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Standard duty brakes upgrade to heavy duty

Hi,

I am clueless on how to tell what type of brakes I have in my 2013 Limited explorer. Just bought it and I am attempting to figure this all out on my own. I have read some of the forums and know there is going to be the heavy or standard, possibility of mid-2013 manufacturing and it's equipped with heavy but is there anyway to see this before you start ripping into the brakes?

Yes, I could go back to the dealer, ask a auto shop but if I can learn about the car I have been saving and pretty much drooling over, I would like to do it on my own.

Any help or direction would be greatly appreciated. -E
 



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Hi,

I am clueless on how to tell what type of brakes I have in my 2013 Limited explorer. Just bought it and I am attempting to figure this all out on my own. I have read some of the forums and know there is going to be the heavy or standard, possibility of mid-2013 manufacturing and it's equipped with heavy but is there anyway to see this before you start ripping into the brakes?

Yes, I could go back to the dealer, ask a auto shop but if I can learn about the car I have been saving and pretty much drooling over, I would like to do it on my own.

Any help or direction would be greatly appreciated. -E
@Erica Andrews
Your pluck is admirable! But worry over brakes type is mostly hypothetical. I've worked with vehicles 60+ years, and have yet heard of brakes referred to as "type": so, evidently perhaps two "types" were offered on 2013 Ex's, but I really wouldn't worry about the differences. One type may have been "heavier duty" for towing purposes. I dunno.
 






Hi! Definitely trying! That’s what I thought originally but the guy I tried to buy the parts from told I was miss informed in what parts I needed and should ask for help (ask for standard OEM pads and rotors). He said the vehicle came with either option and that’s what I would have to replace it with?!? A difference in thickness of pad and diameter of rotor is what I was told, I needed to learn . Hopefully he was wrong and I can hon with just standard?!?
@Erica Andrews
Your pluck is admirable! But worry over brakes type is mostly hypothetical. I've worked with vehicles 60+ years, and have yet heard of brakes referred to as "type": so, evidently perhaps two "types" were offered on 2013 Ex's, but I really wouldn't worry about the differences. One type may have been "heavier duty" for towing purposes. I dunno.
@Erica Andrews
Your pluck is admirable! But worry over brakes type is mostly hypothetical. I've worked with vehicles 60+ years, and have yet heard of brakes referred to as "type": so, evidently perhaps two "types" were offered on 2013 Ex's, but I really wouldn't worry about the differences. One type may have been "heavier duty" for towing purposes. I dunno.
 






Pull the pads and rotors and take them in and have them matched, or buy both sets and return the one that doesn’t match up.
 






Yes, the '13's changed from "standard"(on all but Sport) to "HD" on all versions about mid-year.

Someone mentioned using your Vin number on a Ford parts site to see which brakes you had.
I cannot help with that, but I'm sure someone knows.

Does anyone know if the rear brakes also change with the HD changeover? I thought those were different as well as the fronts between standard and HD.
 






@Erica Andrews Sorry I was misleading in my reply. I was not aware of a running change made to the brakes in mid-year. It is unusual for Ford to do things like that. imp
 






Hi! Definitely trying! That’s what I thought originally but the guy I tried to buy the parts from told I was miss informed in what parts I needed and should ask for help (ask for standard OEM pads and rotors). He said the vehicle came with either option and that’s what I would have to replace it with?!? A difference in thickness of pad and diameter of rotor is what I was told, I needed to learn . Hopefully he was wrong and I can hon with just standard?!?

Your thread was merged with the existing one on this. Part #s are available in here as well as the differences and build date of the change. Your build month/tear is on the yellow sticker of the driver's door jam.
 






Jon i have 2014 explorer in canada rear are
Vented but they look 13 inch someone 13 inch is standard not.hd...but weird whe did front brakes i mesured and were hd
 






Jon i have 2014 explorer in canada rear are
Vented but they look 13 inch someone 13 inch is standard not.hd...but weird whe did front brakes i mesured and were hd
Welcome / Bienvenue to the Forum.:wave:
Explorers built after December 2012 are equipped with HD brakes.

Peter
 












The calipers are also different between the HD setup and Standard correct?
 






Hey all, new member here. I just picked up a 2013 Explorer Limited w/tow package. The car is in terrific shape except for a couple items I am taking care of, one is the right front strut tower mount and the other is some grinding from the front brakes when braking hard. I haven't gotten around to inspecting the brakes closely to pinpoint the problem but I did look at Rockauto for parts, and saw the two front rotor sizes listed.

