So I'm told that my car needs:

[Shadow Mach]

New brakes urgently.. I dont wanna stick with the stock brakes for the $350 that you know who wants to charge me. Do I have any options in the same price range? Upgraded calipers or anything? Some red ones would be nice. Or I could just paint my oem..

[bayrunner]

Do them yourself.....theyre easy to do and rewarding as well.

[tach9]

New brakes urgently.. I dont wanna stick with the stock brakes for the $350 that you know who wants to charge me. Do I have any options in the same price range? Upgraded calipers or anything? Some red ones would be nice. Or I could just paint my oem..

IMHO...one of the best things you can do to your stock brake system..is ad good pads....My recomendation is Hawk HPS...all of the Black Sheep run them...and they are far superior to the stock pads...I have them for $162.00 for the set (all 4 calipers) plus shipping... :spam:

[Shadow Mach]

IMHO...one of the best things you can do to your stock brake system..is ad good pads....My recomendation is Hawk HPS...all of the Black Sheep run them...and they are far superior to the stock pads...I have them for $162.00 for the set (all 4 calipers) plus shipping... :spam:
How much does the normal install cost? How much more stopping power do you have??

[Mach1Guy]

How much does the normal install cost? How much more stopping power do you have??

installed should cost you $0 because you should be able to install brake pads yourself. brake pads are a very simple install and doesn't take long...even if you have little mechanical ability its pretty simple

[tach9]

How much does the normal install cost? How much more stopping power do you have??

I'll guess if you go to a shop to have the brake pads installed tehy would charge you 1.5 hours of shop time....that equates to about $150.00 or so...but IMHO..it is pretty easy to install pads...the only real difficult things is in the rear calipers, you'll need a caliper piston retraction tool...looks like a dice...to retract the rear caliper pistons...everything else is a no brainer IMHO...Stopping power..at least 10% better than stock..and that is pretty good!!!

[351c.i.d]

Why do you need new brakes and who told you you that you need them?
If it's new pads you need...yes I'll echo Tach's post. The Hawk Pads are outstanding and they are one of the best bang for the buck mods you'll ever buy. Are you rotors shot? Can they be resurfaced? Just make sure that whoever is telling you that you need new brakes isn't trying to pull a fast one on you.
Also, and I hate to say it...but new brakes in the range of 350$ isn't possible, unless you want to go back to stock. If you have certain goals in mind for your car, whether it be better handling around a corner or 1/4 mile, you'd be better off biting the bullet and upgrading your brakes all together, and not shelling out 300+ bones for what you already have......be prepared to spend some cash though. Quality brakes do NOT come cheap. You get what you pay for when it comes to brakes. If this is just too much for you, I highly recommend resurfacing your rotors and going for the Hawk HPS pads and upgrading to a quality brake fluid.
Also, painting your calipers is an easy job, it's just time consuming. If you can hold out, the Mach1review.com will be offering powder coated brake calipers in your choice of Mach1 colors in the near future at a reasonable price. The finish on these calipers will be far more durable than your average paint job, and they can come in an exact match in your cars color, or any other color for that matter.
Good luck! :thumbs:

[C.W.]

Why do you need new brakes and who told you you that you need them?
If it's new pads you need...yes I'll echo Tach's post. The Hawk Pads are outstanding and they are one of the best bang for the buck mods you'll ever buy. Are you rotors shot? Can they be turned? Just make sure that whoever is telling you that you need new brakes isn't trying to pull a fast one on you.

ford, pull a fast one on us... no, they wouldn't.... would they? like when you bring a bronco in for a inspection and they tell you that ya need $2000 of front end work, and when you take it to your front end shop and get told theres nothing wrong, not even the alignment is out... they wouldn't do that... would they???
c-dub

[Shadow Mach]

ford, pull a fast one on us... no, they wouldn't.... would they? like when you bring a bronco in for a inspection and they tell you that ya need $2000 of front end work, and when you take it to your front end shop and get told theres nothing wrong, not even the alignment is out... they wouldn't do that... would they???
c-dub
my brakes do sqeak under some circumstances, and the stopping power could increase..

[C.W.]

my brakes do sqeak under some circumstances, and the stopping power could increase..


understood. my rears squeaked out of the show room and ford said it was normal that all mustang rear disc squeak, wtf? ( fixed with some break quiet) you'll never know until you look, but if the only squeak sometimes it should just be the pads not the whole rotor and not the calipers. don't take much to pull a tire and look. but change the pads (if worn) before they damage the rotor.
c-dub

we can all use more stopping power :D

[Shadow Mach]

I also have the brake light come on during hard stops. i.e. 85-0 that light came on, what is up?

[C.W.]

I also have the brake light come on during hard stops. i.e. 85-0 that light came on, what is up?


break light mostly means fluid level. hard stops from 85mph... smooking. check for warped rooters as well.
c-dub

[ImShakn]

I also have the brake light come on during hard stops. i.e. 85-0 that light came on, what is up?
If you haven't added brake fluid, that's probably what the problem is. As your pads wear, you need more fluid in the system so that the pistons can react as quickly with worn pads as with new ones.

If your brake light is coming on, that's a pretty good indication that your pads are very worn and should be replaced asap. What has probably happened is that the friction material has worn down to the rivets, eating into your rotors...making what should have been an inexpensive brake job (replacing the pads) even more expensive (replacing rotors also).

Tach can probably guide you towards some good aftermarket replacement rotors that don't require you to replace the stock caliper. You will spend a little more than the $350 quoted to fix the stock brakes, but you will have better and more reliable braking than stock.

[Shadow Mach]

The dealership told me I would have a few thousand miles left on the brakes... If the light comes on that means that the rotors will need to be replaced already also?

[ImShakn]

The dealership told me I would have a few thousand miles left on the brakes... If the light comes on that means that the rotors will need to be replaced already also?
No, you need to check your brake fluid first. If that doesn't stop the light from coming on, then you should probably have it checked out again.

The price you stated is high for just changing pads (my dealer charges about $100 and resurfaces the rotors), so I was just trying to figure out what else they wanted to replace. If you aren't hearing any noise while braking (I forgot to mention the squeal in my earlier post), then you should be fine for a while. The rotors will wear, (and I believe that several people have mentioned that they will warp under repeated hard braking) but a slower rate than pads. You should be able to change a couple of sets of pads (depending on the friction material) before replacing the rotors is required.

[Lonestar 7]

Your brakes should have squeal indicators that make noise telling you your close to bads being bad. Atleast one time per year its a good idea to change your fluid. If you want a good honest brake job and inspection go to Midas I have dealt with them for over 15 years and they are great guys they will also install the pads you like if you bring them to them. Doing a brake job is easy just take your time and buy a few tools and the special tool for the rear and have a C clamp for depressing the front brakes. I have even rebuilt calibers which you need compressed air to blow the pistons out.
Tach 9 can fix you up with good pads. Never trust the dealer as they are into making money on service and I have learned to never trust there mechanic's as they tend to charge more. Midas has always done me right and they stand behind there work and have a nation wide warranty.