I have a 2003 PSD Excursion with 62K miles. I purchased it about 2 months ago. It was a buyback vehicle and under CA law the dealer must provided a bumper to bumper, unlimited mileage warranty for 1 year. Over the last couple weeks my brakes feel like they are pulsating. I have put on about 10k miles and about 4k is towing my 7000lb trailer. I called the dealer to see if this was under the warranty and they said to bring it in and let them look at it. He said it might be covered but it also might fall under wear and tear which is not covered under warranty. Is there something I can check to see if it might be wear and tear vs. an ABS issue or some other issue that might be under warranty? If it is wear and tear and not under warranty, I would like to upgrade the brakes/rotors. Thanks for your help.

 

Doubt that it is an ABS issue. Your rotors are suffering for pad material transfer. (Some folks mistakingly call it "warped" rotors)

Your best bet would be for them to resurface the rotors (on THEIR dime) and then go out an buy some quality, low-dust brake pads. Bed them in properly and you should be good. Also, make sure they use a torque wrench to reinstall the lugs to 150-165lb ft and to NOT use an impact wrench.

 

I have a pretty bad steering wheel vibration when i slam on the brakes quickly at highway speed. It seems if im not to abrupt with the brake application its smooth as butter. I just noticed this today and im gonna test it some more on my way home. Seems weird if i jab em my steeringw heel shakes so much its liek a paint can shaker, but if i roll em on and brake hard still its smooth. Makes me wonder what exactly is going on.

I was gonna try to have my rotors cut slightly at a local shop before i leave for memphis sunday. Im trying to decide if i should go with another pad or if it would be ok to use the old pad on a freshly cut rotor. Seems like it might be a bad idea but if the pad has a lot of meat left on it still i dont wanna just throw em away. Even though i should since they dust like CRAZY!

 

I think "Monsta" has you on the right track. I run Performance Friction Pads on Brembo rotors on my Ex's. I took the time to Burn in or bed these pads when I installed them and have not had ANY "Brake Shake". I agree that a lot of the problems that people call warped rotors is actually Pad material transfer.

BTW the Performance Friction pads really improved stopping power, and I don't seem to see very much brake dust on my rims.

Frank

 

i have been using the NAPA ceramic brakes on my Excursion, Expedition and Grand Pix and have not had any problems. These did replace the factory pads that did build up pad material on the rotors. I have a friend in the brake bussiness and he resurfaced my rotors for a beer or three!!!!. Also check the rear rotors if you live in a area that uses road salt in winter, Mine were pitted and the outter most part of the rotor was delaminating, after my first pull of the TT this summer. Now that was a scary ride home. Just front breaks and the trailer brakes with the rear breaks causing a hughe vibration.

 

I just started another thread like this one. Seem to having the same issue. And, thinking good rotors and pads. What is the right way to bed, or break them in?

 

Listen to Monsta, and also do a search. You will find there are literally dozens of threads covering this very topic.

Back when I had this problem, I had the OEM rotors turned a total of three times within 24 months, but the problem would be back within a tankful of gas.

I needed a permanent solution.

After copious amounts of searching on this forum, I discovered there are a bunch of people who have upgraded to the [u]cryo treated[/] Powerslot rotors and Hawk LTS pads, and that it solved the "warped rotor feeling" permanently. So I ordered a set of cryo treated front rotors (not the standard OEM replacement rotors) from Mark at DPPI (a supporting vendor for this site) and couldn't be happier.

It's my understanding the cryo treated rotors from ART (Applied Rotor Technology) holds up well too.

Stewart

 

I went with the Power Slot Cryos and the Hawk SD pads on the front only on my 03 6.0 CC LB at 70k. That was about 48k ago and after putting new NAPA rotors on at 35k. I decided not to go through that again and sacked up and went the the HD setup. All has been fine until the last couple thousand miles where the brakes have started to shudder again. I was told at one point the calliper slides may cause this if they are starting to get worn. Now I read here it may be PMT (pad material transfer). That is a new one to me but I don't discount it. My questions are this (and I hope this adds to the thread, not hijacks it)

1. Can Cryo treated Power Slot rotors be faced to remove the pad material?
2. Will the Cryo PS rotors warp under normal conditons?
3. Is the caliper slide wear a possibility?

I have pulled the RF wheel and shook the caliper but don't really know how much movement is normal. I could cross check against the rear and might see a difference but if it is the same, is that because it is normal or because the rears are loose to? My truck has 118k on it. I suspect that if the rear caliper slides were loose too I would notice that. As it is, I only notice the shudder in the fronts (steering wheel).

Thanks,

Big

 

best thing to do is research, research and then try to get the best rotors and pads for the money you want to spend. Just relize what is at risk and is it worth a little more!! The X's are heavy truck and are asked to do alot of hauling or towing. Extra money well spent is worth it. One thing I have found out from experience is if you do one axel you might as well do the other right from the start.
Good luck

 

I'm TOTALLY Convinced that most if not all the "Brake Shake" we get is from pad material transfer. What makes me sure of that is the fact that my 2000 had the shakes BAD at 40,000 with factory rotors and pads. Because of some travel I was doing, the truck got parked for about 6 months and developed quite a bit of surface rust on the rotors durring that time. When I started driving it again and the rust got removed from the rotors....guess what....no more "Brake Shake".

I've since changed to Brembo rotors and Performance Friction Pads, and did a GOOD burn-in on the new pads. So far no Shake and greatly improved stopping power.

Frank