Ford Excursion/SD brake recommendations
Hello, I am on my 2nd Ex and the brakes are going to get replaced soon (pulls to the left). With my first EX I went with factory OEM pads/rotors because it was at the dealership and I although I re...
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Just an FYI on my experience on my van. While the parts are not exactly the same, the brakes are nearly identical....
I used to have problems with short brake life as well. Granted, when used as specified, the vans don't have brake problems, however I effectively use my E350 as an E450, since when loaded my axle weights are at the limits of an E450, and my GCW is usually 22k which is max E450 GCWR.
Pads weren't terrible, usually got about 60k out of them. My problem was rotors cracking form severe heat cycling. A big reason for that being the terrible brakes on the enclosed car trailers I used to tow. I tried Hawk pads early on for shorter stopping. I didn't like them because they increased stopping distances when cold. I also tried slotted rotors, which seems better when the brakes were wet (i.e. first stop after a big puddle, or when driving in slushy snow), but otherwise didn't make a difference. Even tried cryo treated rotors. These were the biggest disappointment. Yes, the surface did not checker (surface crack) as fast, but when they did crack after 6 months, they cracked all the way through.
So... my very last brake upgrade was new Ford OEM brakes. In 2008, Ford upped the brakes to 13.58" rotors with much larger calipers. This upgrade finally did it! Even at full load, I can now lockup the brakes on dry pavement. And after 100,000 miles the rotors are crack-free and I still have about 20% on the pads! Going to Ford OE upgrade really worked better than anything aftermarket.
Ford made a similar upgrade to the pickups in '05, but the Ex never got the same treatment. But I suspect you could replace the knuckles and do the same thing.
I used to have problems with short brake life as well. Granted, when used as specified, the vans don't have brake problems, however I effectively use my E350 as an E450, since when loaded my axle weights are at the limits of an E450, and my GCW is usually 22k which is max E450 GCWR.
Pads weren't terrible, usually got about 60k out of them. My problem was rotors cracking form severe heat cycling. A big reason for that being the terrible brakes on the enclosed car trailers I used to tow. I tried Hawk pads early on for shorter stopping. I didn't like them because they increased stopping distances when cold. I also tried slotted rotors, which seems better when the brakes were wet (i.e. first stop after a big puddle, or when driving in slushy snow), but otherwise didn't make a difference. Even tried cryo treated rotors. These were the biggest disappointment. Yes, the surface did not checker (surface crack) as fast, but when they did crack after 6 months, they cracked all the way through.
So... my very last brake upgrade was new Ford OEM brakes. In 2008, Ford upped the brakes to 13.58" rotors with much larger calipers. This upgrade finally did it! Even at full load, I can now lockup the brakes on dry pavement. And after 100,000 miles the rotors are crack-free and I still have about 20% on the pads! Going to Ford OE upgrade really worked better than anything aftermarket.
Ford made a similar upgrade to the pickups in '05, but the Ex never got the same treatment. But I suspect you could replace the knuckles and do the same thing.
