Those pitted Brake discs....

[YOOFALLMAN]

I'm sure there are others who've experienced similar, but my very late 2019/early'20 Bullitt with 8.3k miles on the clock has discernible brake judder caused by badly pitted front discs - the Dealer tells me they've failed to convince Ford , as I'd hoped, that it should/could be covered by warranty. They now want more than £1k to put right - with replacement OEM discs and pads. Obviously I'm less than happy at this for a car that whilst not a daily driver , is out 2-3 times a week on average and like a lot of folks on here , has a home in the garage - but I do live in Scotland and granted, every now and again we get this horrible wet stuff that falls out of the sky.
I've tentatively looked around at upgraded discs/pads and the Dealership, I hope , out of sympathy for my cause ( maybe wishful thinking ) and a reluctance to lose my custom.......have offered to fit F.O.C. if I supply .
Any recommendations as to what /where to buy ?

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[E=MC2]

I'm sure there are others who've experienced similar, but my very late 2019/early'20 Bullitt with 8.3k miles on the clock has discernible brake judder caused by badly pitted front discs - the Dealer tells me they've failed to convince Ford

Let me just ask this really simple question: Are you saying your dealer has identified that the breaks have not been fitted correctly by the factory and they have said they are the cause of said issue?

 

[Veteran]

Pics would help. If it’s a road only car Id think the standard disks are more than good enough.

 

[Veteran]

Steeda, CJ Pony, American Muscle and many more keep a variety of disks

 

[YOOFALLMAN]

To clarify - yes, its purely road driven - no Track use or anything close to it.

To Post #2 - no, it isn't to do with poor fitting - more the case of corrosion or deeply embedded rust.

 

[sk47]

Hello; My experience is brake rotors will rust unless you drive every day. I washed my car a few days ago and there will be some flash rust on the disk surface. I have even done work on disk brake cars which have sat for months/years and have lots of rust. Thing has always been the rust wears off quickly when the car is driven.
Even if there are some deep pits into the rotor surface that remain those pits do not cause a judder in my experience. Once the rust is scrapped away most times the brakes smooth out and do not make any more noise.
There have been a few exceptions. One where a Ford escort was allowed to sit uncovered on a grass lawn for years. The owner wanted it made road ready. Those brakes and pads had rusted to each other to the point the wheels would not turn. Wheels/tires had sunk into the ground up to the axels. That job was to need all brake parts replaced and a few other parts.

Guess a definition of the term "judder "needs to be had. My first take is you mean the steering wheel shakes when the brakes are applied. This is due to the rotor disk being warped a bit. If you mean something else, please tell us. There can be a different problem if brake fluid or oil or grease gets onto the pads. There is also a type of problem if the pad surface becomes "glazed" from getting too hot.

If the issue is the common out of true (warped) rotor two things can be done. One is to have the rotors turned in a machine shop unless they are worn too thin. Usually just the front. The other is to have new rotors and pads installed. I have known some drivers to just live with the vibrations. That works, but adds wear to ball joints and other steering linkages.

I do my own work so cannot say if the rotor job at 1 thousand pounds plus is too steep. Seems high to me. Several have made suggestions of aftermarket rotors and i cannot add to that.

If you do get new rotors and pads take some care breaking them in when new. That may help prevent future warping. good luck.

 

[Nodster]

My replacement discs and pads should be here by end of next month.

Similar to your issue Graham. Discs are badly grooved and pitted. Been like that since I bought the car (second hand). It cost me £786 to get new EBC USR slotted rotors and EBC Bluestuff NDX pads all round.

.
If dealership are asking for over £1k for stock items, I think that's steep, but not unexpected (Dealerships always costs more).

 

[jonny10buds]

For clarity they’re ‘brakes’ and ‘discs’.

 

[Silver Dragon]

For clarity they’re ‘brakes’ and ‘discs’.

