E350 cost for front brakes?
My 2003 E-350 has 76K on the brakes, mostly highway driving. They still had 60% left back at 60K. Getting a squeal at slow speed braking. What is a fair price for pads and turning the rotors?
Forum Discussion
After having a stuck caliper on one side, I changed both calipers, the hoses, and the pads. The rotors weren't scored or blued, basically felt smooth. Where I live, surface rust forms on the braking surfaces between trips. After several (albeit short) trips, I noticed the full surface wasn't getting cleaned off on my trips. At that point I pulled it all apart again and had the rotors surfaced.
The surfaced rotors stopped with a more confident feeling.
Two points if you're DIY:
1. The caliper mounts have to come out to pull the rotors. (So watch out that a shop doesn't pack only the outer bearing since getting to the inner is a PITA with the mounting and then the grease seal.) The mount bolts are large (21mm socket) and have a high torque spec (around 160) so you need a decent breaker bar or cheater pipe on your 1/2" ratchet to get them loose.
2. If you have lots of miles and wear, or even if you need new rotors along with your calipers, a "take-off" front axle "kit" from a 4x4 conversion shop can be less expensive than all those parts and you get new axles with new ball joints, bushings, etc. If your E-Series is 2007 or older, this is also upgrades to the larger, much better 2008+ front brakes.
The surfaced rotors stopped with a more confident feeling.
Two points if you're DIY:
1. The caliper mounts have to come out to pull the rotors. (So watch out that a shop doesn't pack only the outer bearing since getting to the inner is a PITA with the mounting and then the grease seal.) The mount bolts are large (21mm socket) and have a high torque spec (around 160) so you need a decent breaker bar or cheater pipe on your 1/2" ratchet to get them loose.
2. If you have lots of miles and wear, or even if you need new rotors along with your calipers, a "take-off" front axle "kit" from a 4x4 conversion shop can be less expensive than all those parts and you get new axles with new ball joints, bushings, etc. If your E-Series is 2007 or older, this is also upgrades to the larger, much better 2008+ front brakes.
