Rotor and Pad prefrence

[The Capps']

Hello, I need to get some new rotors, I'm at 7200 miles and still on the Original rotors. The last pad change did I bought motorcraft pads, as I had a bad experience with the after market ones I got the change before that. I don't remember the brand but something from like autozone or pepboys i'm sure. I've considered slotted or drilled and slotted rotors but I hear they eat pads, So any input on the rotors would be a help. Then I was looking at the "green stuff" pads, Anyone used them before? any comments? I don't drive my truck very often as I have a company service truck I drive all the time. Usually when I drive my truck its to go offroad, short trips, hunting trips. But it doesn't get much lovin. So right now i'm in the process of doin all kinds of maintenace stuff, oil change, radiator flush and refill, tranney service, diff service (front and rear), I just installed the lift shackles and Torsion twist. I need to get my hood painted and fab a front bumper. Well any input on the pads and rotors would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.

 

[Bill]

It would probably be a good idea to check the thickness on the rotors before spending the money on a new set.

Any name brand (Bendex, Raybestos, etc) will work. Same thing with the pads.

If you buy the $30 made in China rotors and the $20 brake pads you will get what you pay for. The good stuff will cost at least twice as much, but I'm sure you will be much happier with brake pads that don't fade when they get a little warm. I learnt that lesson a few years ago when I bought some "econo-line" brake pads and had to drive in 115 degree heat near Fresno. It almost doubled my braking distance. I replaced them with semi-metallics and the problem went away.

 

[The Capps']

It would probably be a good idea to check the thickness on the rotors before spending the money on a new set.

Any name brand (Bendex, Raybestos, etc) will work. Same thing with the pads.

If you buy the $30 made in China rotors and the $20 brake pads you will get what you pay for. The good stuff will cost at least twice as much, but I'm sure you will be much happier with brake pads that don't fade when they get a little warm. I learnt that lesson a few years ago when I bought some "econo-line" brake pads and had to drive in 115 degree heat near Fresno. It almost doubled my braking distance. I replaced them with semi-metallics and the problem went away.

I haven't checked the thickness but there are some pretty good cracks in them. Plus I'd just feel better knowing I have a new set. I found a set of slotted brembos on ebay for 99.00 with free shipping. There is one more set if anyone is interested. For the pads I think I'm leaning towards something from EBC eaither the green stuff or red stuff. I don't mind spending money on good stuff, and I have always felt the same "you get what you pay for" If its for a vehicle That i like and drive, I want something good, if not the best.

 

[kevinsranger]

let me know about the green stuff pads, the pepboys by my house has them for 14.99

 

[Broaner]

Brembo only FTW. Slotted if you're looking for a bit of extra fade protection. Otherwise Brembo Blanks if you don't want any slight pulsations from the slots. They can be had at Tirerack.com for $40. Pads are a toss up for me. I like the bite of aftermarket bi-metaillic pads but they can squeak a lot so I've been going with Wagner's for the truck. They're real quiet but fade easily when towing.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

I had a set of the $40 Napa pads on the front of my F-150, made all sorts of noise and turned my rims black. I ended up pitching a otherwise good set of pads and replaced them with Motorcraft, they were a little more money but are a far superior pad.

I haven't noticed much if any brake fade while towing, but the trailer has brakes too.

 

[Muscleford]

I have EBC Green Stuff on my 5.) Merc Capri and like them alot. Not much dust and stop excellent. I am puzzled about kevinsranger comment about the price $14.99. I paid quite a bit for mine for the Capri. I wouldn't buy a pad that cheap.

 

[The Capps']

let me know about the green stuff pads, the pepboys by my house has them for 14.99

14.99 for green stuff? Thats a steal, I'd buy them for 14.99 in a heart beat. Are they clearenced or what? I might have to go check out pepboys around here to see what they got.

 

[The Capps']

I had a set of the $40 Napa pads on the front of my F-150, made all sorts of noise and turned my rims black. I ended up pitching a otherwise good set of pads and replaced them with Motorcraft, they were a little more money but are a far superior pad.

I haven't noticed much if any brake fade while towing, but the trailer has brakes too.

My experience exactly, Bought what was the "best" pad available from a chain auto store, Wore fast, a lot of brake dust, Crappy pads all around. Had to go back to the dealer for some motorcrafts, little to no dust, great wear, decent stopping. Thats why I'm a little iffy on buying another set of aftermarket pads especially ebc pads High dollar anywhere from 70.00 to 130.00 Depending on which ones you get.

 

[CraigK]

Good thread. I'm going to check out the Brembo rotors, as I'm tired of the pulsing every time I brake . . .

My approach to brake pads is to buy the softest (usually the cheapest) pads, which stop well, but are easy on the rotors. It's easy and cheap to replace the pads, which I do more often than with premium pads, but it saves the rotors. Unfortunately, the last rotors I put on were Elcheapos from Somewhere-where-they-recycle-sodacans, and quickly warped.

CraigRK

 

[AllanD]

Bendix, ITT-Aimco and Bosch were all factory suppliers of brake rotors
for the Rangers and Explorers.

Bendix and Bosch were factory brake pad suppliers

Bendix and Bosch were the manufacturers of Calipers.

By random chance (not intentional choice) my 1997 D35
two piston setup is all Bosch.

My spare rotors are ITT-Aimco (made in Canada) aftermarket replacements
and I have a set of Made-in-China rotors NIB around here somewhere.

The one set of Factory pads I have in my toolbox (new ones)
are ink stamped in FoMoCo script on the backing plates
but looking at the pads from the backing plate side
the plates are stamped "ABEX" on the "left" tab.
Which I take to be an abbeviation for Allied-Bendix.


The Factory Bendix/Bosch semi-metallic pads are quite hard.
They wear like Iron (for a damned good reason) and are very
fade resistant, but are understandably poor on initial retardation
(cold braking performance on first application)

I find that the Bendix pads on my truck (I've got about a year and
almost 20k miles on them) take actual work to get them "warmed up",
to where I'm happy with braking performance.
They would be fine if I lived in NJ and had to deal with a lot of
stop-and-go traffic, but living in semi-rural pennsylvania even with
the big hills pedal effort is too high... (I tend to use the engine and
the gearbox rather than the brakes on downgrades)

at this point I could swap to more "agressive" pads (Hawk Carbotics),
a smaller bore master cylinder or bigger bore calipers. to change the
pedal effort... but after doing any of those I'd also have to make a
change to the rear to re-establish the front/rear brake balance.

But I'm hesitant to get into that until I swap in the disc brake rear
to avoid having to do it all again...
(It's not the discs I want but the "Divorced" non-servo parking brake
that works in REVERSE, and much more importantly the bigger outer
Axle bearings)

ain't this fun?

AD

 

[phatcap]

But I'm hesitant to get into that until I swap in the disc brake rear
to avoid having to do it all again...
(It's not the discs I want but the "Divorced" non-servo parking brake
that works in REVERSE, and much more importantly the bigger outer
Axle bearings)

ain't this fun?

AD

yeah, i've noticed that my parking brake doesn't really work in reverse either. what's up with that? guess i'll have to park backwards if i'm on the wrong side of a hill!