Upgrading Rotors

[Jspafford]

I am sick, sick, and tired of warping rotors from daily driving of my B2. Is there something better, or one brand I should get when replacing them. These are less than a year old and shake like heck under certain stopping conditions.

 

[BlackBII]

Ride the brake a lot?

The ones that are a year old...what brand are they? Also, what pads did you use>?

 

[Jspafford]

No... I only use it to complete a stop (downshift mostly)

They were wearever...whatever advanced sells.

I used the elcheapo pads too. I am thinking about doing a full brake job before winter. Probably using midgrade pads and rotros.

Just don't want to do it anymore for a long time.

 

[fastpakr]

I would definitely look at a different brand of rotor. In 9 years, I have yet to warp an RBV rotor.

 

[BlackBII]

My brother warped a set of autozone specials...

I'd go with a midgrade rotor and pads, like you mentioned.

 

[Jspafford]

I think every set I've had warped, but I guess the saying... "you get what you pay for" applies here..

I've always used the junk stuff, but I upgraded to midgrade on the wife's front pads last month, and what a difference!!

 

[AllanD]

Warped rotors on a 1983-94 RBV are more typically a symptom of a worn thrust surface on the steering knuckle.

Remove the caliper and inner pad, run a finger through the "flag slot"
(where the flag on the pad goes) paying particular attention to the UPPER slot
and using the lower as a cmparison.

The upper wears, the lowers don't.

If there is a bevel towards the backside of the rotor you've found your problem

THE fix is to swap on 1995-97 Ranger Beams.

I did this to have reliable and CONSISTANT brakes.
It seems to have worked because I got to go 22months
without even thinking about my front brakes.

When The old system usually forced me to replace something
on the front brakes every 3-4months.
I never had much of a problem warping rotors, but certainly cracked enough of them.
and I'm not talking surface heat checking I'm talking full penetration cracks


I KNOW your Bronco2 has sentimental value...

Want a set of beams?

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[Jspafford]

Warped rotors on a 1983-94 RBV are more typically a symptom of a worn thrust surface on the steering knuckle.

Remove the caliper and inner pad, run a finger through the "flag slot"
(where the flag on the pad goes) paying particular attention to the UPPER slot
and using the lower as a cmparison.

The upper wears, the lowers don't.

If there is a bevel towards the backside of the rotor you've found your problem

THE fix is to swap on 1995-97 Ranger Beams.

I did this to have reliable and CONSISTANT brakes.
It seems to have worked because I got to go 22months
without even thinking about my front brakes.

When The old system usually forced me to replace something
on the front brakes every 3-4months.
I never had much of a problem warping rotors, but certainly cracked enough of them.
and I'm not talking surface heat checking I'm talking full penetration cracks


I KNOW your Bronco2 has sentimental value...

Want a set of beams?

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I've had so many milestones (uhummm) in there I cannot ever get rid of it..

So I am confused. If I swap in late model axle beams, I will be replacing the D28, correct? Only reason I've not done the D35 swap already is because I have 3.45 gears which are NOT found in any D35 pumpkin.

Or is it just the outer knuckle that needs changed?

 

[Ranger44]

You'd need to swap out the whole beam.

It seams unless you go junkyard hunting you'll be stuck with what you have.

I'd search through your local yard and find a set of 95-97' beams and a rear axle for your BII with matching gear sets.

I just did the swap myself and love the new brakes. Then again I used Wagner thermo quiet pads, and Napa rotors. What turned me to the Napa rotors was quality. I usually buy my stuff from O'Reilly's ( I think Advanced sells the same stuff, same as checkers, etc.), but after buying a set of rotors and running them on my 93' with cheapy pads.....yuck!. When I compared them to the Napa rotors the Napa rotors were better hands down. The material seemed better, machining, and thickness. They were the same thickess, just that the space between the friction surfaces (where the air vents are) is wider on the Oreilly's. This is less friction material thickness on the O'reilly's pad means warping, cracking, and less material to machine off when doing your next brake job.

