Front Brake Pad Replacement - Gen4

[Overtow]

I'm back with the next installment on how to save yourself $400 by replacing your own brakes - Front Pad edition. This time however I'm only replacing the pads as the rotors were fine.

Like the rears, this is an 8-bolt job - six lug nuts (21mm) and two caliper bolts (13mm). I did the second wheel in <20 minutes from wheel up to wheel down and torqued, mostly because there is no need to mess with the parking brake maintenance mode. Also, I used a regular C-clamp to compress the pistons - no special tools required.

Jumping into the process photos after jacking the car up, securing it with a jack stand, and then removing the wheel:








Caliper bolts are 13mm:





Pry the caliper off with a flat head screw driver, preferably something with some strength:




Now pry the pads out of the caliper. I will note here that on the other (driver) side, my inside pad was stuck. The front pads had lots of material remaining and I was actually going to save them, but I destroyed the friction face on the other pad prying it out.




5 pic limit reached....continuing in next post...

 

[Overtow]

With the old pads removed, I used one to compress the pistons back into the caliper using a regular 6" C-clamp. Make sure you compress the pistons all the way - I did not on the first try and when reinstalling the caliper over the new pads one of the pistons would not clear a tab that was on the backing plate of the new pads. I had to pull the caliper back off and then compress again to get it to fit over that tab.




My back brakes were down to metal, but the fronts were still in decent shape. I almost stopped the job and left these on but I figured what the heck, I've got it torn down already, might as well swap them out...




Pop the mounting hardware out and replace with new:






After applying anti-seize to the mounting ears on the pads, install them into the mounting slots:

 

[Overtow]

I noticed that my bottom caliper bolt was a little seized, so I pulled both pins out, wiped them off and then liberally applied anti-seize and reinstalled. #Cleveland
Reinstall the caliper and torque it down, then reinstall the wheel (after liberally applying anti-seize to the face of the rotor so I can get the wheel off in the future without having to sit on my ass and kick it). #easypeasy





After this, I took it for a test drive and bedded the brakes. I'll post a response in the future on whether I like the pads or not. Here is what I installed, I went semi-metallic because I'll be towing a 7000# boat to Lake Cumberland next month...



$45 from Rock Auto:

More Information for DYNAMIC FRICTION 1214208700

 

[HtownHog]

This is wild that the rears west out so much faster than the fronts. Typically you would expect the opposite, wonder why these have such high rear bias.

 

[Going_Going_Gone]

Thanks for another illustrated tutorial. Seeing your rusty parts bring back (unpleasant) memories of winters growing up in the Cleveland area and the effects of snow and salt on vehicles.

 

[keny01998]

I think Ford Expedition has the easiest brake job than all other brands. I had to replace my rear pads at 28k miles and I'm going to replace my front pads soon. I just hit 37k miles this week and the pads have 5mm left because I tow a boat.

 

[keny01998]

This is wild that the rears west out so much faster than the fronts. Typically you would expect the opposite, wonder why these have such high rear bias.

I think it has to do with the adaptive cruise. My rear pads were gone around 28k miles.

 

[Zig10]

I think it has to do with the adaptive cruise. My rear pads were gone around 28k miles.

I think it's just the bias. Mine wore out in the same timeframe and I rarely use my cruise control at all, and have only used the adaptive twice in 3 years.

I do tow a pretty heavy boat, though.

 

[gural]

I drive in Europe and most on the highways and after 6 k i do not see that the pads are used at all (do not have addaptive)
but in 2 car driven in city after 6k i see at least 20% of pads are used

 

[TX-EXPMAX]

Thanks for another great writeup. You've confirmed my suspicion on the front brakes...I can hear my back one squealing at 36k but front seems fine, so i'll probably just replace the rears and keep on truckin

 

[SublimeHiPpOs]

This is wild that the rears west out so much faster than the fronts. Typically you would expect the opposite, wonder why these have such high rear bias.

I have a Jeep Wrangler as well as the Expy, they are also known to go through rear pads much more quickly than the fronts for some reason. Maybe they bias towards the rear on taller SUVs to help combat nose dive under heavy breaking? Or maybe in the case of the Expy it could be due to potentially extra weight on the rear while towing?

 

[Peter L]

Great post! I've recenlty noticed that there seems ot be a "rumble" noise coming from the front under braking. It's not real loud and it's not s shudder like you'd get with a warped rotor. There also isn't any shimmy at all in the steering and no squeaking or squealing, just sortt of a low hum.... 2019 Expedition Limited with about 30,000 on the odometer. Any thoughts?

 

[Peter L]

Great post adn timely as I may need to do something with my front brakes. Mine seem to have a low rumble or hum when braking. It' snot a shudder adn there' no shimmy like you'd exepct with a warped rotor...it's just a sort of rumble for lack of a better word. There is no squeaking or squealing and there doesn't seem to eb any loss of baraking power, nor does there seem to be any noise form the rear. I have a 2019 Limited 4x4 and I just passed 30,000 miles. Any thoughts would be appreciated.

 

[Peter L]

Sorry about the double post - it looked like the original didn't take - My bad........

 

[Leadfoot17]

Thanks for another great writeup. You've confirmed my suspicion on the front brakes...I can hear my back one squealing at 36k but front seems fine, so i'll probably just replace the rears and keep on truckin

If you hear any level of squeal from the rears, you're likely metal on metal already. I have a 2018--mine started squealing at 40K miles and I figured it was the wear indicator...welp, there is no wear indicator so...needed a new rotor...hope not same for you.

#goodluck

 

[2020ExpyPlatinum]

Front brakes do 70% of the braking and rears usually only do about 30%.

The rear pads end up getting stuck in their holders since they don't get used as much. This is common with a lot of manufacturers. Honda rear brakes sometimes were gone after 20,000 miles.

The best way to prevent the rears from wearing out prematurely is to clean and lubricate the slide pins and clean the areas where the brake pads slide on the brackets.

Good write up by the OP!

 

[duneslider]

I don't know what pad composition the ford is using stock (haven't looked) but in the example of the jeep wrangler above, the jeep used a semi-metallic pad in front and an organic in back. The organic pads wear really fast. I don't know the reason they spec it that way but since I stopped using the organic pads on my jeep the front and rear wear out at a pretty similar rate.

I wonder if ford is doing this also. I have also heard that the traction control is the cause for more rear wear, most of the traction control is performed by applying rear brake.

 

[TX-EXPMAX]

I experienced the same thing in my wife’s Land Rover LR4. Never made sense to me but rears always went faster than fronts.

 

[rd618]

I’m interested if the semi make an improvement in stopping distance.

 

[Overtow]

The truck seems to stop better, but thats all subjective, I have no data to back up that statement.

A low rumble would seem to me to be a wheel bearing, which I feel like a number of people have had replaced early on in life. The way I diagnose this is to find two freeway exits/onramps, one that banks left and the other banking right. If the noise diminishes while turning left (putting pressure on right side of vehicle), its likely a bearing on the left side. Opposite if quiet while turning to the right.