I am the original owner on my 2001 PSD excursion. From the get go, I have had brake rotor problems with them warping. You get them trued and shortly after they waro again. I am not hard on the brakes... I do tow, but am careful about how I apply the brakes, etc. Recently I finally just bought another set. The Ford service guy said the motorcraft ones had been improved, yada yada yada. well, with less than a year on them they are causing me chatter issues.

Any recommendations on getting this resolved and done right. I have 125K miles on my truck and want to keep it forever.

 

What you might be experiencing is a build up of pad material on your rotors rather than them warping. Sometimes the studdering is worse than others for no apparent reason.
Many have gone to Powerslot Cryo Rotors and Hawk Pads to rid themselves of this problem. Just make sure you follow the instructions to set everything properly.Hope this helps. Good luck.

 

The service writer told me it was most likely my driving habits. Funny, how nothing is ever the product.

 

All you need to do is spend some time on the site and you will know more than 95% of the service writers. They simply smile and get upset when you question them and are armed with the facts and regardless it is your fault not theirs or Fords.

 

I have the powerslots and hawk pads and would highly recommend them. Just make sure you bed them in correctly. Easy to do but necessary.

I had my original rotors cut at 5k and then at 15k I replaced them. It was out of warranty at 15k otherwise I would have had them recut again under warranty.

 

I had heard of issues with the torque of lugs creating problems too. Might want to check that also. there is a spec but I will be danged if I can find it. I too had problems just after a tire rotation and blamed them. Of course, they didnt pay for it. Tight is tight, right? I am sure you find posts about it.

 

I have heard that you need to properly torque the lug nuts properly. I typically torque them to 155 and then top them off to the recommended 165. And, of course the star pattern.

I read on another site, from a man who tested brake systems for a living, that the warping should be placed in quotes. "Warping". The reason is that it is usually hard spots from hot spots created during braking. Machining makes the rotors smooth and then, as the softer material is removed during braking, there are high and low spots which create pulsating when braking. Once the hard spots are there it is an endless circle. Regardless of which type of rotors you install you need new ones.

I picked up some drilled/slotted Royalty Rotors, Royalty Rotors , and I installed them with the supplied pads.

I have been pleased with them. They cured my "warping" until I was in 23 degree weather during a blizzard in Montana in February. I got some minor pulsating then. But a trip to a local - first quality - front end shop where they machined them. They have not warped again.

So, I suggest you get drilled rotors (I have no opinion as to which ones) and pads recommended by the rotor manufacturer.

Now, I suspect, that there are some who will tell you that, with holes drilled in the rotors, you loose rotor surface and, therefore, braking power. However, the holes degas the gases built up during braking and you get more pad to metal contact and therefore better braking. And, the holes in the rotors draw cooler air through the holes and out the vents cooling the rotors.

I, and I believe everyone else that I have read, agrees that drilled rotors are a great upgrade to an Excursion.