E150 Brakes
#1
11-11-2013, 04:34 PM
E150 Brakes
Hello everyone,
I do have Ford E150 4,6 SOHC V8 Econoline. I put a new rotors and pads on the front, last year replaced by Firestone. The brakes never really worked good enough even with the new front, and in mountains or down from big hills, while braking, the entire van is shaking as hell and I can't even hold the steering wheel . I figured out the read brakes did not work at all, even I still got 50% drums and shoes. So I stopped at a local shop to reset them. It was braking for a week only. So 2 weeks ago I have stopped at the Firestone again and they said the same, the rear brakes did not work at all, they have reset them again, but it was working for about few days only. So now, my front rotors are purple caused by overheating, almost no material on it, rear doesn't brake at all. I want to replace entire front and rear, but I am looking for advice where to buy drilled rotors for the front, or what brakes to go with, maybe ceramic brakes? Also any advice where to shop for drums and shoes for the rear brakes? The local shop, where I recently spent nearly $3k for head gaskets replace, says generally 150 series got no good brakes what so ever. Thanks in advance for any advice.
T.
I do have Ford E150 4,6 SOHC V8 Econoline. I put a new rotors and pads on the front, last year replaced by Firestone. The brakes never really worked good enough even with the new front, and in mountains or down from big hills, while braking, the entire van is shaking as hell and I can't even hold the steering wheel . I figured out the read brakes did not work at all, even I still got 50% drums and shoes. So I stopped at a local shop to reset them. It was braking for a week only. So 2 weeks ago I have stopped at the Firestone again and they said the same, the rear brakes did not work at all, they have reset them again, but it was working for about few days only. So now, my front rotors are purple caused by overheating, almost no material on it, rear doesn't brake at all. I want to replace entire front and rear, but I am looking for advice where to buy drilled rotors for the front, or what brakes to go with, maybe ceramic brakes? Also any advice where to shop for drums and shoes for the rear brakes? The local shop, where I recently spent nearly $3k for head gaskets replace, says generally 150 series got no good brakes what so ever. Thanks in advance for any advice.
T.
#2
11-11-2013, 04:56 PM
Econolines have never had good brakes. The rotors, calipers and brake pads are crap. As for the rear brakes, I would change the master cylinder and bleed them out completely and add all new fluid. I assume you have shoes on the back.
#3
11-11-2013, 06:38 PM
Having been up this road I found the brake pads that worked best and lasted the longest were genuine Ford pads and rotors. Care should be used when purchasing rotors because cheap rotors do not hold up especially the imported stuff.
Something else you might consider when going down hills , if you shift the trans down to D2 or even D1(Low) before starting down the hill may rev the engine up some , but using the engine and the brakes will cause less wear on the pads. Depending on the grade going down the hill the engine and brakes will share the work. Just don't allow the engine to rev too high before using the brakes too. Once at a lesser grade you can shift the selector to the regular drive position and it will upshift as usual. Don't decide to place the trans lever in a lower position after you are going down the hill it may or may not downshift for you. Do it at the top of the hill before heading down. You may find you like the control you have using both .
Something else you might consider when going down hills , if you shift the trans down to D2 or even D1(Low) before starting down the hill may rev the engine up some , but using the engine and the brakes will cause less wear on the pads. Depending on the grade going down the hill the engine and brakes will share the work. Just don't allow the engine to rev too high before using the brakes too. Once at a lesser grade you can shift the selector to the regular drive position and it will upshift as usual. Don't decide to place the trans lever in a lower position after you are going down the hill it may or may not downshift for you. Do it at the top of the hill before heading down. You may find you like the control you have using both .
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