OK, new to this forum, but I know that when you need expertise the best place to go is to those who own the vehicles.

I have a 2002 Ford Excursion 7.3L PSD 4X4. It has the junk factory rotors that warp because they do not dissipate heat well enough. We tow a 34' Travel Trailer, which doesn't help.

Anyway, have dealt with this issue for years now, ready to just "break" down and buy the slotted/drilled rotors.

So...can anybody point me to a reputable place to get them? You put "slotted/drilled" rotors into Google and you get a ton of places that sell them...but that doesn't mean they're any good.

Appreciate anybody who can help me.

 

I bought a set of drilled/slotted rotors and pads from brakeplanet.com and have had good luck with them so far.

Also, if you've had a lot of heat in your brakes, you may want to consider replacing the caliper assemblies as well as the flexible hoses. I ordered these from brakeplanet.com and they paid the return shipping for the cores.

 

FWIW, factory rotors dissipate the heat just fine. It's the pads that are substandard, create too much dust and cause the "warping" you experience. Good pads will make a world of difference.

For rotors; slotted is fine as they can improve brake feel. Drilled just reduces swept area and make for a weaker rotor than not. Just my opinion.

 

coincidentally, I, too, just recently changed front rotors. Got tired of that "EX Rumble". Ordered a slotted/drilled set from an entity called BRAKEPERFORMANCE. $187. for the set of two. Came within five days. Now smooth as silk! Very pleased.

I note from some other posts, that Fords with our brake system (apparently both 250 and 350 trucks) seem to suffer this "front end rumble" after only a relatively short time of rotor use. "Monsta" suggests we go to an after-market pad, which I have done.

How about the rest of you who have done that ? I see some of you have found even the after-market rotors eventually start rumbling and need to be ground.

What about the stock (un-drilled and no slots) rotors I took off. Should I take em to a brake shop and have em ground and keep em as spares, or are they a "lost cause". ?

 

Wow-

6686l with a decent post...impressive

I still have my stock brakes with over 40K miles on them with 35s...maybe mine are better or I brake a little nicer...no shudder and no issues...

my wifes car has 24K and is closer to needing brakes than my X

 

I have 60K on mine with only aftermarket pads and one resurface and one proper bedding procedure. The latter is the "key", IMHO.

My ART's on on my 2000 4x4 Ex on all four corners "warped" due to me not knowing the proper bedding in procedure. Just try getting your slotted &/or drilled rotors resurfaced... PITA.

 

Ouch! Sorry to hear that. Musta ticked you off big time!

20027.3PSDX4x4, a lot of Excursion owners who upgrade due to the problems you've posted about, choose to buy a set of cryo treated rotors, usually from Powerslot or ART.

I chose a set of slotted, Powerslot cryo treated rotors with Hawk LTS pads and couldn't be happier. It solved my "rumble, warped" feeling perfectly!

Stewart

 

Peter,

I think the thickness of your original rotors would determine whether they're worth turning or not. A good shop with a brake lathe should be able to put a caliper on them and let you know if they're worth turning.

My personal experience has been that if they warped the first time, by the time you cut enough off of them to run true, they're so thin that they'll easily warp the next go round. I don't remember if your X is 4wd or not, but if it's a 4wd the rotors are a quick change.

 

thanks for the info - Bill ! Hope you are wrong and my "factory" front rotors will turn out to be useable.

Did you see the "post" I was referring to ? If I recall correctly, at least one guy is reporting that the "rumble came back" even with expensive slotted and drilled after-market rotors. You (or anyone else reading this) know anything about that ?

Obviously, if this is some kind of "disease" with the Excursions, would be smart to keep a set of front rotors in inventory, so that when the rumble starts, (as you note, for those of us with 4WD it is a "no brainer/quick change" operation) we are ready to go with a spare set on hand.

 

Hi Monst !

I think you are wrong about the brake pad issue.

I have thrown a couple of hundred bucks at front brake pads from various vendors, and accomplished nothing ! These new slotted and drilled front rotors I bought solved the problem. (nasty and distracting front-end rumble when braking). What I DONT know, is whether the rumble is going to come back.

It MAY be that Ford screwed up on its calculations for brakes on the EX - I am not competent to really analyze this issue in any great detail - wonder if maybe "hard" braking was part of my problem. I bought my EX to tow VERY heavy loads (at or above factory load limits) and was having to REALLY use my brakes to stop the damn thing. My car/box trailer is a 24 footer, weighs, I just learned 3,500 lbs. The twelve cylinder Packard at 5,600 lbs, together with tools, old Playboy Calendar Girl posters, and various misc. crap, clearly takes me up around the factory spec'd limit.

To make matters worse, the cheapo three axle trailer I bought (because I am stupid, but you already know that) had dinky little 10" drum brakes ONLY on the front and rear axles. I just installed brakes on the CENTER axle, and it makes a world of difference - with a PROPER electric brake controller, and brakes on ALL the trailer wheels, I barely have to touch the brake pedal to get a nice, controlled, smooth and POWERFUL stop.

I also think you are wrong about the "drilling" issue. Of course you are correct that all those holes reduce the surface area. I am not smart enough to calculate how much in "per-centage". But even if I was, I would still say you are wrong, for the simple reason that they are (supposed to ..?) provide MUCH better cooling. If that is correct, and if it is heat that is giving us problems with front rotor warping, then "drilled" rotors are the way to go. A lot smarter guys then me ( which, admittedly, isnt saying much) use drilled rotors in "extreme duty" situations such as racing. I am going to assume they know what they are doing !

 

Drilling rotors is a move typical of applications where weight is an issue ie. motorcycles, race cars, drag cars. these types of applications also use rotors that are NOT vertically cooled like ours.

Motorcycle rotor



Our rotors as you can see on your spare set, has two metal discs that are seperated by veins (layman's terms). When the wheel turns these acts as fans/turbines and pull air through them. This cools the rotors.



Also because of the design, I find it difficult to believe that the rotor can actually come out of round. If it were one solid piece then I could see it. But our rotors are not. In fact, motorcycle rotors are typically floating rotors, like in the picture above. Those round things between the gold part and the rotor allow the rotor to float and not be solidly attached the carrier (gold part). This is to compensate for when it DOES come out of round.

Anyway, our truck's brakes don't suffer from poor cooling. They suffer (from the factory) with extremely dusty pads which exasperates the material transfer problem.

Most folks do not properly bed in brakes. That creates the same "warping" problem no matter what you use. I would guess that it is the biggest problem "we" have with our brakes.

I switched to a higher quality pads with an advertised "low dust" feature, broke them in properly and have had no issues in 50K. I don't tow heavy anymore but do have a lot of extreme inclines and situations where the brakes can get very, very hot.

 

hey monsta, i am having some issues myself, is there a special method to bleading our brakes that differs from the normal routine??? i did 2 new front calipers, and all new front pads, and had the front rotors cut but when i am hitting the brake i am getting s slight vibration and ripple sound.. not sure if it is uneven cut rotors, or possibly the rear brakes....

 

David,

Tell me the procedure you used to bed in your brakes.

There is no special way to bleed the brakes on these trucks. Standard stuff.

 

well i had the little lady inside and i loosened the fitting, had her push the pedal to the floor till the bubbles where out, tightened the fitting, had her release, loosened had her push to the floor, and so on and so on till no air, tightened and had her release and thats it....

 

Yeah...that's bleeding. Tell you what, we'll take OUR conversation to your thread.