Brake Upgrade Options

[hellohithere]

I've noticed the brakes on the Expedition are not as effective as my other vehicles and has what sometimes feels like slight brake fade during regular braking. I'm wondering if this is common and if there are any known upgrade options (big brake kit, pads, etc) that other owners have done? Searched but did not find anything.

 

[16plati]

I've noticed the brakes on the Expedition are not as effective as my other vehicles and has what sometimes feels like slight brake fade during regular braking. I'm wondering if this is common and if there are any known upgrade options (big brake kit, pads, etc) that other owners have done? Searched but did not find anything.

Brembo. Powerstop. R1 concepts

 

[nate6966]

I've noticed the brakes on the Expedition are not as effective as my other vehicles and has what sometimes feels like slight brake fade during regular braking. I'm wondering if this is common and if there are any known upgrade options (big brake kit, pads, etc) that other owners have done? Searched but did not find anything.

During my research on the Expedition before buying our 2019, MANY reviews commented on the brakes and how they felt "sub par" for this vehicle. I knew going in that the brakes are on the list of poor performing features of the 4th Gens.
I say that to infer that you are not expecting to much but there's likely nothing wrong with your vehicle. Ford just didn't hit a homerun on everything here.
As Plati16 said, Brembo has an excellent upgrade available.
Aftermarket brake options abound and will likely provide some noticeable improvement. However, it could get very expensive if you're looking to upgrade calipers instead of just the discs and shoes.

 

[TobyU]

Just put some upgraded performance pads on it that say they stop better and no brake fade.
You don't really need rotors too.
The tight pads will give a world of difference. I have no issues with factory brakes and think they are fine but If you want more...pads are the first easiest step.

 

[Artie]

I don’t think I’d say sub par by any means but I’m not 100% pleased when I’ve spent all day on a our local mountain forest service roads. I’ll probably be towing more soon on these roads soon so I may want to upgrade at that point. For paved roads I’m totally pleased. I do feel Ford should have a upgraded brake package available as an option... especially one that looks all nice and pretty.

 

[duneslider]

I don’t think I’d say sub par by any means but I’m not 100% pleased when I’ve spent all day on a our local mountain forest service roads. I’ll probably be towing more soon on these roads soon so I may want to upgrade at that point. For paved roads I’m totally pleased. I do feel Ford should have a upgraded brake package available as an option... especially one that looks all nice and pretty.

Curious what you are experiencing that leaves you not 100% pleased? Are you overheating, getting fade, etc? I haven't driven enough yet to experience anything that I would consider not great. I think the brakes so far have seemed extremely good. This weekend I will be coming down a steep twisty canyon road with my trailer in tow and that will give me a good idea. I did do that road without the trailer last weekend and had zero issues.

I did a brake upgrade on my jeep and they work way better but are also WAY dirtier/dustier. Without going to bigger rotors, calipers, and pads you won't see much improvement unless you go to a pad that is much dustier than the stock pads.

 

[hellohithere]

Curious what you are experiencing that leaves you not 100% pleased? Are you overheating, getting fade, etc? I haven't driven enough yet to experience anything that I would consider not great. I think the brakes so far have seemed extremely good. This weekend I will be coming down a steep twisty canyon road with my trailer in tow and that will give me a good idea. I did do that road without the trailer last weekend and had zero issues.

I did a brake upgrade on my jeep and they work way better but are also WAY dirtier/dustier. Without going to bigger rotors, calipers, and pads you won't see much improvement unless you go to a pad that is much dustier than the stock pads.

I've noticed brake fade during some medium to medium heavy braking with 5-6 passengers and without towing. I do think that the 95F Texas heat contributes to the issue somewhat but am not entirely sure how much. Rotors and calipers seem very pricey. What pads would be better? How much more dust should I expect?

 

[duneslider]

EBC yellow stuff made a huge difference on my jeep but they coated the rims pretty quick and I didn't feel lasted very long. They aren't touted as lasting a long time though. I currently have the EBC green stuff on my jeep and they are less messy but still pretty dirty. They perform better than stock but not quite as good as the yellow. What is cool about the Yellow and Green is that they seem to grab better as they get warm.

They have an orange extra duty light truck/suv pad that I have heard is a great oem replacement and lasts long, so I assume is less messy too. I have not used these though so I have no personal experience with them. Of all the pads I have used the EBC have been the best. I like them better than Hawk but the Hawk pads are pretty nice too.

 

[Artie]

Curious what you are experiencing that leaves you not 100% pleased? Are you overheating, getting fade, etc? I haven't driven enough yet to experience anything that I would consider not great. I think the brakes so far have seemed extremely good. This weekend I will be coming down a steep twisty canyon road with my trailer in tow and that will give me a good idea. I did do that road without the trailer last weekend and had zero issues.

