I am new to Excursions - in fact, new to Ford products. ONE of the things I dont like about our "new" Excursion (a late 2005 LTD V-10 4wd) is it takes more pedal pressure to get braking action, than I'd like.

I just yesterday did a front brake-pad job on our Toyota RAV 4 - was VERY pleased with how much lighter the pedal pressure is now - the parts man at AutoZone says that is because I went from a "standard" metallic pad to a "organic" one. We ran thru his parts book, but found the material used on the pads he sold me for the RAV 4 (whatever that material is...we arent sure)...is NOT avail. (at least from his supplier) for the Excursion / Super Duty Ford truck line.

Anyone have any ideas on brake pads that would give me more aggressive braking at lower pedal pressures ?

Pete

 

There are a lot of better-than-stock pads available.

One of the most common, proven and popular, so much so that even Pep-Boys carries them, are EBC "Green" pads.

Here is a recent thread on this very forum:

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/5...rake-pads.html

I now have about 1K miles on them, and they are terrific. So much so that I would swap the factory pads for these even on a brand-new EX instead of suffering with the stock ones wearing them out.


_____________________
Quietman
www.roenation.com
2005 EXCURSION LIMITED-options (everything) equipped Eddie Bauer edition 4X4 PSD
4" FabTech lift/level, Bilstein $$ mono-gas shocks, Rancho Steering Stabilizer
Silverstar 9005 fog and H13ST headlights + wiring mod to run high beam and fogs together,
BFG 315/75/16 AT KO's on Factory Mags, 22" front and 18" rear rain-x wipers,
LANDYOT Generation II Radius Rods, Ford factory hood insulator

 

thank you very much for the info...I went to that site (and some others)..and found that people claim the so called "GREEN" front brake pads have more "grab"; meaning they have a more positive braking action..which is exactly what I want.

Then I found a post and a site talking about a "YELLOW" pad for even more aggressive braking. Sounds good to me..anyone know for sure if this is true ?

thanks

Pete

P.S...are these different colors people are talking about an "industry standard"..meaning...can I assume that ALL brake pad makers are using the same color grading system. ?

 

No, it's all marketing. One company's Red pad is their exteme duty top of the line unit and another company's red pad is their cheapo service grade.

Keep in mind that generally pad choice has little to do with pedal pressure. The more material on the pad the higher the pedal is going to engage. Short of constantly making sure your pads are almost new you might consider also added a set of stainless steel brake lines to your truck. They do not expand as much as the stock rubber hoses do which allows for a much better "feeling" braking system.

 

How much do the EBC's usually run? I probably should toss in a set in the near future.

 

Summit Racing has the following

EBC-DP61603 Green Stuff Series 6000 Rear pads for all Ex models for $69.95
EBC-DP71308 Green Stuff Series 7000 Front pads for all Ex models for $99.95

EBC says
"For a small price premium over the 6000 series these pads are
THE ULTIMATE SUV FRONT END PAD
These pads will stop faster and last longer with almost zero brake dust and are EBC's premium offering for heavy 4x4s. These pads are GUARANTEED noise free. Average friction coefficient 0.45mm."

Michael

 

for ricko / mike

thanks for your post. I will call Summit as soon as the holidays are over. Hopefully, the friction of these pads you described are SIGNIFICANTLY higher than what is on there now.

I am ASSUMING (but do not know this for a fact)...that the reason it takes more pedal pressure than I'd like, is because the "stock" pads on my Excursion are some kind of metalic. I am ASSUMING ( but do not know this for a fact) that the reason I am happy with the much lighter pedal pressure I have now on the new pads I just put into my Toyota RAV 4 ( which, with its stock old presumably metallic pads, had even higher pedal pressure than the Excur )...is because the new pads are NON metallic.

Elsewhere I have seen others unhappy with Excursion brakes. Could it be that what they are really unhappy about, but do not know how to express it technically...is that it is a simple problem of too "hard" a stock brake pad material ? Looks to me that my brakes are typical of "superduty" ford products up to the 1 ton range. Am I missing something here..?

 

I have to add, I think it's wrong of you to compare the brakes of a small, light vehicle like your RAV4 with that of a large, heavy, massive vehicle like the Excursion.

That being said, the Excursion brakes are frequently upgraded by their owners. But not so much because they don't "grab" but mainly because, we develop warped rotors.

The OEM rotors just don't seem to hold up well, judging by the amount of posts on that subject.

