Brake upgrades
 

Has anyone done any upgrades to the brake system on their truck, other than just brake pads? I have an '04 F-150 Scab, and after driving the wife's car around for a while, I've noticed that it takes my truck quite a bit longer to come to a stop. Now I know that her car is a lot lighter than my truck but I should be able to add/change something in the brake system like rotors or calipers to achieve a shorter stopping distance. Anybody upgrade their rotors/calipers? Was it worth the cost? Thanks for your help.

Ditto
 

Got the same question. The brakes are the worst aspect of my truck.

I have an '05. I had a problem with front and rear rotors warping. Ford addressed it under warranty once, but warranty expired and rotors warped again.
I went w/ aftermarket drilled and slotted on both front and rear.
I never really had a problem with braking distance, just bad rotors.

I have had these on for about 50,000 miles now and they work fine.

I am very happy with the baking efficiency, but that was never really a complaint of mine to begin with. Not sure if what I did would help your complaint or not, but thought I'd mention it as a FWIW kind of thing.

I too would like to change the brakes if for no other reason than to find ones that don't leave so much brake dust on the rims. Any ideas?

I have this particular problem when i am slowing down, my brakes seem to shake a bit, i don't know if its because of the velocity of the truck or the fact that i have bad rotors? I am still under warranty, so i think i will take it too my ford dealer, which seem to always never have time to help you, we shall see! Its wierd the shaking happens only when im slowing down from 60 down, and at times 35 mph and down, but very rarely.

Its pretty difficult to find good quality brakes, but i would look around and browse, i am sure you will run into some!

I believe there was a thread a while back about this. Something about adjusting the master cylinder I believe...Maybe someone who remembers while chime in.

I sent an e-mail to ford from the web page and made my complaint about the breaks and the pads, the rep told me the only way it would address the problems is if they get enough complaints. So let FOrd know so we can all get this fixed.

Ford needs to back up their reputation with the rotors or brakes, seems to me everyone who owns a f150 at one point or another, forsee's a problem with their brake system? I gonna go to my dealer hopefully tommorow or next week since, i work so damn much, but they better address my issue since, im still under warranty. Keeping fingures crossed.

BrianA,

What brand of aftermarket rotors did you use? Where did you get them and for how much? If you replaced pads, what brand, where did you get them and for how much? Thanks.

I got my rotors from rotorpros.com. They use Centric blanks, which are supposed to be pretty good.
I don't remember exactly how much. Seems like about $400-$450 for all four rotors.

Pads are Bendix, but I have had good luck with others. I really can't tell whole lot of difference with pads.

Check the FTE sponsors. A few of them sell rotors.

My problem is that stupid spongy feel,,,, does anyone know any advise on this? I feel like i can't stop quick enough sometimes because the pedal just keeps going down, everythings working o.k.,,(i think) its just that spongy feel. is this contolled by the PCM? maybe i just need to keep mashing the pedal hard as i can. I though about taking it out somewhere, away from traffic and whatever else, and just stomp the pedal hard to the floor like in an emergency stop and see what happens. Any ideas??? '05 scab 4.6 6.5" bed. thanks...............paul

Spongy you say? Never heard of that particualr problem! I am aiming on getting aftermarket brake system, but gonna do really good research before actually purchasing a set? Anybody familar with any really good sets other than the ones metioned above? Just seems that the ford brakes, seem to warp entirely too quick; i've noticed a couple other customers complaining about the same issue at my local ford dealer, so i am not alone!

My 04 Lariat S'Crew also took longer to stop than I liked and the pedal was soft. As I plan to install a supercharger soon I wanted to make the I could stop the truck before making it go any faster. My solution was to install the AP Racing front brake system from Stillen. Huge six piston calipers that clamp down on monsterous 15" slotted and drilled ventilated rotors.

They weren't cheap - over $3K but this truck stops right NOW! The pedal is very firm (a nice change) probably due, in part, to the included braided stainless brake lines and they look incredible too. I can't say enough about the quality of the kit.

http://www.stillen.com/product_images/AP4900.jpg

I went with Brembo rotors,wilwood calipers and braided stainless brake lines. It was not cheap but not as much as the AP kit(which is top of the line). It cost me about 1,900.00.

If your brakes are spongy I would try bleeding the brakes in order to get any air out of the system, air in the brake lines / calipers will give you spongy brakes...