Windstar Brakes

the rotors on the windstar are just like most fords... jack up front of car, take off the wheel... remove the caliper and hand the caliper with some wire to the fender well(you dont want the caliper to be hanging and break the brake hose.... then you can take off the rotor...on mine there is some sheet metal bolts(flat parts that go over two of the lug bolts that i just remove with a flat bladed screw driver and some needle nose pliers(gotta get them moving and they will unscrew just like an ordinary bolt... then i take a hammer/mallet and hit the rotor from behind and it comes off... sometimes the rust or corrosion will have the rotor on tight, but a few hits is all it takes.. no force is used... when you put them back on you just shove the sheet metal bolts back on... and the wheel and lug nuts hold them on.. this is for the front disc brakes on just about every ford..... i also take the top off the master cylinder and remove some brake fluid with a large turkey baster(large plastic eye dropper) at walgreens for about $2.00 or the dollar stores for $1.00... what you take out you throw away... and then use a large C-clamp to screw in the pistons in the caliper so the new brake pads will have enough room to go in (the new pads will be larger than the old ones you taking out.... so you gotta push the pistons back in....... the rears are simialr if you have rear disc. brakes, only the caliper pistons have to be screwed in with a piston tool or some needle nose pliers (they have to screwed in by turning the piston into the bore and pushing it inward..... a little different than the front ones where you only shove in..... hope this helps.

Hi, If your '98 is set up anything like my '95, part of the caliper bracket has to come off to remove the rotor. It is held on with two bolts that took an enormous amount of torque to remove the first time I replaced the rotors. A long handle half-inch drive ratchet did the trick. The factory must have put locktite on the threads when it was assembled. I learned that replacing rotors when replacing pads was the only way to do a brake job on this car. Then the brakes lasted longer and warping didn't occur until the pads wore out. I have had good luck with lower end rotors and quality pads like bendix. Good luck.