My 02 powerstroke has developed the shakeing wheel problem when breaking. Word of mouth says its either warped rotors or pad material is stuck on the rotor? IM at about 77k miles. Buts its a highway driven truck and if i tow its only a modest boat that doesnt even feel like its there.
Forgive my ignorance on this subject. Im an electrician, not a car mechanic. But i have two old Rangers that have been very high milage and have never had the shakeing symptom. All i have ever done is just replace the pads and they were fine. Also, is the rotor built in to the hub in one piece like my 87 Ranger 4x4 or does the rotor come off in a different way so you dont have to take all the hub assembley and bearings apart? Lastly, i heard a rumor now that they have a way to turn the rotors while still on the truck? Thanks in advance for any help. Joe

 

Joe,
The Superduty and their rotor warping problem is common. You should check both the front and rear rotors. They both are removable from the hubs but the rears can be a bear to get off; some people heat them with a tourch, others loosen the rear lugs and hit the brakes while backing up to break them loose from the hubs.

I do believe some rotors can be cut without removing them from the vehicle; I don't know if thats true for the Superduty. Know that once they are cut, the odds of them warping again is greater as there is now less material to disapate the heat.

You should be able to find good info by searching the site on disassembly of the brakes and rotors.

Good luck!

Steve

 

Pad material on the rotors is not a terrible thing, infact, some break procedures include a step for applying some evenly. I've done a bit of reading on the subject and it's not so much warped, as hot spotted. When you brake hard and come to a complete stop, the pads hold their heat on the rotor, then the gets a bit of temper on that spot. Perhaps a little of the pad material may become glued as well.

Since you have a shimmy, I'd replace the rotors. Then follow my normal break-in. 3 stops (I only call them stops, do not stop but slow down very quickly almost fast enough to engage the ABS) from 15 to 5mph, three more from 35 to 5mph, and three more from 50 to 5mph. You can vary the numbers as you like, but do not come to full stop. Your rotors and pads will be very hot, I've seen mine smoke before. This will temper the rotors and apply some pad material so you aren't braking with pad to metal.

Then every so often, do a couple more of the 35 to 5mph stops to keep the rotors coated. Also don't come to a complete stop after heavy braking, let the pads drag a little to dissipate some heat.

 

Just to elaborate a little on ReAX post.......if you replace the rotors and pads there are really two breakins you need to do. The procedures vary depending on whether the rotors are plated or what material the pads are made of, but the idea is generally the same. The rotor surfaces should be thoroughly cleaned with something like Brake Free to get all of the packing oil/rust preventative off. Then they should be "seasoned" by gradually getting them up to operating temperature with a few miles of easy driving. This will stress relieve the rotor and prevent the vibration caused by hot spotting when rotors are heated too quickly. Now you can bed the pads to the rotor. The binder that holds the friction material together on the pad will burn and coat the rotor when the right temperature is reached. As already described....you want to perform a series of hard stops from slow speed to higher speed to accomplish this. The idea is to work the temperature up gradually. Do not stop and I would not recommend dragging the brake. Rather you should coast or drive a few miles to get airflow and cooling to occur on the rotor. Then repeat. After this is accomplished drive for a few hundred miles....optimum... before any severe duty or heavy towing and you should be fine. Just my $.02 based on experience with track cars.

 

I appreciate the advice on the brake issue. My question is what is your thought on the replacemnt rotors. Totall high dollar stuff, cheap, or someplace in the middle? I generally use decent middle of the road stuff. And my truck made it to 77k with the factory rotors and all. Just wanted some ideas on what brand of parts and where to buy? Joe

 

that depends i just went thru that last week napa charged me 883 calipers and rotos put pads on up front to and locked up those calipers the shop laid me aay for new parts upfront 883 more and put the back parts on his total 1500 plus 883parts

 

The slotted or drilled rotors are a fad, as is cryo tempering. The pads you should be using are either baked by the factory or will be baked during your break-in. The rotors will get tempering during the break-in as well. If your not going to bother breaking them in, then you will probably want factory baked pads and tempered rotors. If your going to do a break-in procedure, it's not that important.

Now for the manufactures, a good flat rotor from one of the name brands or their re-labeled white box counterparts are a decent choice. Performance Frictions' 2pc rotors will be my next set, but Brembo and Baer probably have an equally nice offering. For pads, you have to watch the compound a little. The severe/heavy/extreme duty pads are mixed to operate at a higher temperature than a non-towing vehicle will see. The less "aggressive" or speed rated pad is usually the better choice for low to no towing vehicles (unless your autocross racing.)

I have Hawks regular pads and I am not very impressed with them. They take a little heat to begin working properly, usually lightly dragging the brakes for 50-100yards does the trick. They broke in pretty well though.

 

here is a link that might be helpful as well:POWERSTROKEHELP.COM - The Information Source for Ford Power Stroke Diesel Owners

Is from a diesel website but brakes are brakes

 

I agree with the break in periods as well. I just had the brakes done on my truck again. I told my mechanic to use OEM Ford. The cost a little more but I did get almost 60K out of them. I tried the ART's and I was very disappointed. Warped rotors by 25k, had them cut and after another 20k they where showing signs of cracking.

 

From what I have heard, most of the rotors you get from the parts store are all made in China. Less than a week ago, I had rotors and pads replaced all the way around on my Ex. The rotors are from CarQuest (the premium line) and the pads are Hawk LTS.

I bedded the brakes in as per the instructions included with my pads, and have a tad over 1000 miles on them. The beast stops incredibly well compared to the stuff that was on there before.

Hope this helps with your decision.

 

Thanks for the advice men. I have some time off coming up next month and will tackle this project. Dosent look hard to replace the rotors and pads so i will give it a shot myself. I will do some more checking on the choices of rotors. It sounds like its better to just replace them then to bother with having them turned. Thanks Joe

 

Thanks for the post everyone.

I'm going through the same issue.

however I was wondering if there is any diffreance in the rotors from front to rear.
it's a 2000 SD. V10

thanks again

 

I am pretty sure the fronts are much larger. Plus the rears have a drum in the hat for the ebrakes. Front brakes do the vast majority of the vehicles braking, our bias is going to be in the 90/10 area because when it's unloaded all of the weight is on the front tires. It's supposed to be an electrical bias rather than the classical proportional valve.

 

i've had spotting on mine, also. It looks like voids in the casting. I bought lifetime guarantee rotors and loaded calipers from NAPA. I just installed my third set all around on the guarantee.

 

If you service the brakes in the spring and fall, ie lube the slide pins, clean out dust and dirt etc, the calipers will work a lot better and there will be less rotor warpage.