I looked up my VIN here VIN Decoder - Ford Truck Enthusiasts Forums and it lists "HD front/rear brake calipers" however visual inspection seems to indicate regular brakes. The rotors look to have been replaced fairly recently. I'm just confused whether the VIN decoder is wrong, or is it possible it had HD brakes and they put the wrong rotor in the rear? Obviously the wrong rotor up front wouldn't work. Regardless of the grinding issue (which seems weird since the brakes are pretty new) I want to change out the rotors since I always put coated rotors on my cars that don't rust all over.

Unfortunately I have some stuff in my garage in the way right now so I haven't had a chance to get it jacked up and take a wheel off to take a closer look at the front and measure accurately.

Oh and build date is 3/2012. If the tow package did not include HD brakes I would assume since this is before the cutoff they are non-HD.
 






Hey all, new member here. I just picked up a 2013 Explorer Limited w/tow package. The car is in terrific shape except for a couple items I am taking care of, one is the right front strut tower mount and the other is some grinding from the front brakes when braking hard. I haven't gotten around to inspecting the brakes closely to pinpoint the problem but I did look at Rockauto for parts, and saw the two front rotor sizes listed.

I looked up my VIN here VIN Decoder - Ford Truck Enthusiasts Forums and it lists "HD front/rear brake calipers" however visual inspection seems to indicate regular brakes. The rotors look to have been replaced fairly recently. I'm just confused whether the VIN decoder is wrong, or is it possible it had HD brakes and they put the wrong rotor in the rear? Obviously the wrong rotor up front wouldn't work. Regardless of the grinding issue (which seems weird since the brakes are pretty new) I want to change out the rotors since I always put coated rotors on my cars that don't rust all over.

Unfortunately I have some stuff in my garage in the way right now so I haven't had a chance to get it jacked up and take a wheel off to take a closer look at the front and measure accurately.

Oh and build date is 3/2012. If the tow package did not include HD brakes I would assume since this is before the cutoff they are non-HD.

If you were built in March of 2012, you have the standard brakes. The HD brakes didnt start on regular Explorers till 12/2012. So that explains the rears. We had priced everything out previously on doing the full upgrade and I believe it was around $800 for all calipers, rotors and pads.
 






Welcome to the Forum Greg.:wave:
Check out the Ford parts site. You can enter your VIN there and see which brake package you have. Parts.Ford.com | The Ford Parts Site | Buy OEM Ford Parts Online‎
Like blwnsmoke mentioned, it should be the standard duty ones unless the previous owner changed them. How many miles on the vehicle?

Peter
 






You can visually look and make a determination without jacking up vehicle or taking tire off. Just take a gander at the calipers. There's a big difference.
 






Do the HD brakes grip better? IMO, the Explorer has a slightly mushy pedal. Had an 18 Camry for a rental - wow almost grabby at first. Better feel vs my Explorer.
Apples vs tomatoes, yes.....
 






Welcome to the Forum Greg.:wave:
Check out the Ford parts site. You can enter your VIN there and see which brake package you have. Parts.Ford.com | The Ford Parts Site | Buy OEM Ford Parts Online‎
Like blwnsmoke mentioned, it should be the standard duty ones unless the previous owner changed them. How many miles on the vehicle?

Peter

Thanks! I tried that site and got the error "The store has encountered a problem processing the last request." all over the place. I'll try again later. The vehicle has 102K miles.

You can visually look and make a determination without jacking up vehicle or taking tire off. Just take a gander at the calipers. There's a big difference.

Without having seen them both, what would the difference be? Is there a pic somewhere?

Do the HD brakes grip better? IMO, the Explorer has a slightly mushy pedal. Had an 18 Camry for a rental - wow almost grabby at first. Better feel vs my Explorer.
Apples vs tomatoes, yes.....

Whichever is on mine (I am assuming standard) they grip very well. Compared to my wife's Odyssey, hers feel mushy.

I feel like I am taking a bit of a gamble picking up an Explorer with this many miles. I generally do all the work myself so I'm not afraid of fixing stuff here and there. Last car was an '02 Acura TL with 244K miles (still have it). I put a new tranny in when it went @ 200K. Anyway, we shall see.
 






Just pull up some good pics of calipers on rockauto or other parts sites and compare. take a screen shot with your phone if needed and then go out and look at yours. It's easier for me to tell by looking at the front but you can also tell by looking at the rear. A good friend of ours has a '13 explorer and asked, I just quick got down on the ground and looked at the inside of the front caliper and told her she had HD which I expected.
 






Ah OK, looks like I have standard brakes then. Thanks for your help!
 



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Welcome to the Forum.:wave:
Have you checked to see if you have the standard brakes? 2012 models built after, I believe after Dec. 11, 2013, all have the HD brakes.

Peter


This is not accurate. I have a March 2013 build that definitely has Std brakes. I have replaced the rotors and pads myself and can confirm the 325mm fronts.
 






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