Ceramic Brakes

[lawrench]

How many folks here have replaced their brakes and used Ceramic? Is there a preference? I currently do not need brakes yet, but want to know how much upgrading to Ceramic brakes will set me back?

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[JohnnyO]

I think the OE brakes are ceramic. Have not needed to replace the brakes yet but on other vehicles I've used NAPA ceramic pads and their Ultra Premium rotors. They only cost a little more, great feel, and almost no brake dust.

 

[Rene Michaels]

I just ordered Brake Performance Premium Cross Drilled & Slotted 4 Wheel Brake Kit with ceramic premium pads. Chose the Black Zinc Coating. Kit was normally $625.52, on sale for $414.18 w/free shipping.

https://brakeperformance.com/brake-rotors/premium-cross-drilled-&-slotted-brake-kit.php

I will add comments here after they are installed and I've had a chance to drive with them for a bit.

Part Numbers: CBFR-65160, CBFR-65157

 

[Megawatt]

I have tried upgraded pads before with various cars and motorcycles. Usually found they squealed and made more noise if wet. Or they grabbed so hard that driving was “different” and abrupt. Performance was better but not worth the trade off. People would not buy new cars if the brakes squealed. OEM or non high performance pads are pretty much what I stick with now.

Now if there is a product that many others try and have faith in I might consider. But my days of being the guinea pig on more expensive parts and then let down by an upgrade are past.

 

[D Fresh]

Brakes can be be a long rabbit hole to dive into. The factory pedal feel is much maligned around here. Most of that sponginess can be removed with a good brake bleed, and possibly a bit of pedal adjustment.

The Ranger is factory filled with DOT 4 fluid already, and although there are some braided stainless line sets available I'd consider those for more of an offroad ruggedness modification rather than performance.

Rotors and pads are available from budget setups all the way up to Pedders 6 piston BBKs. All a matter of what you want.

I don't believe our factory pads are ceramic, but I've used ceramic pads on a few vehicles and been very happy with them. Very clean, and much appreciated with chrome or lighter colored wheels.

I've found Ford factory brakes to be very good all around over the years. A very good balance between performance, noise, and longevity.

When the time comes for me to do brakes on the Ranger I'll probably go with a good set of aftermarket ceramics or OEM replacements, stainless lines, and factory rotors.

I will caution you not to cheap out on your brakes. Stick with reputable, well known companies or OEM.

Personally I'd stay far away from the cheap stuff like the kit linked to above.

 

[outdoorphotog]

My OEM fron pads squeal, I keep wanting to replace them just for that fact and if i do, it makes sense to upgrade the pad.

 

[Rene Michaels]

Brakes can be be a long rabbit hole to dive into. The factory pedal feel is much maligned around here. Most of that sponginess can be removed with a good brake bleed, and possibly a bit of pedal adjustment.

The Ranger is factory filled with DOT 4 fluid already, and although there are some braided stainless line sets available I'd consider those for more of an offroad ruggedness modification rather than performance.

Rotors and pads are available from budget setups all the way up to Pedders 6 piston BBKs. All a matter of what you want.

I don't believe our factory pads are ceramic, but I've used ceramic pads on a few vehicles and been very happy with them. Very clean, and much appreciated with chrome or lighter colored wheels.

I've found Ford factory brakes to be very good all around over the years. A very good balance between performance, noise, and longevity.

When the time comes for me to do brakes on the Ranger I'll probably go with a good set of aftermarket ceramics or OEM replacements, stainless lines, and factory rotors.

I will caution you not to cheap out on your brakes. Stick with reputable, well known companies or OEM.

Personally I'd stay far away from the cheap stuff like the kit linked to above.

I've never had a problem with the factory brakes on my Ranger. I'm doing this mod because I have always upgraded bakes on other vehicles I've owned at or around 30-40K miles, and in my case, have always had much improved braking.

So you called these cheap and said to stay away, can you tell me about your experience with this specific brand?

I mean, made in the USA, lifetime warranty against warping and cracking, and pages and pages of 5 star reviews. I don't need "big brakes" (won't be doing heavy towing), or red calipers, so when you compare these to the "brand' names" without the extras there really isn't much difference in the price.

