Ford F150 - '97 F-150, which front rotors to get ....or to avoid... and?

well, sorry about that Steve. I didn't catch your advice the first time through on the read through.

It's not too late. I haven't opened the boxes yet.

There is a NAPA auto parts store down the street. I will have to give them a call to see if they are open today, Sunday. And I will specifically ask about Motorcraft.

So, I have to ask... why are ceramic pads a scam?

I am just getting tired of all the black brake dust on my front rims/hubs.

Any advice for that Steve?

Well, I mean besides lots of elbow grease on a more frequent basis.

Oh, yeah, I can always take the Autozone Duralast ones back.

I wondered why they were priced so cheap...and they were made in China too....Arrghh...

Why did you buy them? What's their marketing ploy? That they don't fade when they get hot, right? The brakes on a street-legal truck will NEVER get hot enough for ceramic pads to be effective or necessary. And if they did, the rotors would melt, and the tires would explode.Wal-Mart & every parts store sells spray-on/hose-off stuff for a few bucks, but cheap pads & rotors are the source of all that iron oxide that galvanizes into the rims. Try buying MotorCraft brakes and see how long they take to go black again.

raybestos.... they are so smooth!

MAN...OH MAN! Are those rotors ever stuck on!

I went straight to the "get a bigger hammer solution" and about all I ended up doing was knocking more rust out of the rotor/hub assembly in a shorter amount of time.

I did notice the 3 bolts on the backside of the sheet metal splash guard. And if I had my metric box end/combo wrenches with me I might have been half tempted to take those loose just to see what would happen. They looked to be 15mm, but so far in with plenty of stuff in the way that I couldn't get a socket and ratchet on them.

If I do end up going that route, if that is even possible, I am envisioning wrecking the hub too...so it probably wouldn't be a bad idea to have a set of new hubs on hand just in case.

Anywhooo...what I did notice yesterday was that one pad, I think it was the outboard one on the passenger side was worn very unevenly. I am thinking that I have a bad caliper pen/pin (??). I went ahead and greased them up real good when I put 'em back together. I'll be sure to keep an eye on that side in the future.

That pad was down to the backer plate metal... so I went ahead and put on the "brake best" brand of ceramic pads I had. Unfortunately those are made in China.

Yeah, I did look real closely at the Duralast brand of rotors from Autozone versus the Wagner's I also picked up at O'Reilly's . The Duralast's don't look so good: rough machining marks, sharp brittle looking edges. Unfortantely, the Wagner's are also made in China.

So...who...knows... I might just go with all Motorcraft stuff, especially if it made here in the States (probably Mexico, I'm betting) and if the dealership parts guys can give me some real good useful advice on how to remove these rusted on rotors.

Oh...yeah... I forgot to add.... when I do go to stop now, the rotor(s) don't feel as warped now. Somewhere I have a mag base and some rods and a dial indicator ...now if there was a good way to hang all that off say the inside of the fender well, I could theoretically get an idea how far out of flat the rotor(s?) are.

If the hammer doesn't work, the only other thing I'd try would be a BIG jaw-puller to grab the lip of the rotor & press against the center.

The mag base of the dial indicator goes on the steering knuckle or suspension arm. Anything further away has rubber bushings that will make the measurements useless.

Ceramic has its benefits ....less dust and stopping distance

Had a taken truck in to dealer twice for vibration. Service manager told me the heat treating process was the problem an this problem would continue. at 36k my warranty was out so i did my brakes.

Replaced rotors assembly and pads with Wagner rotors(lifetime warranty on materials $172) and ceramic ($43) pads from O'reilly's.

shorter stopping distance and not as grabby on harsh stops
very happy

Here is a link to a good way to remove stuck rotors http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mtsTJCRljAs

4x4? if not the rotors are held on by spindle nut, doesn't specify