Front Disk Brakes

[wiswind]

'96 Windstar, 3.8L 149K miles.
I have not been happy with the braking during emergency stops....always have managed to stop....but I felt that it could be much better....
A while back, a shop did not tighten the lug nuts properly.....as in...one fell off. Resulted in warped rotor on passenger side.

I had a slight shake in the front end.....replaced all 4 tires (routine....after 60K miles on them)...and still had the shake.
I decided that the most likely cause was the warped rotor......

I decided to replace the pads and rotors.
To improve the braking, I decided to install slotted rotors.
I bought Brembo slotted rotors from www.tirerack.com for $161 (for the pair) plus shipping (about $11).
I bought Akebono Ceramic pads (Part # ACT601) for $63 (complet set for both sides) plus shipping.....from www.rockauto.com
I also bought the Motorcraft pad installation hardware kit....was the rubber boots for over the slider pins and the anti rattle clip.....1 kit is for both sides....I got the hardware kit from rockauto also

I installed the brakes......took pictures during the process.....and posted them with my other pictures at.... http://community.webshots.com/album/201931518cScpNK

I thought that the instructions that I had read.....were not real clear....so I put some additional instructions into the pictures.
Hopefully they will be of some help to others.

The shake is gone.....it was a shake that felt just like a tire out of ballance....or cupped.

The rotors also had some substance that looked like baked on grease on them. So I only greased the slider pins....I used the Permatex Disc Brake Lubricant.

One pad (the inside passenger side) was worn down pretty thin....
All the other pads were still thick.
The only problem with the rotors was that they were warped.

I did have a scraping noise....which I corrected.....I had bumped the metal shield that protects the inside surface of the rotor.....I just bent it back out slightly.


So far......they are doing great.

[12Ounce]

Congrats on fixing your vibration.

Did you replace the wheel studs on the wheel where lugs were left loose? I wouldn't trust tlhe old ones now. On my '99, the studs can be replaced without any major disassembly (I think).

[DMS825]

Does the vaccum pump work well for bleeding? I can't get the pedal firm no matter how much I bleed using the two person method.

[wiswind]

Yes....the vaccum pump works well.
I did have problems with the driver's side bleeder....which...as you can tell in the pictures....has had a different bleeder valve installed..... It looks like the valve was stripped out....and an oversized one was installed.
In that location.....I had to pump up some vaccum with the pump.....then press the brake pedal......close the valve (maintaining vaccum on the pump)....and that solved the problem.

[dbogey]

Great post and great pictures. So far how do you like the Akebono Pads Ceramic Pads? I'm thinking about ordering a set for the wife's '00 windstar. It still has the OEM pads and rotors. Rotors seem fine so I'll probably only replace the pads.

[wiswind]

So far...the pads are doing very well.