I did a brake upgrade on my jeep and they work way better but are also WAY dirtier/dustier. Without going to bigger rotors, calipers, and pads you won't see much improvement unless you go to a pad that is much dustier than the stock pads.

I’ve had some brake fade when doing lots of downhill either on paved mountain roads or forest service roads. It’s not bad but it’s enough for me to notice and there will be times in the future where I will be towing and carrying more gear so I can only assume it will be worse then. On the day to day I’ve never had an issue though.

 

[lobsenza]

There is no manual mode on the Navigator. I can use paddle shifters to downshift, but how do I get the vehicles to hold the downshifted gear?

 

[Artie]

There is no manual mode on the Navigator. I can use paddle shifters to downshift, but how do I get the vehicles to hold the downshifted gear?

what do you mean? Does it shift out of the gear you select with the paddle? It will do this if your lugging the engine or its revving high... the drive mode will make a big difference in the override shifting. ‘Excite’ won’t override for over revving as quick as ‘conserve’ will.

 

[JimmyM]

I didn't like the brakes on my '01 Denali at all. 1 hard stop from 80 and the brakes were fading at the end. More and more pedal pressure to maintain deceleration.
So I tried Hawk LTS pads. HUGE improvement in initial bite, torque, and fade resistance.
I put them on my '11 Exp as well. Love them and recommend them. Moderate dust though.

 

[lobsenza]

what do you mean? Does it shift out of the gear you select with the paddle? It will do this if your lugging the engine or its revving high... the drive mode will make a big difference in the override shifting. ‘Excite’ won’t override for over revving as quick as ‘conserve’ will.

I am in normal mode. I downshift using the paddle shifter. The transmission only holds the gear for a period of time and then upshifts. How can you mane it so it will not upshift?

 

[Artie]

I am in normal mode. I downshift using the paddle shifter. The transmission only holds the gear for a period of time and then upshifts. How can you mane it so it will not upshift?

Try ‘Excite’ and see how it does. I imagine the drive mode dictates the overriding shift points. Even if there was a ‘manual’ mode I’d imagine the vehicle would still shift overriding your input... this has been my experience in other cars anyway.

 

[duneslider]

They aren't going to let you damage the engine and transmission in manual mode. However, some seem to hold longer than others. I got stuck in one of those fiat 300 or 500 or whatever those little things are as rental once and it was set to manual sport mode and I didn't realize it and it would hold gears WAY longer than it should have. I was revved to the moon trying to get to freeway speed before I realized what was going on.

I have noticed that when going down hill and trying to use the engine to hold things back it won't shift out of the selected gear unless you go to accelerate.

 

[joethefordguy]

I will be upgrading my brakes soon. I'm not satisfied with the stock brake performance either. I'm going with solid rotors, as big as I can get, with the best pads, such as bembo, or EBC. still researching. I want to minimize the tradeoff between performance and longevity.

what would replacing the calipers gain me?

 

[Artie]

what would replacing the calipers gain me?

If you go with bigger rotors you’ll need bigger calipers. If you keep the stock size rotor you could get gains with a caliper with more pistons.

 

[JimmyM]

Replacing calipers or upgrading calipers? Replacing, depending on mileage, may gain you nothing. Upgrading, well, more pistons, etc as Artie said. But ultimately you can't have brakes that are too capable. However, at some point you're at the limit of your tire's traction, or the situations you'll never be in. You could probably find 18" rotors and 10 piston calipers. But will they be that much better than 15" rotors with 4 pistons given how you use your truck?

 

[TobyU]

Replacing calipers or upgrading calipers? Replacing, depending on mileage, may gain you nothing. Upgrading, well, more pistons, etc as Artie said. But ultimately you can't have brakes that are too capable. However, at some point you're at the limit of your tire's traction, or the situations you'll never be in. You could probably find 18" rotors and 10 piston calipers. But will they be that much better than 15" rotors with 4 pistons given how you use your truck?

I have personally never had a problem with any truck or SUV Factory braking system. I don't see the need for upgrades but then again, I drive mine like a truck or an SUV and not a high-performance race car. As someone mentioned eventually your way past the attraction and stopping ability of your tires anyways. I feel that the factory stock is almost already at this point.
Most brake upgrades aren't exactly designed for shorter stopping distances or better stopping power even though some do give those results at least early on. Most brake upgrades are designed to be able to break harder, more times in a shorter period of time and handle the immense heat that's built up better without having brake fade.
Anyone driving a truck or an SUV and having brake fade is obviously using the wrong vehicle for the job. These are not Road Race vehicles.

 

[JimmyM]

But if you're towing and want the added piece of mind that if your trailer brakes fail, your brakes won't be smoking and fading if you do need to stop at the bottom of an exit ramp. Then maybe better pads will do the trick. Getting bigger rotors to dissipate the heat of repeated hard stops is, IMHO, a bit of overkill. But they do look better behind 20 or 22" wheels.