Help: Replacing Rotors and pads: Taurus 2002 SES

Why are you replacing the front rotors so frequently? Are they becoming
heavily scored by the time the pads are worn down? Did the pads wear
down to the metal backing plates before you changed them? Are you
using aftermarket brake pads?

Motorcraft brake pads are not much more expensive than good quality
aftermarket pads, and they're designed not to score the rotors in
normal use as more aggressive semi-metallic pads will. They also
come with the correct hardware (shims, springs) to do the job properly.

Regarding the rear brakes, have you removed the brake drums and
inspected the shoes to see if they need replacing? The rear shoes
wear very slowly, and shouldn't need replacing after 90K miles
unless you make a habit of driving with the parking brake on.
Shoes can wear down to less than 1/16" before replacing.
If you've never changed rear drum brakes before, this is not
a good time to start.

Bob

$c45.14651@nlpi065.nbdc.sbc.com:


@l1g2000yqk.googlegroups.com...

  If you replace the rear shoes and don`t replace or overhall the wheel
cylinders your chances of not haveing a leak are slim.  KB

--
THUNDERSNAKE #9

Protect your rights or "Lose" them
The 2nd Admendment guarantees the others

On Fri, 10 Apr 2009 17:53:09 +0000 (UTC), Kevin


And that would be particularly true of a high mileage Ford
product as many decades back as I can remember.   When I
began fooling around with cars, it was routine to pick up
wheel cylinder and spring kits on every brake job without
even bothering to pull the wheels; if not, there was a good
possibility you would have to eat at least the labor to do
it right.  That was when you paid the gas station $1.50 -
$2.00 along with your 1K mile oil change to adjust the
brakes.  If you tried to cheap out, you would give the
brakes a couple of strokes on every stop before it would
stop.  Funny how we never thought of that as a problem in
those days.

Lugnut

Thank you for your reply.

I am going on the suggestion of the shop that inspected my brakes,
that wanted $500+ to do the front rotors and pads and said I only need
the rear shoes not new drums.

They said the pads were down to 95% and I needed new rotors. I'm sure
they are warped, because the steering wheel really shimmies as I stop
from higher speed, or on a quick stop.

Pepboys had done my previous brake replacements. So, If I purchase
Prostop front brake pads from Pepboys, I would not be getting the
Shims and springs as you mention?

I'm pretty sure the previous two brake pad replacements were proper
Ceramic pads as the ford specs require. I will be replacing them with
the same material.

I already have the new rotors. I need to go and pick-up the pads. What
else should be on my shopping list?

Brake Quiet
Brake Cleaner


Do I need to replace the Brake Caliper Guide Pins?

Anything else I should need or replace?

Thanks

Max

You also need a small tube of brake caliper grease (a/k/a synthetic
lubricant),
to lubricate the caliper slider pins. If they've never been re-greased,
they stop sliding easily and can quickly seize up in the caliper.
This results in the inside pad wearing much faster than the outside
pad. I'm surprised your pads are 95% worn, you should have heard
the built-in warning tabs scraping on the rotor once they were
at 80% worn.

Check that the caliper piston boot is not torn, and that any little
boots at the ends of the caliper pins aren't torn. The little
boots can be easily replaced, but the piston boot is more
difficult; many people just buy a new caliper.

At some point you should also replace the old, dark brake
fluid with fresh, clear brake fluid, but that's a job for
another day.

Bob

Thank you for your reply.

I am going on the suggestion of the shop that inspected my brakes,
that wanted $500+ to do the front rotors and pads and said I only need
the rear shoes not new drums.

They said the pads were down to 95% and I needed new rotors. I'm sure
they are warped, because the steering wheel really shimmies as I stop
from higher speed, or on a quick stop.

Pepboys had done my previous brake replacements. So, If I purchase
Prostop front brake pads from Pepboys, I would not be getting the
Shims and springs as you mention?

I'm pretty sure the previous two brake pad replacements were proper
Ceramic pads as the ford specs require. I will be replacing them with
the same material.

I already have the new rotors. I need to go and pick-up the pads. What
else should be on my shopping list?

Brake Quiet
Brake Cleaner


Do I need to replace the Brake Caliper Guide Pins?

Anything else I should need or replace?

Thanks

Max