New discs and pads on Focus.

Recently had mine done as the discs where warped, it was about £180

In message , clarky writes

I was quoted £128 from a main Ford dealer for discs, pads and fitting.

I did it myself in the end for about £65 using EBC pads and discs.

Using original Ford pads and discs would cost around £90.

The message from Paul Giverin contains these words:

Out of interest...what's the Focus estate like? I'm looking to replace the elderly Maestro eventually, and a diesel estate's the target.

I'm not a "spirited" driver...but I'm 6'2" and rather large, so I don't really care about handling as long as it makes it round the corners eventually, but interior space would be nice. Somewhere for me knees, mostly.

In message , Guy King writes

I haven't driven the estate but from a driver's POV it will be the same as the hatchback models. You will have to try it out for yourself but you may find the headroom lacking for a 6'2" frame. I'm 5'11" and when my hair gets a bit long it brushes on the roof, which annoys me.

ISTR that the Maestro had quite a wide cabin (same size as Montego?). I'm not sure the Focus is as wide. I do rate my Focus quite highly and might buy another but I did notice Tim (dot.farm) mention that there may be problems with high mileage failures on the 1.8 TDCi Focus.

The message from Paul Giverin contains these words:

Same passenger compartment.

Hmmmm, wonder what fails.

Was that tongue in cheek?! Cylinder head gaskets, cam belts (yes really!) the occasional turbo and problems with the high pressure common rail pump are begining to emerge.

Tim..

The message from "Tim.." contains these words:

No!

Hmmmm. P'raps I'll go for a Passat estate or similar. Quite fancy a Xantia...but the electrics scare me off.

I'm not saying the Focus is an unreliable car, they are very reliable and major / electrical problems are scarce. I would choose the petrol engined ones over the diesel, because despite much fettling and redesignage over the years; the 1.8 Endura DE despite TDCi gubbins on it, is just a bad, noisy design! Although its alot better than it used to be!! I wouldnt trust one much over 100k miles especially with the 12500mile service intervals.

Tim..

Paul, where did you source the EBC discs and pads, and have they improved the braking at all? More or less dust??

Have 50k on mine now, and looks like they'll need changing at around 60.

TIA

Tim..

In message , Tim.. writes

I bought them at my local car factors. They quoted me £37 for a set of Greenstuff pads and they quoted me £32 for a set of plain discs. I thought that the discs would be cheapo ones but they were EBC too.

Have they improved the braking? No I don't think they have. I think they are slightly worse than the original Ford pads but I did actually rate the Ford pads quite highly.

I think they need a bit of heat in them for them to be at their best, which is fine if you drive twisty roads and are always keeping the brakes hot. Most of my driving is on fairly empty dual carriageways with ten miles between brake applications.

They are very good WRT dust though, which is why I tried them in the first place. There is a lot less dust produced than with the Ford pads.

Expect your discs to be a sod to get off at that mileage

The message from "Tim.." contains these words:

I /like/ the sound of diesels!

That would be the same as with BMW OEM pads then. Dreadful for dust but work well hot or cold. Perhaps a fan as part of the inside of the wheel that blows air on the brakes and therefore the dust away would be the answer.

I reckon the cylinder head on the Passat'll give the Xantias electrics a run for their money.

Can anyone tell me what Mazda make their pads from? Dad has a March 03

2litre Sport with 9.5k miles on it now, and there is/has been *no* dust whatsoever on the alloys or calipers! Both front and rear brake components still look like they were when the car arrived.

Tim..

A scrap yard would probably do it all for about half that, if it's old enough for them to have a few in stock.

In message , DP writes

Call me a snob but I prefer to buy my discs and pads unused.

Never ever put used braking and suspension components on a car, especially from a crashed vehicle, is your life worth the few quid you'd save???

Tim..

The message from "Tim.." contains these words:

You might then consider changing all the braking and suspension/steering parts if you buy a second hand car.

I honestly think this attitude is excessive. After all, there's plenty of calipers and drums out there which are perfectly good, and in some cases no longer available as spares.

OK, so buying discs and pads is taking it a bit far, but there's plenty re-useable.

Most older cars at the scrap yard aren't crashed. To me it seems silly to put, for example, a new disk onto a ten year old car. Parts that wear out regularly I would buy new (pads, shock absorbers, tyres) but only because they tend to be overpriced at scrap yards. Of course I'd avoid main dealers.

Even if a car has crashed, I would reckon that a component like a disk is going to be better than what it replaces. I suspect that clarky has been driving around with a faulty disk for some time.

Allowing a couple of hundred miles for it to bed in, and as most scrap yards will give a refund if it turned out to be warped, I can see no reason for not "recycling" a disk. I am certainly not going to be scared into parting with my money by vague images of crashed cars.

I accept that it would be bad practice to put old parts onto a new car, but I will certainly continue to drive old cars using second hand parts when needed. I prefer to spend my money on other things.