Brake rotor and pad replacement

[Warlockez]

So it's about time to replace the pads and rotors on my truck just wondering what everyone suggests some Towing mostly highway driving currently I'm at 38,000 MI. I do want to go ahead and replace rotors with something a little bit better but pads should I go ceramic or something else

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[ctechbob]

If you have no shudder coming from the rotors and they're above minimum thickness, just leave them. Usually, the best rotor is the one that comes on the vehicle, even if you pony up for OEM parts, usually they're still not as good as what came on the truck. (Being in Missouri, you might have rust issues and need to replace them anyways, so the above might not apply).

At 38k, go ahead and budget for a fluid flush as well. Never hurts to push new fluid through the system every few years.

As for pads, depends on what your goals are. 'Ceramic' might not necessarily be better, it depends on what you're shooting for. Everything is a trade-off with pads. Good high-heat pads might have poor initial bite, whereas pads with great tip-in could give up early once they get hot.

I've never used a ceramic pad I liked, I prefer mostly semi-metallic, even though they're usually gawd awful dirty.

 

[Friday yet?]

I'm still back at 38K miles. And already needs brakes? Is this normal for a Ranger?

My wife's Fusion has 90K on it. Original brakes. And still got life left. Have had the fluid changed. Even my old POS (Frontier for those of you not clear as to what POS means.) Went about 100K before I had to do the brakes. My experience, which don't mean didly, original pads and rotors last quite a while. Guess I'd better tweak my brake thoughts for my Ranger.

Guess I should add one thing. My wife often accuses me of acting Iike using a vehicles brakes is a bad thing. Not crazy driving. Just planning stops... and yea, trying to use the brakes as little as possible. Just weird I guess.

 

[ctechbob]

I'm still back at 38K miles. And already needs brakes? Is this normal for a Ranger?

My wife's Fusion has 90K on it. Original brakes. And still got life left. Have had the fluid changed. Even my old POS (Frontier for those of you not clear as to what POS means.) Went about 100K before I had to do the brakes. My experience, which don't mean didly, original pads and rotors last quite a while. Guess I'd better tweak my brake thoughts for my Ranger.

Guess I should add one thing. My wife often accuses me of acting Iike using a vehicles brakes is a bad thing. Not crazy driving. Just planning stops... and yea, trying to use the brakes as little as possible. Just weird I guess.

Everyone's use case will be different. I'm a lot harder on brakes than most people, for example. I get about 15-20k out of my Acura's brakes, but that's for 2 reasons. I use an aggressive somewhat softer pad, and I brake harder. So I chew through pads. Just part of doing business. My wife uses the exact same compound pad on our Accord and will probably go 50k on a set. Both cars weigh about the same and both have close to the same power.

I'm at almost 35k on the Ranger and it looks like my rear pads will need replaced here in a couple of months, and the fronts probably before the end of summer, but I'm towing a big travel trailer and we have a lot of trips planned this year, so I will replace them LONG before they're too thin since thinner pads don't deal with heat as well as thicker.

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