Brake upgrade?

[NS]

Have any of you upgraded the brakes on your Explorer/Mountaineer? I have an '06 Mountaineer and I really don't like how "soft" they feel. I'm looking for something with a little more bite. If so, what did you go with? Thanks.

 

[dpxtwo]

I haven't yet but I replaced the rotors and pads on the front of my Maxima with Brembo blanks and Akebono pads and what a difference they made in stopping power and also with low noise and dust.
I am going to try the same on my 06 Explorer when it's time.

 

[sailfishford]

My brake is spongy to. I dont really mind it but there is a TSB for it.

 

[NS]

I haven't yet but I replaced the rotors and pads on the front of my Maxima with Brembo blanks and Akebono pads and what a difference they made in stopping power and also with low noise and dust.
I am going to try the same on my 06 Explorer when it's time.

Does Brembo make a brake kit?

 

[UIN2IT]

Does Brembo make a brake kit?

Not a direct fit....
I am gonna try a set of Brmebos I have in teh garage from another car to see if those work!? Doubt it though!

 

[Mike10]

I've asked the same question before, everyone was helpful and had great ideas, but no one actually had any real life experience with brake upgrades on a 4th gen.
I even had people suggest products that are not even made for Explorers (Power Slot makes rear, but not front for 4th gen Explorers, and up until last month Hawk didn't have a front pad available - rears are essentially the same as 3rd gen).

So here is a real life testimonial -Today I installed Hawk Pads and Magnum cross drilled rotors on my 07. everyone recommends the Hawks, and one of my friends put the Magnums on his Mustang and GMC K2500 in the spring and swears by them.

They felt solid and powerful when I took it for a ride to burn in the pads.

I'll post an update tomorrow after I've gone to work and back (150km).
/
I'll through some pics up also.

I'm confident that this set up will definately give more bite, but the only real way to get rid of the spongy feel is to install stainless lines. Unfortunaltey no one make them for the 4th gen ex's. I got a quote of $450. for custom made ones. For now I plan to see how my pad / rotor set up goes.

Mike

 

[Mike10]

9/22/09

I have 300km (186mi) on the new brakes and they work incredible. They are firm, and really bite. The mush is completely gone. So far I'm extremely happy, the best part is they were cheap. $400. CDN taxes and shipping included.

They look pretty good too. Now I need new rims to show them off.

 

[UIN2IT]

9/22/09

I have 300km (186mi) on the new brakes and they work incredible. They are firm, and really bite. The mush is completely gone. So far I'm extremely happy, the best part is they were cheap. $400. CDN taxes and shipping included.

They look pretty good too. Now I need new rims to show them off.

Any pics!? Info on where to buy them
would be helpful too!

 

[Mike10]

Pads came from Autoanything and rotors from G Force Brake in Toronto, but you can order them in the US from a link on the Magnum Brake web site, or on Ebay.

For some reason, it says I can't post attachments at the bottom of my screen, but I have some pics I can email if you hit me with a private message.

Mike

 

[TowingExplorer]

Pads came from Autoanything and rotors from G Force Brake in Toronto, but you can order them in the US from a link on the Magnum Brake web site, or on Ebay.

For some reason, it says I can't post attachments at the bottom of my screen, but I have some pics I can email if you hit me with a private message.

Mike

Hi Mike. PM incoming for the pictures.

How are the brakes? I'm considering just doing pads as I was told the rotors were changed shortly before I bought my 06. I will confirm of course though and order new rotors if there is much of a wear lip on them.

 

[JoeCool6972]

EBC makes slotted rotors and sport pads for 02-up Explorer.

 

[Mike10]

The brakes are still strong. I think you would still notice an improvment if you did pads only. I decided to do both as it's my wife's daily driver and i wanted the brakes to be strong for the winter, and I only wanted to do it once.

EBC makes both pads and rotors for the rear, but not for the front.

The rear brakes on the 06+ are the same as the 02+, however the fronts from 06 on are different.

As far as slotted vs drilled rotors, there are all sorts of arguments as to which is better. some say that slotted rotors slice your pads and others say that drilled are weaker and tend to crack.

I work for a car manufacturer and spoke with some factory techs who told me that they prefer drilled.

Personally I think its just more of a preference thing.

 

[NS]

Any pictures?

 

[Mike10]

I'm having a hard time posting pics on the forum, if you send me your email address I can send some.

Mike

 

[TowingExplorer]

Mike, are the Magnum rotors still treating you well?

How are the brakes? I'm considering just doing pads as I was told the rotors were changed shortly before I bought my 06. I will confirm of course though and order new rotors if there is much of a wear lip on them.

Funny looking at my comment above, just had my brakes checked at Sears (free inspection) and they said my rears are currently below spec and my fronts will be once turned next.

I'm now looking for some of the threads where I was last discussing brake upgrades as I finally need to do them.

 

[Mike10]

Brakes are still perfect.
That is they were perfect until last week when the right side ABS sensor ring went. They tell me its not covered by warranty, but there seems to be quite a few posts with the same issue. Nothing to do with the pads or rotors though.

 

[einstein1977]

For those of you with a spongy pedal, I bought an XCal3 from Henson Performance (love it by the way). I asked James to erode the dashpot settings a little due to a mild throttle hang I was experiencing. This helped considerably with the initial hit spongy pedal. Even with stock brakes. Probably due to the fact of the vacuum coming up faster on closed throttle and the IAC not coming into play so quickly so that the booster has more effect. They could still use some improvement though, especially on that first hit.

I plan to upgrade to the Hawk LTS pads and EBC slotted rotors at all 4 corners.

 

[donstevens]

Mike10 - Which Hawk pads dis you buy? Standard, Ceramic or HPS street?

Do you still like them?

Einstein - What is an XCal3?

Don

 

[Mike10]

I used the Hawk LTS pads. They are still working strong.

My only complaint in the set up, is the amount of surface rust the the Magnum rotors accumulated over the winter. It will be easy enough to clean off when i change over my rims, but a pain anyway.
I guess that I should have bought the cryo treated ones.

 

[TowingExplorer]

I used the Hawk LTS pads. They are still working strong.

My only complaint in the set up, is the amount of surface rust the the Magnum rotors accumulated over the winter. It will be easy enough to clean off when i change over my rims, but a pain anyway.
I guess that I should have bought the cryo treated ones.

Rust is expected IMO on brakes. Even coated ones rust in my experience.

My EBC Green's with Magnum rotors are still great after the break-in friction surface is gone on the pads. Definitely a recommended combination.