i was wondering if i was the only one with that problem... I got a few miles left on the warranty...

 

I have an 04 xlt 2w 5.4 - back brake pads out at 30,000. Was told by dealer at 40,000 that the front rotors had to be replaced, could not be turned. Cost at $600. Went to NAPA got new pads and rotors and had them put in for $345 and now the brakes are fine. Sorry materials, very disapointing!!!!!!!!!

 

Being you are driving a 5300lb truck 40K on brakes is not bad! I bet you did not need rotors.

 

my body had the same problem with his 04 super crew around 40k

 

Yes I did need rotors. I looked at them after they came off and they looked liked bare metal had rubbed against them. I still had half pads left. The guys here told me that when the new rotors needed to be turned, I had to find a shop that could turn them while they were on the truck. Talking to a tech from Ford, the rotors that came on the truck were " throw away parts ". Very disapointing!!!!!!!!!!!

 

I have an '04 SC 4x4 with 71,000 miles on it. I replaced the front brakes at 50,000 and figured I could go quite a while without replacing the rears, but I ended up needing to replace the rears at 65,000 with only about 1/8" left on the pads. The rotors have been fine and I did not need to replace any of them, but I do quite a bit of highway driving.

I found this information from Ford on the EBD system in our trucks which may help explain the more even front/rear wear than we might be use to:

"State-of-the-art standard four-wheel disc brakes are large and powerful, and four-wheel anti-lock braking system (ABS) and electronic brake force distribution (EBD) are standard. EBD actively manages the brake force between the front and rear wheels, helping to reduce braking distances and maximize rear-wheel braking, particularly while towing. The system also uses sensor data to compare wheel speed more than 100 times during each rotation. If wheel lockup is imminent, the EBD controller redirects brake force to optimize available traction."

I also found this from a Motor Trend (Feb. 2004) 2004 Truck of the Year test (which the Ford won ):

"Although we couldn't verify the claim, Ford says engineers even improved braking performance on loose material, such as gravel, by 13 percent. Combined with standard ABS and electronic brake-force distribution, our tester astonished us by stopping one foot shorter with a 900-pound load than when its bed was empty. No other truck in this year's field could match that feat."

Just thought I'd pass this along...

 

Now if only ford would use good pads and rotors in conjunction with all that fancy electronics, we would really have something!

 

Some feel that when rotors have grooves on them they should be trashed. As long as the pedal or the vehicle doesn't vibrate or pulsate other then ABS pulsation, there really is no need to turn the rotors or replace. Ford uses semi metallic pads, so the surface will look like some metal was contacting the surface.

 

thanks for the comments. I still love my truck, but quality control has to be better. Easy for me to say!!!!!!!!!

 

FWIW....
I had my 2005 in for warranty work on the brakes due to bad shudder under braking. Ford service turned the front rotors, replaced the calipers and installed new pads.
All was OK for about 5,000-10,000 miles and the shudder returned.
I lived with it long enough.

I am now redoing all rotors and pads.
At 65,000 miles rear pads were pretty near worn out. I replaced them.
Noticed rear rotors were grooved even though squealer tabs had not yet made contact with the rotors.
The truck shuddered from stem to stern under braking, so.....
I installed crossdrilled and slotted rotors on the front, with new pads.
I will be installing drilled and slotted rotors on the rear next week.
I got the rotors from rotorpros.com

The OEM brake rotors on my truck are lousy.
Other than that, no complaints.