I'm looking into a brake upgrade in the near future.

I would like to improve the stopping performance of my Excursions. I've got heavy steel bumpers front and rear and carry a heavy drawer/cabinet system for overlanding with goodies (probably a good 1500 lbs of extra payload plus people). I'm also running oversized wheels/tires (35's and 40's). I tow on occasion up to 10k lbs.

I keep my vehicles forever, so I tend to like to buy parts with lifetime warranties.

What are your recommendations for pads, rotors, calipers?

7.3 4x4.

 

The only real “brake upgrades” will be changing over to later model coil front suspension and all associated parts or something like Wilwood big brake kits which require a 20” minimum wheel diameter to fit the calipers. Big bucks for the big brake upgrade.
Our EX scales at 8080lbs and sees about 90% of its miles towing our 12/13,000lbs TT, over the past 100K miles I’ve tried a few different brake pads and rotors, so far the best performing for me have been the Napa rotors and Hawk LTS pads that are on it currently.

 

The stock brakes on the Excursion are actually pretty decent IMHO.

I also run 35 inch tires, have big heavy bumpers and tow ( both my trailers have brakes though, so towing really doesn’t stress the brakes on the Excursion that much more than normal driving ).

I’m running stock motorcraft rotors (the fronts have been turned once) and Power Stop extreme Z36 severe duty truck and tow brake pads. No plans to upgrade as this setup is working great.

I say pick your favorite brake pad manufacturer and get a set of their high performance/ towing pads, get some good rotors ( or have your existing rotors turned if they’re in good enough shape) , and see how you like it before spending thousands on bigger brakes.
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my '02 has the 33" 285/75R/16 tires on it,
I put these on the front, and IMO, they work just fine.


I pulled 8,000 lbs over Loveland, Pass on I-70 and they did a good job for me,
the dump trailer brakes weren't working, wiring issues.


this is an 800 lb gun safe in a Big Tex dump trailer, the specs on the trailer say it is close to 5,000 lbs empty

the tires are to keep the safe from sliding around, the toolbox has some stuff in it also

 

I did something similar to "John in OkieLand". I used this: https://www.rockauto.com/en/moreinfo...=13824&jsn=568

It's the first set of rotors that hasn't warped including O.E.M. and the very best from Raybestos.

Lou Manglass

 

i try to never hit my brakes hard, or hold them down for long periods of time.

I engine brake to 35 mph or below, then use the brakes for control at a stop or curve / turn.

I can get 100k miles out of set of brakes,
my daughter is lucky to get 3 months, but she is a mail carrier on a rural route, with 750 stops every day.

she is aggressive, gotta go, gotta stop...

 

I'm pretty easy on brakes as well. In the 304,000 miles on my Ex I've gone through about 4 sets of pads.....and about 10 pair of front rotors! I think it had to do with a particular mountain road I used to traverse a lot, usually heavily loaded without a trailer. The Raybestos "Black Box" lasted the best of all until I put on the slotted and dimpled Power Stop rotors.

Lou

 

2001 Ex 1 owner 7.3 4x4 Over 400k

OEM brakes when new were great.

As the years past I had too many brake jobs to count. Always warped rotors but pads were never worn out.
This Ex is a S Fl pavement queen with no towing to speak of. I tried everything including Ford parts. Oem, Superduty pads, Motorcraft pads and some part store brands. Never cut the rotors, always new.

Never lasted over 30k to 40k without warping. Frequently less.

Last set I tried was the Powerstop Z36 brand. Still going strong without any issue. Used the kit for the front and rear. I would have to go through my service log to see how many miles driven, but it has been several years of daily driving. S Fl driving is flat as a board, but traffic lights are abundant!

No issues at all. This set of brakes stop on a dime and has saved me a lot of money and labor!

I think something changed in the part supply chain over the years, as Ford brakes failed me continuously after the OEM set wore out. Part store brand I tried were the worst.

 

Wagner Severe Duty pads are my pads of choice

SX756 and SX757

With Wagner or Raybestos rotors, they stop my Excursions on a dime.

 

I just switched to these on the Excursion as well...they were out of the ceramics I typically get under warranty...and have been impressed with them so far. I also put them on the back of my F350 and will be putting them on the fronts when they're do probably sometime within this year.

 

I tow heavy, a lot.(10K+) in the mountains of TN. I've been through many brake evolutions. However a few bright spots and recommendations.

Front Power slot cryo rotors... have 120K on them. Never had to have them resurfaced even after 3 sets of pads... not to mention they are the only ones that haven't warped. On the downside for front rotors ... I did OEM, power stop, etc,.all removed before 10K on them... they all sucked for my application.
Rear Raybestos S groove performance rotors. Newest addition. had OEM until then. OEM worked fine in the rear. S groove rotors... can't say anything good or bad.
Raybestos NEW calipers, all around... after many-many rebuilds. So far so good.

First set of brake pads were OEM , just fair at best and that's being generous, definite fade when braking on long down hill grades. Hawk LTS good pads, but had one pad delaminate, so I lost confidence in them and they wear fast. Dynamic Friction pads, excellent towing performance and long lasting, My choice of pads. https://www.dynamicfriction.com/products/brake-pads

Stainless reinforced brake lines are a must. Flush brake system every 2-3 years. Keep your power steering/power boost system filled with clean fresh synthetic fluid.

2002, 7.3, 4x4

 

Any experience and recommendations on replacement hard brake lines? I think my main options are the preformed versus the copper-nickel alloy roll.

 

I agree on the Powerstop, I run them on all my vehicles.
the Flex, the Ex and all the VW's. Low brake dust, no noise, great stopping

 

I have all preformed stainless lines. However the OEM hard line (section) that failed on me was the rear differential cross over line. Rusted through where it clamps on top of the differential. To me... at this stage of the game, It's like replacing light bulbs... if one fails on a 22 year old truck that tows a lot, how far behind are the others before they fail?

 

Yeah, in my limited experience fixing brake lines it seems like another one pops immediately after you fix the first one.

Mine seems to have a localized rust failure where the line is snapped into a frame support clip. Zero body rust and very minimal surface on the undercarriage. The PO must have had a clump of mud stuck there or something.

I'm probably going to have a shop do them all...I don't enjoy working on brake lines.