Ford has "soft rotors???"

[srcoptdc]

My wife called me while getting a lube job for her '02 at a national tire chain place;they said I need new brakes, which i believe. however, they also said i'd likely need new rotors (another $200), since Ford makes "soft rotors" and they typically need replacement every brake job.

I never heard of such a thing. I had numerous brake jobs on my prior explorers ('92 Navajo and '96 XLT), when they just turned the rotors, and never had any other rotor problems. I told her to hold off on the brake job.

Anyone hear of this Ford "soft rotor" problem, am I being scammed?

 

[Wash X]

never heard of soft rotors. There is a minimum thickness that the rotor can be turned and that is what they should go by.

Anything else in my opinion is a scam.

 

[Robb]

Not sure on the Fords, but I have seen this trend throughout the industry in the past few years. Rotors are being made to only allow turning once, if even that.

 

[spindlecone]

I think the main problem with ford Rotors is they are to small for the wgt of the truck both in diameter and thickness.
I have four wheel discs, they have been crap from day one

 

[Robb]

Rollin on 20s doesn't help the situation. More rotational wieght, harder to stop.

 

[Creager]

Rob i think i know exactly what you are talking about. They call it 'Disposable brakes'

Ive heard of these used to describe saturns, but not an explorer. I think hes just trying to be slick.

If you can rent/purchase/barrow a dial indicator, and check the run-out on the rotors. Anything more then .004 i believe is too much.

 

[CDW6212R]

Rotors in general on newer vehicles are made thinner, closer to the minimum specification. Unless they have been turned a lot previously, you may still be able to turn them. Rotors aren't terribly expensive though. Nice aftermarket Explorer rotors are usually not much more than $100 for a pair.

spindlecone, what are you complaining about? All four of your rotors are larger than the 2nd gen. Explorers have. Could you tell the difference when you installed the 18's?
Regards,

 

[spindlecone]

Rotors in general on newer vehicles are made thinner, closer to the minimum specification. Unless they have been turned a lot previously, you may still be able to turn them. Rotors aren't terribly expensive though. Nice aftermarket Explorer rotors are usually not much more than $100 for a pair.

spindlecone, what are you complaining about? All four of your rotors are larger than the 2nd gen. Explorers have. Could you tell the difference when you installed the 18's?
Regards,

CD
When I had my OEM 235/16s I felt the brakes were not up to par for a 4600 lbe+ truck, when I went to 18s things got worse for reasons stated above. The brakes have never faded on me in mountainous driving conditions most likly due to the larger mass.
But in a semi panic stop situation, I really need to stand on them to get to trac to slow down, far more so than any truck I have ever owned all of which were disc front drum rear.
I may be wrong but the pad surface area seems very small on the 3rd gens compared to the second gens, just a visual looking at my neighbors 96 ex V/S my 03, Dunno for sure

 

[CDW6212R]

Yes, that is what I thought you might say, and yes the later Sport/Sport Trac brake pads are smaller than the 95-01 pads. I bought a pair of 03 Sport calipers to get the 12" rotors on my 93/99 Explorer. The calipers aren't neccesary, and the pads could likely be swapped.

I set the 03 pads into my 98 calipers. They were the same backing length and width, with slight tab differences. Now that I have the 12" rotors on my 93/99, I see that I'd rather have the older pads. Your's are slightly wider, but much shorter.

Do you have 4WD? If so, and you can wait a few months, I may have a major improvement that you could benefit from. I will be adding 13" rotors, and four piston calipers to my Mountaineer. The low end cost will be around $500 for rotors, calipers/pads, brackets, and lines. Regards,

 

[BeauJ]

never heard of soft rotors. There is a minimum thickness that the rotor can be turned and that is what they should go by.

Anything else in my opinion is a scam.

Most shops say the minimum is .975". I've NEVER had mine turned and when I asked them too, they said they were too thin. I just went ahead and bought some powerslot rotors. It's not really soft rotors, it's cheap pads. Most cheap pads don't have warning tab on them that squeal when they get low, so next thing you know, you're grinding metal. Believe me, I've been there.

 

[spindlecone]

Don am 4x2
Any clue as to why ford went with a smaller pad on a larger rotor?makes no sense, is sort of defeating the purpose, bigger rotor, bigger pad, bigger caliper would seem right, but they did the reverse on the 3rd gens, go figure?

 

[CDW6212R]

I really only know Fords. From what I have seen, Ford always builds just the bare minimum needed to do the job. I have been dissappointed with a lot of things over the years that Ford has done, or not done.

If you hadn't noticed, your calipers also do not have steel pistons in them. They are ceramic, like the 1st gen. calipers. It is a shame that the 2WD Explorers don't use a separate hub like the 4WD's. The 13" rotors that I will use are just common Mustang Cobra hats. To do a 2WD would require a special rotor with the bearings built into it.

Not to predict anything at all, but just a thought; you could try swapping just your front calipers, for the 95-01 calipers. It would likely make no noticeable difference, as the piston sizes are the same, roughly measured. Good luck,

 

[gijoecam]

A larger rotor will generate the same stopping force with less pad contact area. Rotor diameter and pad contact area also have a measurable effect on pedal feel as well. Based on my knowledge of brake system design, going to a larger rotor with the same caliper and pad will upset the brake bias due to the increased stopping force on the front end. That's not necessarily a good thing.... all things must be balanced out as a whole system front and rear, whether it's done with the master cylinder, or external proportioning valve.

Just something to keep in mind.....

-Joe

 

[CDW6212R]

I am going to take the first step, fitting some better brake parts. Saleen made about 150 Explorers, called the XP8. They had 13" rotors, and four piston calipers. Those parts were the only brake changes made. Later the aluminum brackets were discovered to likely break. All of the Saleen brakes were recalled, and replaced with normal 11" rotors, etc.

Someone in Norway still had his 13" rotors on his XP8. When a bracket broke, he had five steel sets made. At least one person I know of has reaquired the 13" parts. Those parts are very special order, and totaled over $2000.

My choice of parts are very common at any parts store, and can be had for $500 on the cheap side. I'll take the first step, and work out any balance issues later. Regards,

 

[strsdoutexplr]

Im a new guy...

Ive had 4 late model Ford trucks/suvs and every one of them have had the brakes get really bad feel or a vibration and week feeling. After 15,000 miles with the oem parts I replace everything with Portfield pads/rotors. A dramatic improvment.

The rotors for my F-150 were like $60 a piece I believe.

 

[srcoptdc]

Went to a different brake place to get a second opinion. they did the brake job for a cheaper price, turned the rotors and told me my rotors were just fine. so sounds like the first place was trying to pull a scam on my wife.

Regarding the 20's, I've always had bigger tires/wheels, the only rotor problems i've had was when someone over-torques the lugs.

 

[76L82]

just my .02. I have a 2002 XLT and I would certainly say that they are "soft rotors". We live in an area that is generally flat so there is no extreme terrain...brakes and rotors went at 30,000 miles. When those go I can guarantee that you'll also need emergency brake work as well. I wan't able to see inside the rotors but I am figuring that they are designed just like those on the old Vette...inside style emergency brake shoes...just a guess here! Either way, the round trip cost me $700.

Strangely enough this was the same thing on my 2000 XLS. However, after they were replaced at 30,000 miles I didn't have any problems with the replacements up to 100,000...never seen anything like it where the generic replacement parts last longer than the OEM's...that's got to tell you something.

In addition, my sister who has a 2004 replaced rotors at 35,000 and my nephew had to replace rotors at 45,000...I guess we didn't learn much from each other...