 

[TomJenks]

don't know if this has been mentioned yet, but make sure you're getting an accurate torque on your lug nuts(using a good quality torque wrench). I would say anywhere from 90-100 ft. lbs. Also, I would try and have them turned as long as you dont go past your min. thickness. If the rotor has already went through its heat cycles, it will be less likely to warp again.

 

[Rifleman]

Rotor warpage is a cop-out. It's most likely uneven friction material transfer from improper breakin, which is the cause for 90% of all premature and uneven wear. Different braking systems require different breakin cycles. "Best Practice" for breaking in stock Ford Truck braking systems should go as follows.

New rotors and new pads installed. You should drive the truck to an unused road suitable for highway speeds. Try to come to a complete stop as little as possible until the breakin is complete. Even a slight roll that doesn't register on the speedometer is sufficient. Once at the road of choice, at 60MPH press on the brakes as hard as you can without causing the antilock to kick in. Do not let the truck stop, let off the brakes at 5MPH and keep rolling. Go back to 60MPH and repeat. Do this 6 times. By the 4th time you should be smelling the brakes. Whatever you do, do not let the truck stop rolling. Once the 6 passes of 60-5MPH are complete, run the vehicle at between 35 and 45 MPH for at least 15 minutes as a cool down period. If you upgrade to ceramic pads (which only the lowest temperature rated ceramics should be used on a truck), they require more heat for a proper breakin. With ceramics on a Ford truck with standard rotors you should do 6 passes of 80-5MPH at hard (almost antilock level) braking, immediately followed by 4 passes of 50-20MPH at standard braking and then at least 15 minutes of steady 35-45MPH for cool down.

Stock brakes on all Ford Trucks should average out to 20k miles to 50k miles depending on the region and the driver. Naturally mountainous regions burn brakes up faster, these regional differences are the main reason for the broad average range. But from that you can draw the conclusion that if you live in Colorado and drive hard, you should still see 20,000 miles out of your brakes and if you live in Kansas and drive easy you possibly can get up to 50,000 miles. If you are not getting the lifespan from your brakes, it is likely your breakin process and/or driving style.

Read the information of a professional:

http://www.stoptech.com/tech_info/wp_warped_brakedisk.shtml

The author was a legend so take it as fact. > http://www.carrollsmith.com/

 

[michowski]

I bought a set of drilled and slotted rotors with some nice high grip pads off ebay about a year and a half, 2 years ago. It was about 140 shipped and I must say my brakes are kick ass. I can lock up my 31" tires easily on there. When I rotated my tires a few weeks ago I looked over the rotors and they still looked newish. It came with a special coating on it and it hasnt really came off. After this purchase I would have a hard time buying any autozone or advance auto parts purchases for brake equipment.

 

[michowski]

I just found the seller I got mine from, its Cquencemotorsports.

 

[Jspafford]

Funny thing I noticed. Last night it seemed like the rotors were trashed. Major shimmy when stopping.... Today... They are fine.

Wouldn't a warped rotor do it all the time?

I am going to go with napa rotors and pads... Just wanting to wait as long as I can to buy them. These rotors are almost new, but your right... I've seen a comparison Napa/non napa and they are quite a bit thicker!

 

[AllanD]

Rotor warpage is a cop-out. It's most likely uneven friction material transfer from improper breakin, which is the cause for 90% of all premature and uneven wear. Different braking systems require different breakin cycles. "Best Practice" for breaking in stock Ford Truck braking systems should go as follows.

New rotors and new pads installed. You should drive the truck to an unused road suitable for highway speeds. Try to come to a complete stop as little as possible until the breakin is complete. Even a slight roll that doesn't register on the speedometer is sufficient. Once at the road of choice, at 60MPH press on the brakes as hard as you can without causing the antilock to kick in. Do not let the truck stop, let off the brakes at 5MPH and keep rolling. Go back to 60MPH and repeat. Do this 6 times. By the 4th time you should be smelling the brakes. Whatever you do, do not let the truck stop rolling. Once the 6 passes of 60-5MPH are complete, run the vehicle at between 35 and 45 MPH for at least 15 minutes as a cool down period. If you upgrade to ceramic pads (which only the lowest temperature rated ceramics should be used on a truck), they require more heat for a proper breakin. With ceramics on a Ford truck with standard rotors you should do 6 passes of 80-5MPH at hard (almost antilock level) braking, immediately followed by 4 passes of 50-20MPH at standard braking and then at least 15 minutes of steady 35-45MPH for cool down.