Most seem to upgrade to the cryo treated rotors from Powerslot, and get Hawk pads to top them off with.

Mark at DPPI gives great deals for cryo treated rotors and Hawk pads, and he's a supporting vendor here too. It's always good to support vendors that suppor the forums that provide help to you.

Stewart

 

You did not read my "post" carefully - I do not think I indicated I was comparing the brakes on my Toyota Rav 4 with the brakes on my Excursion. If you got that impression because I failed to communicate effectively, I do apologize.

What I DID compare, was the brakes on my Toyota Rav 4 when it was equipped with the conventional brake pads it had BEFORE I did a brake job on it, with the brakes on the same Toyota Rav 4 AFTER I installed what I THINK are non-metallic pads. The change to a softer lining markedly reduced the brake pedal pressure, making it a much more pleasant brake application.

It APPEARS to me, and I may be wrong on this, that my Excursion has metallic pads, and it may well be they are of similar material to what came on my Rav 4 originally. I dont know. What I am trying to find out, is if there is a softer "grabbier" pad material for my Excursion, as there obviously is for my Toyota Rav 4. If there is a softer, grabbier brake pad for the Excursion, then I think it would be reasonable to expect a similiar improvement over what I have obtained on my Toyota Rav 4.

Yes, I have heard of rotor warping on the Excursion. A good number of the Excursions I test-drove had the typical "brake rumble" of warped front discs.

Since disc brakes are much more capable, for any given size or "swept area" of brake surface, than conventional drum brakes, of dissappating heat, I am unclear why Excursion rotors should warp, unless there is something VERY wrong either with their use, or with the engineering of that particular application.

A common bad habit of SOME drivers..is to "ride" the brake pedal and/or driving with two feet, one on the gas, one on the brake. I have no way of knowing if this is the problem in some cases.

A common bad habit of car engineers...is to try and "go cheap", and use the lightest, cheapest materials they can get away with. I have no way of calculating the brake "swept lining" area of my Excursion, nor have I any way of knowing how it compares to similar-weight vehicles. Nor do I know whether Ford brake rotors are any better, the same, or worse then any other manufacturers.

Are my calipers and rotors in fact "off the shelf" Ford products of the same quality and size as used in their 3/4 and 1 ton line? And if so, do these other Ford products have a similar problem and complaints about THEIR rotors and brakes ?

If disc over-heating and the resulting warping IS a problem on Ford products of this general type, what about discs with vent holes ? I have seen them on race cars and others for handling high brake loads...what do you guys think..?

 

Nope, that wasn't your fault bud, that was my fault. You communicated that well, I just failed to understand that point because like you presumed, I didn't read your post carefully.

This isn't the first time my occasional habit of scanning and speed reading a post has bitten me.

As for the warpage issue, the reason I brought that into the conversation was to segue to the Hawk pads, which you might want to consider.

Stewart

 

Hi Stewart !

Thanks for your "post" and your info. Looks like I am going to be looking for a both set of after-market front rotors and pads.

I havnt noticed any comments about the REAR rotors - any reason to change those too..?

Pete

 

I put on the ART rotors, front and rear since the factory one's warped and pulsed.
I opted to change the pads after about 5,000 miles to the new Satisfied Pro Ceramic pads to reduce the dust.
I have to say I am very happy with the rotors and the Ceramic Pads! Hardly any dust now and it brakes very well, especially when towing or having to hammer it due to a quick stop!
The key to stop the warping is the torque settings to 165 ftlbs.

I have not noticed any difficulty with pedal pressure. Seems normal to me!

 

I just put Performance Friction pads on my X this weekend. They're fantastic pads!! Made a huge difference in braking. It stops like it should. I would recommend them to anybody. The pads I took off were Ford pads. My guess is they were the original pads....62K on the truck.

 

My EBC-DP61603 Green Stuff Series 6000 Rear pads and EBC-DP71308 Green Stuff Series 7000 Front pads arrived today. I installed the fronts and took it for a spin. Very impressive so far! I am taking the toybox out on Saturday and will report back once I have some miles on them.

BTW, the springs that hold the pads out on the fron calipers are slick! Kind of a pain to reinstall but nice none the less.
Michael

 

6686L,

S. Harvey is right get the Powerslots and the Hawk's and you'll be amazed at the shorter stops and lack of fade too! Make sure and get the Cyro'ed ones too to eliminate warlpage down the road too! If you have any questions on them just call us!!

Mark @ DPPI