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Ford Taurus and premature break/rotor failure

ElectroGhandi

ElectroGhandi

macrumors regular
Original poster
My mom has a 1999 Ford Taurus wagon that goes through brake pads and rotors like I go through frozen burritos and also popcorn. And believe me, my mom isn't a speed demon. This car is driven easy. I've heard many people complain about early break failure on the Taurus, which is believed to be caused by a combination of the car's weight vs. brake size and the fact that the car doesn't like to slow down 😛 (If you take your foot off the gas petal on level grade road, it will take a full minute for the speed to go down 5 mph)


Any discussion? Help?
 
what do you mean it goes though pads and routers quickly? How many miles is she getting out of them. What type of driving is she doing.

ElectroGhandi said:
I told my dad to ask the mechanic about larger rotors, but he said it wasn't possible or something?
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A lot of that depends on the size the wheel is a huge limiting factor and the other part is to put larger routers on the car requires replacing the calaipers and the mounting brackets because those are all set up for the stock size of the rotors size.
 
I would look at the quality of the brake pads & rotors that she is using. And what kind of mileage is she getting from each set?

The rolling resistance is more along the lines of the tires more than the car itself.

Bigger rotors are possible but it requires additional hardware.

I bet it has more to do with her style of driving...she can wear out the brakes without going fast.
 
anything is possible. usually, bigger rotors means larger wheels as well (assuming the stock setup is pretty snug already) and bigger calipers. It all comes down to wether your parents are willing to shell out the money for such an upgrade (is it really worth it). yall could try some harder compound pads for longer life (murder on the rotors tho)
 
Look at Tirerack for some upgraded rotors. Stay away from crossdrilled or you will be in more trouble than you are now. Just get some Centric blanks, or Brembo blanks. And get some better pads like some Hawk HPS ones.

No need to go bigger, just get better quality stuff. But I would also look at her driving. She could be one of these brake happy people that like to ride their brakes all the time, or brake at the last minute. That wears out brakes pretty quick.
 
nizmoz said:
Look at Tirerack for some upgraded rotors. Stay away from crossdrilled or you will be in more trouble than you are now. Just get some Centric blanks, or Brembo blanks. And get some better pads like some Hawk HPS ones.

No need to go bigger, just get better quality stuff. But I would also look at her driving. She could be one of these brake happy people that like to ride their brakes all the time, or brake at the last minute. That wears out brakes pretty quick.
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I do think she rides the brakes to some degree, but like I said, it's somewhat necessary in this car, or you'll just keep accelerating like crazy even when your foot is completely off the petal.

I believe our last pads last 20k miles. If that does not sound right, I probably recalled incorrectly. 😛
 
ElectroGhandi said:
I do think she rides the brakes to some degree, but like I said, it's somewhat necessary in this car, or you'll just keep accelerating like crazy even when your foot is completely off the petal.

I believe our last pads last 20k miles. If that does not sound right, I probably recalled incorrectly. 😛
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well at 20k miles it a little on the early side for pad replacement but if she is riding her brakes that would not surprise me at all. 30k is fairly normal to wear out the front brakes of a lot of cars. If you are riding the brakes 20k is completely understandably.

The car being heavy is not an excuse for riding the brakes. It is just very poor driving habits
 
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