Stock brakes on all Ford Trucks should average out to 20k miles to 50k miles depending on the region and the driver. Naturally mountainous regions burn brakes up faster, these regional differences are the main reason for the broad average range. But from that you can draw the conclusion that if you live in Colorado and drive hard, you should still see 20,000 miles out of your brakes and if you live in Kansas and drive easy you possibly can get up to 50,000 miles. If you are not getting the lifespan from your brakes, it is likely your breakin process and/or driving style.

Read the information of a professional:

http://www.stoptech.com/tech_info/wp_warped_brakedisk.shtml

The author was a legend so take it as fact. > http://www.carrollsmith.com/

While your post is techincally correct in some respects you missed that make it all irrelevant in this discussion.

I'll ignore the points that I disagree with
(I prefer a long slow break-in, my last pad swap was just before a trip from Pennsylvania to Indiana, all of it on essentially empty interstate highways.)

Awww screw it.... I'll disagree some more.
You state that "rotor warpage is a cop out"

That presumes (again falsely) that the OP is stating rotor warpage as a CAUSE rather than as a symptom.

what CAUSES rotor warpage?

I've cracked rotors, and I ain't talking about surface heat checking
I'm talking about full penetrating cracks that I could insert a dime into....

when I was still running the split-pin brakes my rotors were usually blue... they'd get hot enough in operation that a colored oxide would form as they cooled.

I've never seen that in the two years I've been running the two piston calipers.

And I JUST replaced my pads for the first time since I installed the two piston brakes.
NOBODY who really knows me really believes that I got a few weeks shy of two years out of a set of pads and rotors...
As one friend asked incredulously: "Are you telling me with a more powerful engine you got seven times the service life out of your brakes?"

I replaced my pads and rotors (and I'll machine the takeoff rotors and put them back on the shelf as ready-for-use spares)
on my truck because I was driving to Indiana to tow another ranger home with me... (you want everything working)

Your worst presumption is that there isn't a mechanical defect...

That wear/Bevel I mentioned above prevents the brakes
from releasing correctly after each pedal application.

the mere presence of that bevel means that even the slightest
contact causes drag and the drag causes more contact... so
the brakes are perpetually running warmer than the drivers pedal
input would justify...

The early brake system has a critical flaw.
The theoretically indestructable steering knuckle is subject to critical wear on that upper thrust surface for the inboard pad.
If that surface is worn the entire knuckle must be replaced.

new ones are unobtanium.

At that point you may as well replace the entire front beam with the 95-97 partsd because pads and rotors are no more expensive than the mid90-94 D35 parts, but the calipers, caliper brackets and pads were used through the end of the 2003 model year.
(I believe the caliper pads and brackets are different 2004-on)

I've actually managed to run my 95-97 brakes at highway speeds
for several hours and coast to a stop in a rest stop get out and still have the hubs be cool enough that they would fail to melt snow off of them

Never saw that happen with the split-pin (83-94) brake system

There are times when I actually have to "warm" the brakes
so they work right.

Hell, I can actually feel the difference in brake performance between
my two different sets of rims
My five spoke (flat face) Explorer rims cool the brakes much more
than the Navajo rims Rims I run my winter tires on.

My new "project" is on a 2004 frame.

Why? even larger rotors


I've run some race compounds from various Ferrodo pads
(including the DS11 compound) to Performance-Friction
Hawk, and even some expiremental Textar compounds

I have seen a "warped" rotor. usually imported cast junk made for STREET vehicles.

Trust me a rotor made in some foundry in China which is likely staffed with slave labor under the supervision of soldiers (prison guards) of the People's Liberation Army can and do warp because of inconsistant casting density.


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