I bought my 2011 F350 about a year and a half ago, and it's time for brakes now. In the past, I had replaced all the factory stuff on my 7.3 with Power slotted rotors, and I forget which pads. Very high $$$. Worked great, but they were probably complete overkill.

What brakes have you guys used (including Motorcraft) when you've done a brake job, and how have they performed? I tow a 5th wheel that is roughly 10k, and a boat that is 5k all the time.

 

I go with Motorcraft they do the Job.

 

I usually go to Advance or Autozone or O'Reilly and buy the premium pads. Unlimited warranty and performance is good. I trust them on my daughter's car that hauls the granddaughters around.

 

I went with Motorcraft from the dealer at 86,100 miles. It's my opinion the Motorcraft brakes have more than enough stopping capacity for what I can do with an F250 and trailer brakes.
The invoice shows BR-1333 and BR-1334. It was there because the turbo fitting had spit out 4 gal of coolant, the FL wheel had a terrible squeal (my fault) and brakes were needed soon anyways so I just authorized them to do that job too.

The only issue was the dealer didn't drive the truck, first light change to yellow and I ended up in the middle of the intersection, thankfully I was the first vehicle. What a mess that could have been!

 

The wife works at AutoZone, so I use their top end pads. No issue, stop great.

 

How much does a dealer brake job cost?

Bruce

 

What rotors are you guys using?

 

My dealer quoted $619 for the front brakes, I suppose it included rotors but nothing in writing. I said no thanks and bought factory parts online. When I did the brake job, I found that my wonderful dealer bent the hydraulic line to better access the caliper bolt and stretched it tight against the coil spring. They also saw fit to skid my hub cap across the concrete floor face down. Never again! Today they sent an email to rate their service and I unloaded on them.

One of my pads was sticking from rust causing much more wear on just that one pad. The rotors were not too bad, but I replaced them anyway. The old rotors I will have turned locally for $10 each and should never need to buy again.

AutoZone sells rotors that are coated to reduce rust, but they cost twice as much as factory and that wasn't my problem anyway.

 

These brakes have a nasty habit of the slide pin corroding and then not sliding freely. the brakes drag and ruin the rotor. I've had that happen on both my 2011 and 2015 trucks. I'm trying to be more preventative by greasing the slide pin

On my 2015 I needed new brakes around 60,000 miles. I put on the Autozone pads and they were gone needed replacing by 90,000. Along with the Rotors, So the slide pin may have caused that problem. But I had the dealer do that work and use Motorcraft parts.

For me, I expect to do brakes on these trucks in 70,000 to 80.000 mile range. Probably the towing and mountain area I live in.

 

Lynnmor, is this your first set of brakes for your truck? If so, how many miles on them?

Horse, did you ever get in there and check the slide pins for movement and/or add lubricant there? Just curious. Might be a good preventative thing to do.

 

I have 53,300 miles on it, mostly towing. The three better front pads had about another 25,000 left on them. I blame the salt and the spray on stuff in the northeast for the rust. I have only driven in it a few times and hosed it out as soon as possible, but it is impossible to remove completely. The truck is always garaged when not in use. I replaced the pins as well, but only one of them felt scratchy from poor finish, not rust.

 

on my 2011, i ordered Ford pads and rotors directly from whitelake ford online store. My 2016 has 66K on it, and they seem good yet. I'll probably get this summer out of them, and then have to do something.

 

If the rotors look good can you just do pad replacements? Or do you guys have them turned?

 

You can just replace the pads if the rotors look good. The only problem with turning is getting them done right, the parts changers that are the current crop of "technicians" like to sell new rotors.

 

Many newer rotors can't be turned very much before the minimum thickness is exceeded... Double check before and after turning. A collapsed rotor would suck.