TowingExplorer
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- May 14, 2009
- Messages
- 408
- Reaction score
- 0
- City, State
- Central MA
- Year, Model & Trim Level
- 2006 Limited V8
*** Go HERE for a 2 year update.
I have smelt a burning brake smell in the back of my Explorer a few times now after some highway driving. It's not easy to duplicate as it just doesn't happen every time.
First, I looked on both sides of the rotor with the wheel still installed with a flashlight. I saw some grooving, but nothing severe. Next, I took my Explorer to Sears for a free brake inspection hoping they would find something which I didn't with a flashlight. They spent 90 minutes determined to find something which would cause a burning smell but could not. What they did find was that my front rotors would be below spec the next time they were turned and the rear rotors were already below spec. Good to know, just added this to the list of things to do to vehicles around the house. All the pads looked good, could tell that with the flashlight, but the grooves would mean that I would not want to mate those up against new rotors anyway, so gotta replace them.
Doing some more research, I found that the shoes in the e-brake tend to crack and fall off inside the drum which could have explained the smell if they were just wearing off so I picked up a set at AutoZone as they are a stocking item.
I had done some research about brake upgrades for the 2006+ model and found that the rears were shared with the prior generation. However, the fronts had changed in 2006+. I messaged someone on here who had installed some Magnum rotors and they responded that things were still going well. I mailed the guy who sells them on eBay for a deal on a set of 4 as they had deals on other sets of 4 for earlier models, they combined the shipping and that was it... oh well, better than nothing. It did take about 5 days longer to ship than they said it would and I had no recourse since that was an invoice outside of eBay. . . oh well, at least I finally got them.
This write-up is for the rear rotor and pad swap only. I did not change the e-brake shoes or springs as they moved freely and there were no cracks in the friction surfaces.
Before picture...
Wheel's off...
Before behind shot...
Remove two 10mm bolts which hold the caliper to the knuckle.
Caliper's off. Took a little persuasion with a pry bar (no hammer). The slides moved easily as well so they were not seized at all.
Tools used so far aside from the lug nut socket and 10mm socket. The C-Clamp was used to push the caliper piston back in so that the old pads could get over the slight ridge on the rotor.
Another shot of the old pads...
Zip tied the caliper to the spring so it wouldn't be hanging by the brake line.
Rotor before pulling...
Squirted a little PB Blaster around where the rotor met the hub assembly. Then just wiggled back and forth and it finally came off.
Rotor's removed. Little dust inside from the e-brake shoes.
What we now see...
Some shoe/spring shots...
New rotor. Wiped down the friction surfaces first with some brake cleaner...
New pads...
The Explorer is a little different than other vehicles I've worked on. Other vehicles, you can do just what I am showing in the below picture. HOWEVER the clips which go in to the piston (at a minimum) keep you from pushing the caliper piston around the rotor. Perhaps if you had pads which didn't have those clips you could do it this way.
Another difference between the X and other vehicles I've worked on is that you must remove two 10mm bolts (mentioned very early in the pictures). On other vehicles it was just one bolt and the caliper would then pivot on the other side. In this case, even attempting to do that the caliper hits the hub assembly so that just doesn't work.
Pads and caliper installed...
Wheel's back on...
Taken the Explorer out for a couple drives now and it's going well. No burning smell other than possibly the brake cleaner. Only time will tell if I get that burning brake smell again or not considering I didn't change the shoes.
As I had mentioned at the beginning, I bought shoes. If these didn't look as great as they did, I would have tried longer to change them. But removing that axle nut I couldn't get the assembly with the lug studs off to get a better view at the springs. Maybe someone else can chime in on how this is accomplished.
Hope this helps others out there! I think the 2006-2010 section is lacking pictorials so I am trying to contribute.
I have smelt a burning brake smell in the back of my Explorer a few times now after some highway driving. It's not easy to duplicate as it just doesn't happen every time.
First, I looked on both sides of the rotor with the wheel still installed with a flashlight. I saw some grooving, but nothing severe. Next, I took my Explorer to Sears for a free brake inspection hoping they would find something which I didn't with a flashlight. They spent 90 minutes determined to find something which would cause a burning smell but could not. What they did find was that my front rotors would be below spec the next time they were turned and the rear rotors were already below spec. Good to know, just added this to the list of things to do to vehicles around the house. All the pads looked good, could tell that with the flashlight, but the grooves would mean that I would not want to mate those up against new rotors anyway, so gotta replace them.
Doing some more research, I found that the shoes in the e-brake tend to crack and fall off inside the drum which could have explained the smell if they were just wearing off so I picked up a set at AutoZone as they are a stocking item.
I had done some research about brake upgrades for the 2006+ model and found that the rears were shared with the prior generation. However, the fronts had changed in 2006+. I messaged someone on here who had installed some Magnum rotors and they responded that things were still going well. I mailed the guy who sells them on eBay for a deal on a set of 4 as they had deals on other sets of 4 for earlier models, they combined the shipping and that was it... oh well, better than nothing. It did take about 5 days longer to ship than they said it would and I had no recourse since that was an invoice outside of eBay. . . oh well, at least I finally got them.
This write-up is for the rear rotor and pad swap only. I did not change the e-brake shoes or springs as they moved freely and there were no cracks in the friction surfaces.
Before picture...
Wheel's off...
Before behind shot...
Remove two 10mm bolts which hold the caliper to the knuckle.
Caliper's off. Took a little persuasion with a pry bar (no hammer). The slides moved easily as well so they were not seized at all.
Tools used so far aside from the lug nut socket and 10mm socket. The C-Clamp was used to push the caliper piston back in so that the old pads could get over the slight ridge on the rotor.
Another shot of the old pads...
Zip tied the caliper to the spring so it wouldn't be hanging by the brake line.
Rotor before pulling...
Squirted a little PB Blaster around where the rotor met the hub assembly. Then just wiggled back and forth and it finally came off.
Rotor's removed. Little dust inside from the e-brake shoes.
What we now see...
Some shoe/spring shots...
New rotor. Wiped down the friction surfaces first with some brake cleaner...
New pads...
The Explorer is a little different than other vehicles I've worked on. Other vehicles, you can do just what I am showing in the below picture. HOWEVER the clips which go in to the piston (at a minimum) keep you from pushing the caliper piston around the rotor. Perhaps if you had pads which didn't have those clips you could do it this way.
Another difference between the X and other vehicles I've worked on is that you must remove two 10mm bolts (mentioned very early in the pictures). On other vehicles it was just one bolt and the caliper would then pivot on the other side. In this case, even attempting to do that the caliper hits the hub assembly so that just doesn't work.
Pads and caliper installed...
Wheel's back on...
Taken the Explorer out for a couple drives now and it's going well. No burning smell other than possibly the brake cleaner. Only time will tell if I get that burning brake smell again or not considering I didn't change the shoes.
As I had mentioned at the beginning, I bought shoes. If these didn't look as great as they did, I would have tried longer to change them. But removing that axle nut I couldn't get the assembly with the lug studs off to get a better view at the springs. Maybe someone else can chime in on how this is accomplished.
Hope this helps others out there! I think the 2006-2010 section is lacking pictorials so I am trying to contribute.