 

[BassRanger]

I'd generally stay away from cross drilled/slotted rotors, they are of no practical benefit to street driven vehicles, and are far more prone to crack versus a plain cast blank rotor.

I'm not familiar with the kit posted but there are a bunch of glaring nonsense claims in the item description.

I think the term brake "upgrade" is thrown around way too often in the car community. The vast majority of vehicles today being produced with 4 wheel disc brakes have more braking capability than their tires can make use of. Pedal feel and actual braking performance are two different issues.

 

[DT444T]

I had to replace my rear pads at 70,000ish miles. I blame the hill-start assist. I got Motorcraft. The truck stops just fine. I don't need a racecar, I have racebike and my fun street car. It's a truck, it'll stop.

And JFC the rear brake job sucks on this truck. So fiddly... Rent the tool for rear parking brakes from [Parts Store Name Here]

 

[D Fresh]

I've never had a problem with the factory brakes on my Ranger. I'm doing this mod because I have always upgraded bakes on other vehicles I've owned at or around 30-40K miles, and in my case, have always had much improved braking.

So you called these cheap and said to stay away, can you tell me about your experience with this specific brand?

I mean, made in the USA, lifetime warranty against warping and cracking, and pages and pages of 5 star reviews. I don't need "big brakes" (won't be doing heavy towing), or red calipers, so when you compare these to the "brand' names" without the extras there really isn't much difference in the price.

I totally get it. It makes sense to "upgrade" when doing your first brake job. But in order to truly "upgrade" over most modern factory systems, you're generally going to have to spend some coin.

The set linked to I have no personal experience with, never even heard of them. That makes me go hhmmmm.

They aren't "Made in America," they are "Machined in Amerca." Their deceptive marketing practices got you once already, on your first point. I'm fairly certain there are no domestic manufacturers of rotors left, even your factory Motocrafts are made overseas.

Lifetime warranty?



Pages and pages of reviews can be bought for probably $20. I've never known one person to be running these brakes. If you've had good experience with them, cool, I'll take that into future consideration.

Put whatever you you want on your truck. For your needs, if it were my truck I'd go with these pads...

https://www.stage3motorsports.com/2019-2021-ford-ranger-performance-brake-pads.html

On factory rotors. There's really no factory replacement rotors available that look to be better than stock.

 

[D Fresh]

I had to replace my rear pads at 70,000ish miles. I blame the hill-start assist. I got Motorcraft. The truck stops just fine. I don't need a racecar, I have racebike and my fun street car. It's a truck, it'll stop.

And JFC the rear brake job sucks on this truck. So fiddly... Rent the tool for rear parking brakes from [Parts Store Name Here]

If it's the same process as other Ford rear brakes for sure! I borrowed the tool and couldn't see doing it without.

And pretty sure your early brake wear was due to them e' brake slides.

 

[DT444T]

If it's the same process as other Ford rear brakes for sure! I borrowed the tool and couldn't see doing it without.

And pretty sure your early brake wear was due to them e' brake slides.

The ones where I brake and apply gratuitous throttle? Becuase them damn kids around here keep doing that...

Damn kids...

 

[Dr. Zaius]

i always take product reviews with a grain of salt.
theres no way of knowing if they are accurate or not.

It's on the internet, therefore it must be true.

 

[Trigganometry]

I’ve used Stoptech on my previous Ranger. Seeing the fronts were doing all the work with drum rears. They were cross drilled and slotted with ceramic pads. They performed flawlessly and had great life. Can’t say so much for the taper front wheel bearings though. Those were hell and needed more attention than I wanted to deal with.

 

[Rene Michaels]

i always take product reviews with a grain of salt.
theres no way of knowing if they are accurate or not.

Agree, but if you actually take time to read some, you can typically spot the real vs. fake most of the time. Also if you look at more than one source of reviews, that can help.

Bottom line is just about every product made will have good and bad reviews. Have to weigh the risks and make the best decision you can with the data (real or fake).

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