Glad to see someone is upholding standards

My favourite on the forum is “should of” instead of ”should have”

Don’t worry we’ll learn them to speak proper!

 

[WD Pro]

@YOOFALLMAN

As it looks like the disks and pads are up for replacement anyway, have you considered A) re running a brake bedding in process and B) giving them some hard / aggressive driving ?

I'm not sure what your normal driving entails, but it's possible to pull over 1g deacceleration on the Michelins on public roads. That force from cough 'high' speeds sure produces a lot of brake dust - and therefore rust and corrosion etc all at the same time.

So long as you choose to play in a safe area and within the limit of your skills, what have you got to lose ?

WD

 

[raptor17GT]

I also live in Scotland and yeah the climate is rubbish but the disks should last longer than that but you do need to properly get them up to temperature when using the car. Maybe you should go out and get them stinking hot, they are goosed anyway.

I had my fronts replaced because they were worn and had a lip and it turned up both the outer pads were seized in the calipers as they'd been assembled with no anti seize. Our climate loves stuff like that.

Depending where you are located there is an American car specialist near Edinburgh airport who is good. Brakes ain't cheap and with the tanking of our currency buying anything stateside just got real fuggin expensive!

 

[YOOFALLMAN]

Thanks for all the helpful replies thus far - I think some hard driving ( and braking ) might be on the cards soon to at least see if that might improve the situation.
Some screenshots attached from the Dealership “Health check” video attached…

 

[sk47]

Thanks for all the helpful replies thus far - I think some hard driving ( and braking ) might be on the cards soon to at least see if that might improve the situation.
Some screenshots attached from the Dealership “Health check” video attached…

Hello; The images shown do not appear to indicate the disk is ruined. I have seen worse that people continued to use. I have seen much less pitting that some wanted replaced.
The main thing being the thickness of the rotor. If the rotor surface is still thick enough that surface pitting likely will not affect much. Bottom line is the rotors can be used if not worn too thin. Bear in mind my opinion from looking at the pictures is not the same as being there. I cannot really tell for sure. However, I have run rotors that were visually worse.

A thing some aftermarket rotors have is pits and/or grooves drilled into the surface of a rotor. The idea is the gasses generated during hard braking have pockets to go instead of being trapped between the pad and the rotor. Some disks have actual holes drilled thru them for the same reason. The drilled holes are reported to have potential as a place for cracks to start. Chamfered edges of the holes may help. My point being some small pits in the rotor is not the end of the useful life of the rotors.

The rotors pictured likely will clean up after some driving. The rusty pits will remain, but the rest of the surface should become shinny as the surface rust wears off. Here is a thing to consider. Even a shiny disk with no pits and a perfect surface can be warped and will cause a vibration under braking.

Here is what i would do. First drive the car and put some miles on the brakes in the sense of doing some stops. Does not have to be hard driving. Ordinary driving will clean up a rotor of most surface rust. The grinding noise caused by the surface rust should go away after a few stops.
Next, I would have a look at the pads to check for surface glazing and/or any other issues such as oil or brake fluid on them. (the dealership that took the pictures ought to have spotted fluid, if any, but competency is not universal.)
Last is to check with a tool to see how far out of true a rotor(s) may be.

Here is something you may not be able to do. Try to not park the car when wet from driving in the rain, at least for a long time. I get we cannot always pick a dry day. The cars with nice rotors tend to be those which are driven every day. Good luck.

 

[Gregs24]

Thanks for all the helpful replies thus far - I think some hard driving ( and braking ) might be on the cards soon to at least see if that might improve the situation.
Some screenshots attached from the Dealership “Health check” video attached…

Wow, do you park the car in the sea overnight? The rust on everything (not just the brakes) is far worse than mine which is a year older.

Lack of use is the big killer for brakes, you don't see rust on 20k miles/year cars.

 

[YOOFALLMAN]

Yeah , always thought a nice salty North Sea would be the perfect place to park my car at night…..

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