Guys,

It's time for new brakes. Got 95K out of the factory pads/rotors! I think that is good at least. I am planning on getting Ford pads since the originals lasted so long. I tow fairly heavy, 10K+ on the CO mountain passes. i believe in having the trailer brakes adjusted properly and using the engine and gearing to brake, hence I got a lot of miles out of the brakes even towing on these passes. I've been fairly happy with the originals, albeit I always thought the truck didn't stop as fast as it should when everybody in front of me slams on their brakes, so I wouldn't mind a bit more stopping power. I've always chalked that up to these trucks are just heavier than my Honda.

Anyway, you guys recommend any other pads as being better than the originals? How do I know which pads came on the truck? I'm guessing BR-1069 and thinking about bumping up to the BRSD-1069's or should I go to . the Standard Premium BRF-1438? Should I just go ahead and plan on replacing my rotors or try and have them turned at Napa? Recommendation on replacement rotors or just stick with Ford's? Also, I usually bleed the brakes when I do new pads. Recommendation on brake fluid? Normally I just pick up the Valvoline Dot 3 and 4 fluid at wally world. Is that good for this truck?

Any surprises or special tools when doing the brakes on these trucks? i've done brakes numerous times on other cars/trucks.

 

No special tools required for front or rear disc brakes on the trucks, other than a C-clamp to negotiate the caliper to open up. You might consider some brake grease for the brake race pins, they corrode over time leading to the brakes dragging.

I've found that the Ford rotors work out the best, never turn the rotors only replace, always torque the wheel lugs progressively increasing the pounds in an alternating pattern - Then re-torque after a few hundred miles to prevent the rotors warping.

 

I've always used this stuff, seems to hold up nice and not ball up or get really tacky. I usually get the smaller packets from NAPA, one packet will do an axle.

I'm sure Jack will weight in with some pointers

https://www.amazon.com/Permatex-2412...SXTFNG26FCNDVN

 

All the pad numbers you list are the Motorcraft replacement lineup, not the pads that came on the assembly line. Assembly line OE pads and Rotors are "blue box" parts, not the Motorcraft red box replacement, just so you know.

The '05 and up got the TRW calipers over the older Akebono, with different pad design and material. The OE product was a very good overall material. The SD Motorcraft lineup unless they changed the formula gets you a hit the bit more in friction.

Unless you are going to have the rotors turned on the truck with an on-car lathe, I don't recommend turning at any parts store. My old company, and in conjunction with Ford, did a study showing less then spectacular results for rotor finish and machined in runout. After that study even Ford Corporate had the dealers get their act together as tooling changeout makes a big difference even with the on-car lathes.

Myself, if the rotors exhibit no pulsation or surface issues, they stay as they are, or I get new rotors, assembly line preferred or Motorcraft secondarily. Slots and holes for me are a no-go.

Higher friction pads will reduce pedal force, but tend to come at the expense of lower friction without being warmed up. That can be an acceptable compromise, but not acceptable off the assembly line, both for customer test drive off the lot and internal stopping distance targets. For my older truck with the Akebono calipers, I used to use Performance Friction Z pads myself until they changed the formula, now use Hawk LTS.

Otherwise asking for what brake pads and rotors will quickly get you into a very subjective feedback loop.

 

Sorry, forgot brake fluid.

Extensive work was done on Superduty calipers to prevent brake fluid boil, and all testing was done with aged brake fluid to a specific moisture content so that DOT 3 was the standard. Dot 4 gets you an initial higher boiling point, but comes down quicker and in a few years will be the same boiling point. You can use either, but changes in the two to three years time period is the best choice no matter what fluid. And today there is a lot of specialty fluid being sold to bump market share. The SD's brake hydraulics were all developed with standard DOT 3, FYI.

 

SD rotors don't warp, they wear to thickness variation due to excessive installed runout. The SD brakes of all years are actually a cool running brake.

 

Based upon your experience, have you ever encountered a situation where variations across individual lug nut torque contributed to the varied thickness wear? I've found old school references to lug nut torque being a contributor to the pulsing/chatter caused by varied thickness of the rotor, or warping though I'm not a brake expert in anyway.

All I know is, every manufacturer of rotor that I tried (drilled/slotted/crio/normal) resulted in un-even and varied thickness wear while I lived in CO - The only time I've had decent life on the rotors is when I've used Ford rotors. Though I'm certain my problem is the weight of my feet, too heavy on both go and stop pedals. LOL

Thanks

 

Never machined rotors, always bought new, and rebuilt calipers have been good too. You might want to look at replacing the brake hoses as well - I was having problems that turned out to be delamination. When you've finished don't forget to pump the pedal, saves the heart attack at the end of the road

 

Oh yes, and I should have been more specific. With a SD you can stress induce distortion if you have steel wheels. That's how we used to dial in runout for thickness variation tests. With the aluminum wheels, could not do it and had to use shims. But our internal procedure, as done with most test vehicles, was a step torque along with cross lug. Every third nut at 80lbft until all 8 done, then 120 until all 8 done, then 165 until all 8 done, and a recheck.

Runout by torque very vehicle dependent, by wheel, rotor and hub design. I get hyper about the use of the word warped because it has led in the repair industry to the wrong understanding of the pulsation development. A few hundred thousands of miles testing has shown it brake-off wearing of the high runout areas, pulsation with thermal induced hard spotting, and with that you can't machine it out. The next 5-10k of driving the hard spots do not wear down and pulsation reemerge due to thickness variation. But the mechanic tells the customer it heat warping from thin rotors when it's not.

Unlike other manufacturers in their service parts, and much more so then aftermarket parts, Ford keeps a tight spec on the rotor machining, even with the Motorcraft aftermarket rotors. It's all about the runout and installed runout. If it's a Ford, I buy OE first, Motorcraft if OE not available.

Back to cuttin.

 

Awesome info guys! Sounds like it's a straightforward job, once I have the parts. I won't be bothering with turning rotors then, I'll just replace them. Jack, you don't happen to have the part numbers for OE rotors and pads do you?

 

I may when I get home late tonight.

 

Cool, thanks! No rush Jack, it's too cold and snowy outside right now to work on it anyway.

 

Thanks for the background - I'll not use the word "warped".

 

You can, it's my issue.

 

I just replaced my rear rotors, pads, ebrake shoes, hardware kit, inner hub axle seals, as well as the dust shields. The shields tend to fall apart over time and they hold the ebrake shoes in place.

Rotor part numbers are 5C3Z-14300-CA paid $73.79 ea