Lesson number one: don’t buy brake pads from an autoparts store. Stick with OEM or dealer parts.
I slapped some Wagner pads on my '97 Ford Ranger. Almost every time I stopped, the truck sounded like it was growling. OK, maybe it’s the new pads, who knows? I take off the tires, make sure the brakes are seated properly…everything looks good. Still get a real low rumbling sound when I stop. After a month of this, I check again. Surprise! My rotors are deeply scored inside and out, both wheels.
Friggin’ brake pads. I go and buy Ford pads (surprisingly, not any more $ than the parts stores). Before I put 'em in, I figure I’ll get the rotors ground. They look good, I put them on. Checked them with that magnetic dial caliper thing. Well within tolerance. Put the new pads in, and test it out.
“Wow, why are these brakes pulsing so bad when I stop?” Took everything off, checked, same thing. Repeated this 2 more times just to make sure I didn’t screw anything up. Talked to some other people who had the same exact thing happen. They went and bought new rotors and everything was fine. Got the explanation of “hot spots” on the rotor after grinding, and something about heat and centrifugal force, and I don’t know what in hell they were talking about. So now I have to buy new rotors.
Any Dopers know the deal on this? Does this mean you shouldn’t bother having your rotors ground?
I don’t know what to tell you. I’ve had my rotors ground several times, and had no problems with aftermarket pads. Similarly, I’ve had no trouble using aftermarket pads even when I haven’t had the rotors ground.
Maybe the rotor was warped enough to where grinding made no real difference. That’d be my wild-ass guess.
(p.s. Anything funny about doing Ranger brakes compared to other cars? I’ll be doing mine real soon)
I have never had a problem with non-oem pads. Many of the aftermarket companies make pads for the “big3” so they should be just as good, other than the fact the box doesn’t say FORD.
As for rotors warping, many things can cause it. From tightning your lugnuts too tightly (Jeeps especially are known for this) to riding your brakes, spraying water on them while hot, panic stops too often and I am sure many more. I can’t think of a way a different pad, or even substandard one could cause warping. After you get them cut (resurfaced) they should’ve been true once again, so if it pulsed AFTER the resurfacing, I have no idea.
Don’t ride your brakes, overtighten your lugnuts or wash your car immediatly after a long drive and they shouldn’t warp at all (or at least for a long time).
I’m in agreement here. I’ve always done my own brakes(On a Dodge Dakota, Dodge Ram, and Nissan Maxima) and have always used aftermarket pads. I’ve can’t vouch for Wagner necessarily, but I’ve never really payed attention to the brand. Especially with a Nissan, they’re going to squeak pretty badly anyway, so I don’t care that much. Sounds like bad luck to me.
Must be bad luck I guess. The rotors were ok before the last set of pads, and they were definitely in right. (What can go wrong? The pads snap in or they don’t). The rotors were definitely scored after the replacement pads. Whether the pads caused it or not, I don’t know.
The rotors aren’t warped - I checked them with two types of calipers. And I’ve used aftermarket pads on other vehicles without any problems, so I’m stumped. I’ve also had rotors ground on my Honda, and I’ve still got the original rotors (1990).
My Ranger has 32K on it, so this was the first time I had to mess with the brakes. Maybe it is* a funky Ranger thing.
bump, you better hope not! Other than this mystery problem, there’s nothing weird about Ranger brakes.
I think I cursed myself by responding to this thread! Today on the way home from work, my brake pad wear indicators started squealing to beat the band, so I guess I’m going to be digging out my odd-sized hex key earlier than I expected. Not the way I’d normally want to spend a Sunday afternoon!