Replace Rear Brake Pads & Rotors

[Bill #5 Explorer]

Thought this would be helpful for current owners with future maintenance plans:

With +98,000 miles, I needed new rear brakes. Fronts were fine. I thought that was strange, but apparently our traction control system uses up the rear brakes.

So, for 2 rear rotors, 2 rear pads, labor and parts, the total was $419.89 . Not too bad.

Rotors are $89.96 each. Pads are $59.97 for the pair, and $180.00 for labor.

 

[EGUY4]

$419 for rotors and pads does not sound good at all.

I have been doing my own brakes for years after discovering the parts were a fraction of the bill.

I have purchased new rotors and new Wagner Brake Pads for less than 100 and done the job myself.

I did purchase an extended maintenance plan that covers brakes with my Explorer.

 

[Bill #5 Explorer]

$419 for rotors and pads does not sound good at all.

That's only $0.0043 per mile. Seems pretty cheap to me.

 

[nextreme]

I just spent $600 CDN to have the stealership install new rear rotors and pads at only 60k. They said they were worn right down. I've NEVER had a vehicle wear out its rear brakes before the fronts, let alone have any brakes wear out before 100k.

 

[HughCares]

I just spent $600 CDN to have the stealership install new rear rotors and pads at only 60k. They said they were worn right down. I've NEVER had a vehicle wear out its rear brakes before the fronts, let alone have any brakes wear out before 100k.

Driving habits and city versus highway miles dictate how frequently brakes wear out, not just mileage alone......100K seems to be a little extreme unless they are mostly highway miles imho......

 

[Teledatageek]

Thought this would be helpful for current owners with future maintenance plans:

With +98,000 miles, I needed new rear brakes. Fronts were fine. I thought that was strange, but apparently our traction control system uses up the rear brakes.

So, for 2 rear rotors, 2 rear pads, labor and parts, the total was $419.89 . Not too bad.

Rotors are $89.96 each. Pads are $59.97 for the pair, and $180.00 for labor.

Seems pretty good to me. The guy that bought my VW Touareg a few weeks back wrote me a couple of days ago and said they have determined the rotors are warped (how I have no idea), this is at 26K miles. Cost of rotors and pads installed: $1,800.00

Ouch.

 

[Odrapnew]

I just spent $600 CDN to have the stealership install new rear rotors and pads at only 60k. They said they were worn right down. I've NEVER had a vehicle wear out its rear brakes before the fronts, let alone have any brakes wear out before 100k.

Funny you mention the rears wearing before the fronts. My previous car(MazdaSpeed6) wore the rear brakes down to metal by 45K miles. I was shocked. No hints of brake drag either. When I traded the car in last month it had 67K miles on it, the fronts were still roughly 50%. Still unsure why the rears wore out so quick. I’ve never had a car before that wear the rears before the fronts.

My buddy had a 2011 mustang gt that went through a set of rear pads in about 25k miles….but he did open track that car 1 time, so that probably had an effect.

 

[soulpatch]

The labor is where you got nailed at that dealer. Figure 80 an hour and they are quoting you 2 1/4 hours to do rear brakes and rotors. All that is involved is taking off the wheels, jacking up the truck, removing some bolts, sliding the rotor off, slide new one on, and clip in new pads.

For the entire rear on a jack this should not take more then an hour for a basic tech. I did all four of mine on my last truck in just under 2 hours and I had a rotor that had to be pounded off the hub which took some time...

 

[TommyBoy2011]

$419 for rotors and pads does not sound good at all.

I have been doing my own brakes for years after discovering the parts were a fraction of the bill.

I have purchased new rotors and new Wagner Brake Pads for less than 100 and done the job myself.

I did purchase an extended maintenance plan that covers brakes with my Explorer.

This.

I did all 4 rotors and front/rear pads on my altima for less than $160. Gotta love the Advance autoparts online coupons.

 

[jeff59rt1]

We just had the rears replaced at 33k at 210$. We didn't have the rotors changed because our lease is up in two months and they are not warped. Front pads had plenty of life left though. Our ex before needed all four rotors turned in the first 1000 miles due to rust.

 

[PlatinumSport14]

Keep in mind he did say he paid someone to do it. With that said $420 to drive to a repair facility and then drive away will all new rear brakes is NOT terrible.

DIY of course you can do it for less. I'm still confused as to why so many people lambaste those who choose NOT to. I personally DIY many things. However since I don't have a tire machine and balancer I pay someone to do that...is that STUPID and a RIP OFF? Of course not because a tire machine and balancer are $$$$. Its all relative people.

I for one would rather have someone who either doesn't WANT to or KNOW HOW to pay someone than them try it themselves and then cause an accident because their wheel locked up or fell off!!!

 

[182RG]

I have been doing my own brakes for years after discovering the parts were a fraction of the bill.

I did purchase an extended maintenance plan that covers brakes with my Explorer.

