attn-Coastiejoe

[Jim Rice]

CoastieJoe,

After being on this website for a while it seems as if you are the person to ask about the Sport Trac. I was wondering if you know how come brake pads seem to wear out so fast. I had new metallic pads put on in January 06 and had to replace them this week after only 15,000 miles. Is this normal? My Sport Trac is an 02.

 

[shawn stonbraker 2]

SLOW DOWN!!!!! Just kidding. It could be a couple things. The brand (manufacturer) of pad you used or you may have them "hanging up". Did you do the replacement yourself or have a place do it? Everything has to be cleaned before putting it back together. Some places do, some don't. Also, some places put really inferior pads on and they are crap. Do you have slotted or drilled rotors? Those will chew up semi metallic pads quick. Those are just a few things off the topof my head. (I know I'm not Coastie but I have done a fair share of brake jobs)

 

[Kevin Palmer]

In the case of the Trac, a large part of the issue has to do with the size of the pad compared to the weight of the vehicle. One thing you can do is step up to front pads for an 04. They are physically larger thus giving you more area to do the same job the 02 pads do.



The weird part is, that not all Tracs have this issue. My 03 had 72,000 miles on it when I traded it in and still had the original pads. I did change the pads on my 01 (Job 2) at about 30,000 miles.



You can also upgrade the rotors to either slotted or drilled rotors. This helps with the cooling during braking thus all parts last longer. Is it worth the cost versus the gain???? Well from the perspective of performance and safety I would say yes. But not the cost versus the over-all life of the pads and rotors. That said, if you need to replace a rotor, then I would step up to the drilled or cross cut rotor.

 

[Jim Rice]

Coastie,

Thanks for the reply

Jim