About 3000 miles ago I did a complete brake job myself on my 2005 Ranger FX/4. All new rotors, calipers and pads. Now I wish I had put on ceramic pads as the brake dust is terrible. My question is can I safely change out the pads now and still use the almost new rotors? If I need to change the rotors with3K on them then that would a waste and I will wait to do this next time. Thanx in advance.

 

Have the rotors turned, about $15 each, that will remove any embedded pad material.

If you just swap the pads brakes will probably squeak/squeal for awhile as old material is cleaned off, how long?
Your guess would be as good as mine, lol.

 

I did the same thing... put on the cheaper, soft pads and now I have to deal with tons of black brake dust all the time. Lesson learned, right?

 

Hey butchss, You and I have the exact same truck. Although, you have a little more mileage than me. You can always change your brake pads, regardless of when you replaced the rotors. Turning the rotors will true them up, but it will also remove metal, which will cause the pads to have to move further to stop. If you want your truck to stop really good, then buy these rotors: Stoptech Sportstop slotted and drilled:
127.65082L(left) and 127.65082R(right). I use these pads:Wagner ThermoQuiet - QC833 Ceramic Disc Pad Set With Installation Hardware. I am very happy with this set-up.

 

Thank you. IMHO our FX/4's are the best Rangers Ford ever made. Certainly my favorite Ranger of all of them. I really like my truck.

Do you spring for the extra bucks and get the cyro treated rotors or just the regulars?

Thanx.

 

I just got the regulars.
I didn't see the cyro treated ones on Amazon.

 

Finally got to do it today. No issues whatsoever. No noise and the brakes work fine. I pulled the rotors and lightly sanded them with 600 and cleaned them with brake cleaner then coated the hub and lower rotor with black caliper paint to control the rust.

Goodbye brake dust. Thanx for all the replies. Currently checking junk yards for Mustang rear caliper mounting brackets, dust shields and moan brackets to do a rear disc conversion this summer. Rotors, calipers, pads will be new.

 

Why would you think it was a good idea to just blindly sand down your rotors? Turning them in a lathe, they're trimmed down uniformly, but how you did it there is nothing uniform about it. Sanding does you no good. In fact, it may make matters worse.

 

OK, first of all I did NOT blindly sand them down like using a belt sander or some other type of power tool. I spoke with a certified mechanic who recommended that I very lightly go over them with 600 grit to remove SOME of the metallic residue that would still be on the disc by HAND and to be very sure to clean them good with brake cleaner afterwards and to avoid greasy fingerprints as much as possible. Do not scratch the rotors I was told. A couple of passes over each side of the disc without a lot of pressure was what was recommended and is what I did.

I would NOT say I sanded them as in sanding wood or something like that. Maybe I made it sound that way or maybe you just want to post something critical. You're a moderator?

 

What butchss did was perfectly acceptable. 600 grit sandpaper will remove any surface contaminates and possibly (but highly unlikely) knock off the surface glaze. These rotors were just replaced recently... why would you put them in a lathe and remove material? That's just plain dumb.

 

It would take a lot of sanding to remove metal with 600 grit sand paper. It just removes the material that transfers from the brake pads and scuffs any glaze in the metal. I used to do this on flywheels when I did a clutch job. I used a courser emery cloth to help break the glaze. I never had any problems with this technique.

Now that I have more money, I always have rotors and flywheels resurfaced properly by a machine shop but it is not absolutely necessary. There are pads available for some cars that have an abrasive surface to clean up the rotors as the pads break in. No machining or sanding required. Of course, the rotors need to be in good condition.

 

I, too, have used 600-800 grit sandpaper on rotors and drums to remove rust ridges and all that. I haven't had any problems yet, and I've done in on 3 or 4 different cars, including my own.

 

I was in the understanding that you took to your rotors with a DA and some 600 grit. Just using it to get some of the transferred material off is completely understandable. But I thought you were sanding them down to get the same results as you would having them turned. My bad for reading too far into it. I've always just turned mine, but then again I have a brake lathe at work I can use whenever I want.

 

LOL, no problem. As a matter of fact it has been a week now and 200 miles and everything is working great with those pads.