There is still some pad left on the rear tires but it seems like they are scratching the rotors. Is changing the rear pads the same as the front ones? How do i remove the rotor to get it turned?

 

its a 07 expy el

 

Rear brakes are a piece of cake, I changed both sides in less than an hour. Don't bother turning the rotors just but new.

Mark

 

Just replaced the rears and fronts today. The rears had about 10% left, fronts 20%. Cutting it close I know. Truck has 55K miles, 60/40 freeway/city not towing. Turned rotors. They have so much material on these rotors it's crazy. Really well built. Used Wagner Thermoquiet pads. Whole thing cost about $150.

 

Its a relief to hear of all the material on these rotors. I did wifey's 03 Gran Marquis pads/rotors. One or two had some minor grooves and I took them in to be turned. Turns out there was not enough to turn, no extra OEM. I checked them with my calipers and they were telling the truth.

My 07 El 2W is zooming in on 30K so I don have any worries for a while. I think I am going to have to do something about this "dusting", really a pain. Either I change to a different pad, or try these pans that shield the wheel and have a "fan" built in. I will search on the pads, but has anyone tried the pans? (cant think of their name right now)

 

Those pans as they can call them. I heard years back they restrict air flow, causing heat problems. I tried using wax on my chrome-clad,,, bad idea. I think the wax, when it gets hot may soften, then causing the pad dust to stick even more. I think chrome cleaner and do it monthly. Any one else had better luck waxing?? Oh 07 EL.

 

Don't bother with the "pans". Whether they have fins or not, they do not deliver the cooling needed to make your braking system very happy. If dusting is an issue than try a different pad. EBC makes pads that help with the dusting issue and keep your braking distances within and most times better than factory spec.

Now let's tackle the rotor issue. Sure... you can look up the specs of the rotors and get all smiley and happy that you can run down to your automart and have them turned to save a couple bucks. You're better off not turning them at all. If you want to get out on the cheap then just pad slap the damn thing and be done with it. The factory thickness spec is x and the "allowable" thickness spec is y. You could probably go through 4-5 sets of pads without cutting a rotor before you get from x to y. Once you go cheap and decide to cut that rotor you go right from just below x to "hopefully" just over y. Now you have a rotor that's close to minimum spec, creates MORE heat on braking, and has a much greater possiblility to introduce pulsation nevermind a greater stopping distance. It might only be a few feet of stopping distance, but that counts.

If you absolutely, positively, HAVE to get those damn rotors cut so you can stick it to the man, then spend the extra bucks and have the rotors cut with an on-the-car-lathe. Bringing your rotors down to Johnny's Brake Shop on the corner is going to get you more runout cut INTO your rotors than if you had just pad slapped the thing and been done with it. In all the years I worked in shops, be it private or dealer, I NEVER saw a lathe tech come in and balance out or measure out a brake lathe. Put a rotor on any "blue" lathe you see at your local jobber shop and I GUARANTEE you will cut more runout into your rotor than what you started with. The on-car lathe prevents this by cutting the rotor to the runout that's inherent to the axle and rotor that's being cut.

Of course, if you're going to put the money out for the on-car process than it's only a couple bucks more just to replace the damn things anyway!!

Go cheap on your stereo. You don't need the super-woofer that costs $400 when the good-woofer will do the same thing for $100. Save your money there. Don't go cheap on your brakes. The 5 extra feet of stopping distance on those new rotors might just be worth it someday.

 

I have a 1960 F100 Pick Up Truck that I am doing a rear brake job on. The previous owner gutted the rear housing and im trying to find the pieces to get the park brake working again. The park brake is complete and in working order back to the rear axle. I need two things, one a good picture of the rear brake and park brake assembly if anyone is willing to do that for me, and secondly info on second hand or new parts. The ford dealers only go back to 1965. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanx
Mike H (mikehawbaker@hotmail.com)

 

Are you saying the lathes get out of adjustment and you can not get a true parallel cut on the rotors?

 

Yes. There's virtually no way to cut a rotor on a brake lathe and not cut runout into the rotor. Those lathes can be somewhat precise if they are maintained very well and have their shafts trued and measured, but I've never seen it done and those things get abused at most shops. Take a peek at the spanner that tightens the cone nut and I bet you'll see smash marks all over it from the guys beating the thing to get the rotor nice and tight against the shaft backplate. Not very productive if you're looking ot get a nice clean and troublefree cut.

The on-car however makes a cut on the rotor that takes into account the runout of the entire wheel/hub assembly. When the on-car is set up you actually use a dial indicator to adjust the runout of the entire process. The cutting blade assembly is adjusted to cut as perfectly straight as possible. Usually within a thousandth or two of actual runout. You won't get anywhere near that with the bench lathe.

Most shops don't use them though because they take much longer to set up. If the shop cuts rotors at all because I worked at some that wouldn't cut rotors. Period. They did'nt even have a lathe.

 

Makes sense now. Thanks for the explanation. My Ford dealer cut the rotors on my last Expy with the on car lathe and that was the first time I had heard of this.

What is the standard charge for the on car cut? Off car is about $15-20 per rotor around here.

 

ggdyup, what's your take on new rotors? Does aftermarket have any specs they need to abide by? Are OEM always better?

 

If you are paying $20 to turn them, I bought new ones from carquest for $35/piece. Almost as cheap to buy new because they usually don't have much to turn on the stock rotors making them thinner and more susceptible to warping.

Mark