2008 Sport Trac Brake Upgrade?

[mjpellegrino]

The brakes on my 08 Sport Trac with a 4.0L V6 are terrible. Has anyone performed an upgrade to both front & rear brakes to provide better swtopping power?

 

[calahan#2211]

I have and built a 14" rotor and caliper upgrade on my truck for the front. It uses Brembo calipers, but, doesn't clear stock 18" or Adrenalin wheels. I am however back to work and should have an alternative design by the end of the summer. It will be 14" rotor also. I am also looking in to doing a 14" rear rotor and caliper upgrade. The rear set up will use a two piece design allowing the stock internal parking brake mechanism... It should clear stock 20" and possibly the stock 18" wheels too.

 

[captainjack]

Brake upgrade

I'm not sure what you would like to accomplish but I did look into soft, low brakes for my 07 ST. I found a TSB, number forgotten, which said to first bleed the brakes and if no improvement replace the brake pedal assembly. Seemed to me that it could only effect the pedal feel as opposed to the stopping power so I didn't bother trying a new pedal assembly. I think the part was in the $150-$200 range.

 

[Loren R]

I picked up an "open box" set of slotted and drilled rotors with ceramic pads off of Amazon for $108 with free shipping. Retail was around $949, but they seriously damaged the packaging and I got a sweet deal.
Stopping power doesn't feel all that much different, but the rotors certainly cool better and I never notice any fade in stop and go traffic. Before the change, the pedal seemed a little spongy in stop and go...

 

[doddka]

calahan#2211. I think that your project sounds great. I have a 2008 sport trac supercharged by Brenspeed. My brakes are now woefully inadequate for the speeds that the truck can accelerate too. Do you have a Part # for the Brembo Calipers? I definitely want to upgrade to a 14" front disk.

 

[Brutus803]

Powerstop kit

I just did a simple Powerstop (OEM) upgrade. I bought the powerstop kit from autoanything. I used stop tech street performance brake fluid. I did a vacuum bleed on the lines, meaning I suctioned the fluid out instead of pressing the pedal. Worked like a charm. Vastly improved brake feel and stopping power. I'm sure it's not Brembo good, but way better than factory. It wasn't Brembo expensive either.
Power stop also makes drilled and slotted kits, if you're looking for enough stopping power to dislodge your eyeballs.

Hope this helps

 

[ZcSpec]

I'd have to agree on the sponginess. Terrible if you ask me. I try to convince myself it's because out ST weighs in at close to 5000lbs. Eventually though, I'll do what Brutus803 did with the fluid bleed, minus the rotors.

 

[swshawaii]

IMPROVED BRAKE FEEL AND FIRMNESS (TSB 09-1-6)
http://www.revbase.com/BBBMotor/TSb/DownloadPdf?id=147410

http://www.bbbind.com/free_tsb.html

 

[Brutus803]

RE: ZcSpec

I'd have to agree on the sponginess. Terrible if you ask me. I try to convince myself it's because out ST weighs in at close to 5000lbs. Eventually though, I'll do what Brutus803 did with the fluid bleed, minus the rotors.

Here's something I've noticed too. If your slam on the brakes and activate the ABS, your pedal with get really firm and responsive for about a week.
Which is kinda funny, because the TSB that the guy above just posted says "bleed through the ABS system".
It is obviously some thing to do with the ABS relief valve. I don't think it is necessarily broken, but something isn't right there. I would guess it is an engineering flaw, just because that seem to be the case 95% of the time.

 

[Tech By Trade]

the system is weak. If you replace the fluid in the system it improves the response substantially, until the new fluid breaks down, usually after a year or so of use. Leads me to believe its a heat issue because the system is undersized for the SUV/Truck.

 

[BlackBeast]

Has anyone tried installing stainless steel braided brake lines? I usually do this on all my vehicles.

I recently bought my 08 ST Limited and am so disappointing at the lack of after market performance parts for this vehicle. I like it, but probably would have had second thoughts if I had researched these forums before I bought it.