[mr.walters.michael]

So I've got 4 of these transits to manage and I've read all about the rear brake problems and why it's happening and about all the maintenance to help prevent it and so on. None of that seem unreasonable, but as these vehicles use rural roads regularly and can easily do 200 miles a day. So my question is if there are any better calipers I could replace them with that are more made for dusty environments? I'm not worried about warranty issues and I much rather put some money upfront on better calipers and still do regular maintenance then spend more money on excessive pad and rotor replacement down the road.

 

[avenge]

Not sure what preventive maintenance you're referring to, the rear pads wear quickly and don't see how different calipers would help.

 

[AzB]

Not sure what preventive maintenance you're referring to, the rear pads wear quickly and don't see how different calipers would help.

Bigger brakes would help. The Transit brakes are tiny and therefore work harder. Larger brakes have more surface area and generate less heat. That equals longer life. Bigger calipers would also be necessary.

I do not know of anyone that sells brake upgrades like that for Transits.

 

[surly Bill]

Get ceramic pads, get 80-100k+ out of the rear brakes.

 

[mr.walters.michael]

Not sure what preventive maintenance you're referring to, the rear pads wear quickly and don't see how different calipers would help.

The slides on the calipers have a tendency to get stuck(even more so in dusty environments) when braking which then causes faster pad wear therefore a caliper issue and not a pad issue. Preforming regular cleaning or replacement of the slide can reduce this issue. My issue with that is that I have 9 other vehicles outside of these 4 transits, so if I can have better quality parts for the job that will reduce Maintenace time down the road would be greatly appreciated in more ways than one.

 

[mr.walters.michael]

Bigger brakes would help. The Transit brakes are tiny and therefore work harder. Larger brakes have more surface area and generate less heat. That equals longer life. Bigger calipers would also be necessary.

I do not know of anyone that sells brake upgrades like that for Transits.

Bigger pads would certainly extend the time between replacement but doesn't really solve the issue. Certainly something to keep in mind though.

 

[surly Bill]

I don't think there are aftermarket calipers, you're stuck with factory. If there is an aftermarket rear brake upgrade, like something made for F150 that fits Transit, I'd also like to hear about it.

 

[kazuo]

FWIW do not put grease on the brake pad and clip interface, attracts dust, which will cause brake pads to stick, also install new clips when changing brake pads.

 

[surly Bill]

Since changing the pads is 15 minutes per wheel, and you only need to do it maybe once every year* if you do a lot of city driving, I wouldn't throw a bunch of money at the issue trying to get away with extending the maintenance out to once every 1.5-2 years.

* 200 miles a day, 5 days a week, 50 weeks a year = 50k miles.
*on my first pad/rotor replacement at 50k (didn't need to, it turns out) I installed slotted rotors and ceramic pads. I just changed the pads at 112k, because ONE was worn down due to my oversight installing the pads (pin has to go into a hole on caliper and it didn't), the other three pads only had about 30% wear (70% life left).

 

[pbethel]

The computers managing the brakes has just shifted the wear from the front to the back. Used to be front got changed two to three times more often than the rear.
Stop and go urban delivery driving by first owner wore mine out in 18000 miles. 30,000 miles later still life left in the pads.

 

[surly Bill]

The rear bias is great because it reduced the nose-dive when breaking, but yeah, hard on the rear brakes.

I meant "braking". I'm getting as bad as those loosers who keep spelling lose wrong.

 

[kazuo]

A year ago I installed replacement Rear brake pads (Akabono), the new Pads measured 12mm thick, after 12,000 miles the pads measured 10.5mm thick, 1.5mm of pad wear in 12,000 miles, should get 60,000 miles of use at this rate. Also less brake dust and better NVH. The OEM pads had 8mm of wear in 22,000 miles, so approx 30,000 miles of use.
Akabono are ceramic brake pads, The OEM brake pads are semi metallic.

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