Hello, Dealership says ours is leaking and wants $300 to replace. What is this part and how important is it that we do this now? Other work recommended is machining rotors and deglazing pads. Said plenty of life left in both so no need to replace yet. Recommended brake flush at same time. How important is it to flush now if fluid is fine? Plus installing our bumpstops and oil change. Altogether they want $915 so trying to determine if we can leave anything out. They are also inspecting steering components while it's up in air. Haven't heard news on that yet.

2001 6.8 V10 4x4.

 

A monkey could replace your steering damper. Walk away from that offer. You can get a good damper from Bilstein for about $100.

DO NOT let them turn your rotors! Walk away from that offer as well.

I would take them up on the brake fluid flush if they are offering a good price on it in conjunction with the oil change/bumpstops.

 

Bilstein $80:

https://www.summitracing.com/parts/b...yABEgKDKvD_BwE

30 min job.

 

Why not let them turn rotors?

 

The dissipation of heat in your brake system is contingent on how much metal is there to do that job. When they turn them, they will be removing metal. You drive a 7500 lb plus vehicle. You need all the heat dissipation you can get. It has been my experience that folks running the lathes rarely remove the bare minimum. They just set the cutter to remove as much as it can without bogging down the machine and let it go. Also, the more material gets removed, the more likely you are to overheat and warp your rotors. I know you pull with your truck. DON'T TURN YOUR ROTORS. Get new ones if there is a problem. They are not that expensive!

 

Only $40 for these (each) 2000-2005 Ford Excursion Brake Rotor - Pronto BR54078 - Front - PartsGeek.com

I used to work in a brake shop. I would NEVER turn rotors on my Excursion.

 

Quote given to us was 1/2 of replacing them altogether. They said rotors still had a few more machinings left in them.

My husband said he'll give it ago with the steering damper. Thanks for that info.

 

I know parts are cheap but we're not attempting brakes and rotors ourself.

 

I can do brake pads and rotors on my truck in less than an hour for front axle. Very easy with minimal tools.

I wish I was there to teach my fellow LE brother how easy it is...

 

My husband has NEVER done brakes before. Not gonna let him try on the Ex. Plus it'd be next year before he gets to it. So I'm at a crossroads. Pay double to replace brakes and rotors when Ford dealership tells me I don't need to or buy more time paying half...

What's LE?

 

You aren't buying time by shaving metal you need off your rotors. On smaller cars that don't tow, you can get away with turning the rotors (sometimes). You need all the metal on the rotors that is supposed to be there. If there is something wrong with them, replace them. This is a "any truck that tows a trailer thing" and an Excursion thing since we are so heavy.

I thought you said your husband was LE?

 

Oh I get it now, yes he is LE. Wow, good memory!

So how many miles should new rotors get if mostly towing? I will spend $ but don't want to have to do that every 2 years! Don't know how old ones on there now are. All I know is they were machined once when we bought it. Thanks for helping us figure this out Nicmike!

 

You should get 40-50 THOUSAND miles out of set of rotors unless you are overweight often or drive like a bat out of hell. I am on my second set of pads on these rotors I am running and about 60 thousand miles. They are still good to go. No deep ruts, gouges or lines in them yet. That is about 4.5 years worth of driving for us.

They don't make rotors like the used to. They are manufactured very close to the minimum thickness allowed right off the factory line.

 

Okay, cool. Definitely not overweight. Don't drive like a bat either. At least not in the Ex!

We've only put on 13K miles in the 21 months we've had it.

What about pads now? They still measured fairly new. If they need to be reglazed just replace them too then?

 

If the old pads are still plenty thick, you just need to make sure and bed them into the new rotors properly. They will continue to work just fine if this is done. Lots of info on the web about bedding rotors after a brake job.

What are your pads made of (friction material: metallic, semi-metallic, ceramic)?