I know that this issue has had some discussion, but I haven't been able to find any answers. My '07 SCrew 4x4 has always had "soft" brakes, but they stop fine in my daily driving as I always coast to a stop or when slowing. Mostly rural highway driving. Even when in-town I try to anticipate stops to avoid sudden braking. But we were just on a trip to a city where they have traffic lights on 45-55 mph roads, and when the light changes you need to stop in a hurry. There were several times I thought I wasn't going to make it, the pedal just keeps going down! And more than once I overshot where I wanted to stop. Has anyone had any luck getting the dealer to do anything about this under warranty? I wouldn't want to have to stop suddenly if I had a load in it. The brake are fine for long, steep descents, no fade or anything, just the really soft pedal and not much initial "bite".

 

This may help. http://www.f150online.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=275699
*Look down to post #11. Let us know how it goes.

 

Darn, thats a good post!!

 

very interesting....my pedal is the same way and it annoy's the HE(( out of me....especially wh en i have a load on the back....then i think i'm going to go through the red light...i never do but i dont like the way the pedal feals...

 

So the only thing they did was adjust the push rod?

 

Well I did the mod and I must say that there is a noticable difference in brake pedal feel. I had the dogs with me so I couldn't use them like I wanted to but I did notice a difference. What an easy mod.

 

Do you remember how far it was adjusted? My pedal feel is acceptable, but others could be helped by knowing this.

 

FS-150,
Thanks for the link. I'll be letting my dealership know about this!

 

pedal feel is just that, it does not necessarily indicate brake pad pressure. Motorcycle Manufactures play around with brake feel a lot more than automobile guys. My 2007 has what I would call vague feel, it's not spongy because there is a progressive pressure to the pedal, not like there is air in the lines. Songy brakes need to be bled or have the flex brake lines changed to one of the performance brake lines (metal, kevlar, etc). The initial bite of brakes depends mostly upon the break pad material. Someone who was a brake engineer spoke up on another thread on this subject and expressed concern on playing with that adjustment and possible lock-up of the calipers under heat load. I think he has a point, altering set points by feel seems to be a thing of the past to me. Those days are done along with carbs and real distributers. Many motorcycle manufacturers receive input on brake feel and adjust the master cylinder according to feedback, auto companies should receive the same feedback. Go to the dealership or the Ford website and complain, it may be different because the adjustment was changed from last year for a reason not explained as of yet.

 

I turned it about a half of a turn. Probably could of turned more but didn't have the time to make several adjustments. Also didn't want to turn too far and get the brake lock up that I have read about.

 

I've had it with these spongy brakes,(05 scab) had mine in dealership in SW Oklahoma Monday,,,they said it was "normal" on the '04 up, re-design booster or something. Typ. with these models. I can press the pedal almost within 2-3 inches from the floor , when idling in park. Feels just like air in the lines. I checked an 06 that a guy ownes at work, and it does the same thing,,(if you mesh it down fairly hard). You just dont have that firm positive brake feeling. They said they've had a lot of complaints about this. I am going to adj. that rod out just a little, if its that easy to get to. I activated the ABS module (cycled it) several times on a gravel road about 2 wks ago, makes a horrible noise, (which is normal) and it seemed to be a little better, I was hoping, if there was some air in the module, that maybe it would push out to the wheels so i could bleed the brakes.(the module cannot be bleed w/out a special device to cycle it) but i think its just the new design. I really don't know what it would do if i had to slam on the brakes in an emergency situation. I want to try this sometime, take everything out of the cab thats not tied down, and the bed,, and just stomp it w/ounce of energy i got! I'd REALLY be concerned if i carried a heavy load, or a heavy trailer. My '01 wasn't like this. OK my .02 worth....paul

 

Just because you don't think the brake pedal feels right is not a good reason to mess with any type of brake adjustment. You cannot go by how you think it should feel. The auto manufacturers do a lot of testing and research to make sure your brakes are working to certain standards, they don't go by how the pedal feels.

Have you run any skid pad tests? Are you going to run skid path tests before and after you mess with your brakes? Do you have the equipment to measure the results of a skid path test? Your best served by trusting the experts. Are you willing to accept the liability and responsibility that the manufacturer has already assumed? If you make changes then you need to assume the liability.

If you want more stopping power, switch to a cross drilled or slotted rotor with the appropriate pads as recommended by their manufacturers. Of course you may not like the way they feel.

 

Ford has been having issues with air bubble in the abs motors on most of their newer brake systems . At my job alone two f150's and several mini vans are having the same issue. Usually the problem can be corrected if the dealer takes enough time to get ALL the air out of the brake lines.

 

It's not just a "feel" thing, this truck doesn't stop well. I mean, 2 or 3 feet past where I want it to stop may not sound like a big deal, but in an emergency it could mean a lot. My '01 F350 would stop much shorter than this, and it weighed almost 2k more. My old '79 stopped faster. This truck has the worst brakes of any truck I've ever had, except for my F600. The hardware is all there, so there must be something the dealer can do to make this better.

 

Don't know what to tell you there, except that unless you have data to show that what your saying is true, then you're only guessing. My wife has a '91 Jeep Cherokee that has anti lock brakes and it never feels like it's going to stop in time, but you know what, it does. You may be misjudging your braking distances, learn your vehicle and adjust your driving habits accordingly.

On the other hand if you think that there is a problem it would then be very important to get it to the dealer and have them check it out.