I just got the brakes done on my NF Fairlane on friday. Got new pads all round, front discs machined and new discs on the back. On Sunday I was driving in the hills of Perth, I was coming down a steep hill and braking to stop the car reaching speeds of 100K's. When I got to the bottom of the hill the brakes where basically non exsitant and there was a bad smell inside the car. They felt the same way as they do when the car is off. When I pulled over to investigate, I found that all four wheels where hot and obviosly the pads where making that buning smell. Does anyone know what would cause this or has it ever happened to you???
You were braking for extended periods, brakes work by converting kenetic energy (ther wheel turning) to heat. Normally heat is disapated, but when the disk, capiler and pad do not get a beak they cant shed enough heat as it is making....
Ford brakes are infamous for this, even the series 1 AU's will do it, although I believe that they have helps the situation now with better stock brakes, plus the new option of HiPo brakes on some models...
There are a number of solutions, the easiest (cheapest) is driving style. Instead of riding the brakes down hill, shift down a gear or two. Autos make this harder, but if you can get into a gear that locks up the torque converter (usually around 2K rpm) they will engine brake enough to maintain a speed.
Otherwise you can spend some money on bigger disks, or even just a quality set of ventialated brakes.
Harder compound pads will help no end also, not the $50 repco shyte that most people speand on a pair of pads, usually they are around $100. Bendix do make a reasonable 'performance' pad, they certainly dont measure up to the more expensive ones when tested on the trake, but for a fraction of the cost, they work real well on the road (IMO).
Also, its never a bad idea to bleed your brake lines every year or two. (this didnt cause you problem, else the brakes would have locked up on you) but good fluid can help (slightly) to disapate abit more heat.
Being an EF driver i'm only too familiar with this brake fade problem. But to minimise it you can try these ideas.
The first 2 are already mentioned by others,
Flushing the fluid on a regular basis would ensure that moisture/water is kept out of the fluids. If theres water in the fluids naturally when the brakes get hot teh water will boil as water boils at a much less temperature than brake fluid.
Pad material, this is the most critical part in brakes as this is the contact point. A goos set of pads i've heard are the Bendix Ultimates and there pretty good value at under $100 a set.
Next thing is disc rotors if there too thin or close to the wear limit the discs will heat up more quickly as opposed to a thicker disc.
Hence contributing to brake fade.
Driving style is important, everytime i go down steep hills i'm always aware that teh falcon brakes have a relatively limited time before they start to fade, so i use abit of engine brake and don't brake constantly, with this in mind i can go downhill and still have brakes towards the bottom.
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when i drove an EF, the first thing i did was change all the disc's to crossdrilled and grooved dba gold discs with bendix ultimates...
No brake fade full stop. stopped like a motorbike. also had 16" fats on it too.
only thing i didnt like, is how fast they chew up the pads, and the amount of bloody dust! and also when braking at high speed, you can feel the grooves in the discs by the vibration. Most people wouldnt notice this tho.
Stock EF/NF brakes are SHIT full stop.
allready had the front discs changed on my NF because tehy were under limmit. Same brakepads from NEW were still on there. also had problems with the rear discs.
Were the new pads bedded in correctly ? I think some pads say they don't require bedding but i think thats a bit dodgy. I think new pads will be dodgy for a while. How many km's on the new pads before this incident?
Originally posted by Fairlane Boy when i drove an EF, the first thing i did was change all the disc's to crossdrilled and grooved dba gold discs with bendix ultimates...
No brake fade full stop. stopped like a motorbike. also had 16" fats on it too.
only thing i didnt like, is how fast they chew up the pads, and the amount of bloody dust! and also when braking at high speed, you can feel the grooves in the discs by the vibration. Most people wouldnt notice this tho.
Stock EF/NF brakes are SHIT full stop.
allready had the front discs changed on my NF because tehy were under limmit. Same brakepads from NEW were still on there. also had problems with the rear discs.
How much would it cost to change the brakes like that??
Don't get the cross-drilled rotors. Holes drilled through steel become weak points and are the first place stress fractures in the metal structure will occur. Slotted are best. I wouldn't use Bendix Ultimates on stock Ford rotors either, Bendix make a good intermediate pad that would be better suited.
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Originally posted by LARKO 10 Were the new pads bedded in correctly ? I think some pads say they don't require bedding but i think thats a bit dodgy. I think new pads will be dodgy for a while. How many km's on the new pads before this incident?
I had probably done 150Kms after I just had new pads all round, new discs at the rear and the front machined.
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