as the tabs on the inbound pad were catching on the anti-rattle clips. I had to grind down a fraction off of the tabs on that pad to get it to move properly. All was well after that.

I'll echo what others have said on here...the Hawk Ceramic pads are sick on the Stoptech slotted rotors. SO much better than stock.

Going to have to do the rear now....