During braking at slow speeds I can feel a slow pulsing. The steering wheel moves back and forth about 1-2 inches. I am assuming that the rotors are warped. The pads have about a half inch of meat left on them, got 38k on the truck.
Is this to be expected at mileage this low?

If so, would it be worth it to have them turned or just buy better ones?
I've seen the fancy ones costing $250, any other alternatives?
I don't tow so heat isn't a big issue.

 

if you don't tow much, i would try to turn them. cost about $30 to try. don't know what the cost of new roters are. replace the pads while it is apart. i have a 97 with 80k on the clock and no problems with the roters yet. good luck

 

Advanced Auto has a selection of rotors, all viewable on their website. They have the cheapies, some middle o the road, then some "high performance. Their better rotors are made by Raybestos in either the USA or Canada.
I know all this because I'm up for new rotors next week $88 each here in MI for the "middle of the road" ones.

 

You don't have to be towing anything to produce enough heat to warp the rotors. The weight of the truck alone is enough for extreme heat to build up which causes what Ford calls, material transfer. So much heat is generated that material from the pads actually become adhered to the rotor which causes the pulsing and rough stopping that you encounter when the brakes are applied. I went through this too many times and rotors for these trucks aren't cheap. I invested a little extra money and went with ART rotors. These rotors cost a little more, but to me they are worth it. I've had these on my truck for quite some time and haven't had any problems with brakes at all, stopping is as smooth as can be. Check them out: appliedrotortechnology.com

 

I put the ART rotors on about a year ago and the truck was OK for a little while. It is now shaking worse than ever and I'm beginning to think the problem is elsewhere. I am on my 3rd or fourth set of rotors for the '00 250 (Grocery fetcher V-10, 70K). I've got several SD's for work and never had ANY brake problems.

I am open to any suggestions - by the way, I am not dissing the art rotors, they are a fine product, this truck just has some sort of brake problem.

 

Just a nit pic of mine but material transfer and hard spots do NOT = WARPED rotors

yes the sensation is the same, the fix is the same, but the fact is that Ford SuperDuty rotor warping is a MYTH

They are sandwiched between the wheel and hub so no under/over torque effect can cause warping

They can be brought up to bright cheery red and back to cool and not have any measurable warping or excessive run-out.

The cause is improper "Bedding In" of the pads, and then very tight clamping of the pads at a stop after getting the rotors smoking hot. That is where the material transfer and hard spots happen.

There are indeed rotors and pad materials out there that are not as sensitive to this phenomenon.

Turning the rotors and switching to different pads and or new rotors fixes the problem but not the cause

The cause is improper "Bedding In" of the pads, and then very tight clamping of the pads at a stop after getting the rotors smoking hot. That is where the material transfer and hard spots happen.

So ask your self before buying into the expensive and very exotic sounding drilled, slotted, and cryogenics treated rotor sets...why is it 95% of all 99 to present SuperDuty owners have perfectly good experience with the factory setup?

There are over 3 million on the road driven by folks who are NOT making a run to the parts house for new rotors all the time.

I get 55-65 thousand miles out of a set of factory pads and have not had to have one rotor turned or replaced on any vehicle in last 20 years except when my daughter drove the pad too thin and ate a rotor up. I drive fast and when I tow it is heavy. One of the best aspects of these SuperDuty trucks is their brake system IMHO

FWIW I do not have anything against any of the after market specialty rotors and the few sets of ART rotors I have helped install are very good quality. (I have a significant "shop" and way too many "friends")

 

FredVon - I appreciate the reply but what is the solution? My problems seem to be isolated to the truck which NEVER tows. Our 350's and 450's are loaded and driven hard daily - never anything but pads and usually 40 to 50k on them.

This 250 has been a problem from the start - how would you handle it?

MAK

 

Not an expert by any stretch on this issue but there are a few master brake techs here, the diesel site, and on the flat rate tech site.

They mostly say that once the rotors have had a serious amount of material transfer AND evidence of "hard spots" then turning them is delaying the inevitable.

Mostly because the depth of the hard spots (an area where the crystalline structure of the iron rotor has been changed) can not be totally removed by "turning" the rotors with out making them too thin.

With new rotors and pads, calipers serviced, cleaned and slider pins de-rusted and lubed in other words a total brake refurb the best thing you can do to get good solid long term brakes is a process called "Bedding IN the Pads".

Basically a series of forward and reverse very hard use of the brakes to get the rotors VERY hot but never coming to a complete stop with the pads clamped tight on the hot rotors. There is always an argument about "how many cycles" but most agree that it can be done in just a few short times with a deliberate cool down before doing it again. I do it in about 4 hours with three full cycles and then for the next week I set up every stop the be deliberate, and very aggressive coming to a stop sign or light and leaving my self enough room to creep forward with out clamping the pads tight on a stopped very hot rotor. After the week of **** attention to stopping I drive the truck, car with out ever thinking about my brakes again.

Every one of my SuperDuty trucks had climbed and came back down Vail and Loveland passes with out brake fade or any other ill effects and like I said I get well over 50 thousand miles out of a set of pads and never bought a new rotor in last 20 years.

There are two other upgrades that are well worth the money... changing to a different higher temp DOT fluid and changing the rubber hoses to the calipers with steel braided lines. I do not have the DOT number in my memory and I am not close to my shop. There are plenty of threads on this subject in this forum and at the other sites I mentioned.

The steel hoses do not expand under pressure and the pedal feel is greatly enhanced.