Irony.....

 

[nextreme]

Driving habits and city versus highway miles dictate how frequently brakes wear out, not just mileage alone......100K seems to be a little extreme unless they are mostly highway miles imho......

I drive roughly 90% highway. That is why it surprised me.

The reason I had them replaced was actually because I brought it in for a noise in the front brakes. The dealer told me that my rears were so worn down that they couldn't determine what the problem with the fronts was. They said if I were to pay to have them replace the rears then they could diagnose the problem with the fronts and most likely cover turning the rotors under warranty. When I picked it up they never mentioned the front brakes. I started driving it home and they were still making the same noise. It had been in for almost two weeks for repainting of the doors and other stuff so I just said screw it, and thought maybe it was the winter tires making it feel worse than it was.

Fast forward until today and the front are even worse now with the summers on. I just dropped it off this morning with 65k on it because I think the fronts are worn down now. Lots of chattering and vibration. Ridiculous. Not just my previous vehicles but my friends vehicles have never needed new brakes this early on. I can tell you one thing, I won't be paying them to replace these ones. I'll do it myself, with better parts, at a fraction of the price.

The service advisor told me that both the Explorers and new Escapes go through brakes faster than anything he's seen. They are always in getting brake jobs.

 

[Motoarzan]

My vehicle is about 6 months old but I notice that after a rainstorm the next morning the rotors are covered in a layer of rust. And the first few stops have that grinding sound from the brakes as it's shaving that new layer off.

I know this is normal with all vehicles, However on the Explorer it seems much more intense than with any other vehicle I've owned. Is this because the explorer rotors are of an an extremely low quality and yields way more rust than your average rotor?

 

[nextreme]

So the dealer replaced the rotors. The originals were so badly warped that they tried machining them twice and they were still warped.

Driving home they felt really good but after about 15 minutes in bumper to bumper traffic I started getting some squealing and chatter. The squealing is new, but I can assume that is the pads trying to seat to the new rotors. The chatter however is the same noise I had before.

I wonder if the problem is the pads or calipers. I asked them to double check that the pads were ok, and that I'd pay to replace them but they assured me the pads were fine.

I'm contemplating just replacing the pads myself at this point. I'm no stranger to doing brake jobs but just didn't want to still have a problem after and they try to blame some caliper issue on my new pad installation.

 

[CajunFordEx]

So the dealer replaced the rotors. The originals were so badly warped that they tried machining them twice and they were still warped.

Driving home they felt really good but after about 15 minutes in bumper to bumper traffic I started getting some squealing and chatter. The squealing is new, but I can assume that is the pads trying to seat to the new rotors. The chatter however is the same noise I had before.

I wonder if the problem is the pads or calipers. I asked them to double check that the pads were ok, and that I'd pay to replace them but they assured me the pads were fine.

I'm contemplating just replacing the pads myself at this point. I'm no stranger to doing brake jobs but just didn't want to still have a problem after and they try to blame some caliper issue on my new pad installation.

Changing rotors but not changing the pads is really stupid IMO. Going the cheap route & cutting corners is only asking for problems. I would find a different dealer.

 

[blwnsmoke]

Always change rotors and pads together. The pads/rotors are mated together. Put a fresh pad on a used rotor and it will not seat together.. same thing with putting a new rotor on a used pad.

 

[Sgt1411]

My vehicle is about 6 months old but I notice that after a rainstorm the next morning the rotors are covered in a layer of rust. And the first few stops have that grinding sound from the brakes as it's shaving that new layer off.

I know this is normal with all vehicles, However on the Explorer it seems much more intense than with any other vehicle I've owned. Is this because the explorer rotors are of an an extremely low quality and yields way more rust than your average rotor?

I don't believe its a formal TSB yet but I do know the 14 Sport's had reports of squealing rear brakes. Mine had it bad with barely 6000miles, I took video and sent it in and was advised there's an upgraded design for Sport/Police rear brake calipers and pads.

They replaced pad/rotor/caliper on rears.

Have to show them yours has the squeal though.

 

[mola2alex]

Rear brakes

My back end was making some noise, took it into the dealer and now a $600 bill for pads and rotors. It is 2012 with under 60K on it. Seems strange to me, I had german cars the past 2 cars and never had to do brakes so fast. Actually for the 5+ years I owned each german car, I never had to do brakes once! I also find it strange that the rear ones are gone first, seems counter intuitive. I was told my front are perfect...

The dealer told me these new pads have a life time warranty - why don't they use those to begin with? And is that just BS? A bit disappointed, really like the car but worried I will run into quality issues.

 

[peterk9]

Welcome to the Forum mola2alex.:wavey:
Ford just came out recently with the brake pad replacement announcement. There is a thread on that in the 'Sticky' section.
http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=412591

BTW, I had to smile a little at the part where you stated "My back end was making some noise.."

Peter