Brakes

[Mercurios2011]

Hello fiesta enthusiasts !!
So today i have a simple question
I bought a set of Hawk Performance brake pads still in box brand new
I currently run ceramics on stock (replacement) rotors and while they are excellent as far a brake dust control
and long lasting ,I want to upgrade to a more bitey set up

What is yall recommendation as far as a good rotor to pad combination ?
Is cross drill ventilated rotors all that? or go back to Original Ford OEM be a more productive combination ?
I replace hoses every 2 to 3 years , so they be next as well

very open to suggestions , thanks

 

[LionsTooth]

Unless you're auto-crossing or doing track days, cross-drilled is just emptying your wallet. Replacing hoses every 2-3 years seems excessive. I've had my Fiesta for 3 years & it's never crossed my mind to change out the brake hoses. I am due for brakes and will take a look but I am guessing they will be fine. Brake rotors are pretty cheap, so I have, in the past, changed out rotors when I buy new pads. It just seems to make sense. Putting new pads on old rotors means that new pad has to bed into the old rotor. That often means all the pad is not touching the rotor at first until it wears into the old rotor's imperfections. A standard steel rotor should do you fine with just about any pad material.

 

[Mercurios2011]

ok cool , nope no auto cross , i wish tho be a good learning experience
as far as changing the hose just like pads and mainly rotors i live on dirt rds and just about every 2 to years i have to change rotors
I have used pads that have plenty meat on them but because i had to change the rotors i replaced pads as well , i never had to change brake components this soon on any previous vehicle i owned ,even on my 92 Cadillac in its life span with me (10 years) i have only change pads and rotors twice , but in the last 3yrs i only drive it once every 2 weeks .

You can see the wear on the rotors ,and pads be looking like i just replaced them , i always done break in by the book to avoid warps(learn that the hard way) I was thinking maybe some raybestos, power stop, puma speed or just go back to FORD OEM with these pads would do what Im looking for
Thanks! for your feed back

 

[Handy Andy]

Dusty roads and ceramic pads are never a good thing.

Ceramics use material that the dirt you ride over - also has. - similar to clay - as in pottery.

So the combination adds a level of grit and sandpaper that can easily plug up pads and the rotors themselves being a SOFTER metal than the clay composition is, adds to this wear problem.

When you mentioned the Cadillac - that in itself has a comparison that when you look at the piston to rotor surface - the piston (by it's construction and design) can retract some distance which allows that pad to rest either on the cradle of the caliper or on the surface of the rotor - and with it's (vehicles) dampening suspension - the ride the pads get is different - not as stiff or sporty and lightweight as the Fiestas; - so the ability of the pad to knock itself clean of debris is different between the Cadillac GM design and the Fords own caliper - both float but the comparisons stop there.

One aspect people look at is the effort of surviving the dirt road life, some prefer a softer pad that is less harsh on the rotor and although wears more rapidly - saves the rotor for the glazing and gouging that rocks and dirt tend to get in-between the surfaces and continue to grind away making the rotor look more like a set of Barry Manilow Greatest Hits Albums, that were used as coasters during a Aerosmith concert. The Harder Metal and Ceramic compositions aggravate a rotor in a dusty trail grinding that softer mica and carbon (*gasp* Asbestos) pads tend to slough off.

There is also the comparison of alloys the Iron or High-Carbon Steel or other exotic materials in both the pads and the rotors are now made with, compared with what was used no more than just a decade ago.

So the composition of the Ceramics offer that high effort and low-glaze function that many appreciate the "Solid" feel - the composition of itself and the clay in the dirt of the roads you're using - add to the demise of both.

So the Splash/dust shield and the clearance of the shield to rotor, as well as the caliper design - between the two - I can easily see why the abrading the dust and sand you have (high in silica and Quartz) makes the hoses more vulnerable - so the effort then turns to using some form of Stainless Steel braid covering or even carbon/Kevlar fiber sleeves that can give the hoses a longer life in such conditions but as to what to use specifically - I think you'd have to look into your options for many hoses are not available to Fiesta owners - more like heavy trucks - but the concepts can be applied.

Good luck with this but it is possible and pretty easy as a "Backyard - Mechanic" approach many can do - it just is a mess that you have to slip the sleeve over and zip tie to keep the sleeve in the spot to keep the abrasion down - but the price of stainless steel - even the soft copper/zinc/bronze or even plastic braiding materials are pretty stiff in price - it may be easier to wrap the hose or when the time comes you have to replace it - use the sleeves to help in the protection - else just jacking up the car to do it now, might be better to do the whole job once than to do it half-way and then complete it once the pads and rotors REQUIRE the change out

To me IMHO - the softer pads keep the rotors in better runout shape - but not all cases are equal. But the concept of using soft pads lets you control - or at least monitor the wearing patterns and you can correct the conditions or resurface - reburnish the rotor faces - so you can equalize the wear and control the braking system to a larger degree - but not everyone likes working a brake job every 6 months as a seasonal change into their schedule..

 

[Mercurios2011]

That makes perfect sense !! see my Caddy Uses semi met from factory , i did tried ceramics with vented rotors once then went back to oem because they only lasted one year, i cant believe i never thought about it till you just mentioned it ,those brakes been there for prob 5 years now if not longer and still look good.
I did ran organics pads on the Fiesta once and they are garbage lol so went back to ceramics which is oem .
now these hawk pads are ferro carbon and i want new rotors for them ,so instead of wasting money
with the information from both of you what i will do
is change the rotors under warranty and hopefully that will last me longer than 3 years and definitely
look into those sleeves
Thanks again to both of you

 

[Handy Andy]

Ford (including Focus - note the clip design)


Cadillac - including Eldorado
​

One thing I forgot to mention, the "anti-Squeal" shims, many apply-on types from a jar or can (fluid types) can attract the dust from the road you're trying to keep out of it from. Some just make the dirt and dust just cling and stick making the backing on the pad a gummy/gooey mess that water just loves to eat away at. So the pad designs and their shims construction play a pivotal role - it's why I mentioned the Caddy's design concept - those shim designs kept the car quiet (or they were Drum - which many converted to Disc later as aftermarket) - no squeak or squeal - even when you just got done barreling thru Downtown New York streets - just beating out the Yellow Cab that held the Mother-In-Law - and you QUIETLY slipped in and the Valet taking your keys - wasn't chirping the tires trying to squeeze the beast into the parking spot.

So just some designs let the clips provide a type of springback retaining effort to keep the pad "Ready" but kept the pads from pushing onto the rotor surface - which when you look at Fiesta - that is a little different and there is some "tension" to the pads and rotor surface contact nearly all the time on the Ford design.

Not knocking Ford, but they did up the brakes, both Rotor and Drum with a smaller circumference - look at them - those rims have a lot of airspace you could sell for advertising for if they'd let you. So the level or kind of braking pressure - is different too.

Just some stuff to think about...

 

[Mercurios2011]

while at work I decided to look up brake pads and rotors , to my correction OEM is actually semi metallic not ceramic
I see where I already made the mistake X)
when I ordered them ,I even ordered them as semi met with rotors , not paying attention even after reading the BOX I Still installed them XD
nothing against ceramic really ,they are indeed very quiet and almost no brake dust, just not dirt friendly and rotor killers ha

 

[Mercurios2011]

So far so good, these Hawkpads are worth the extra money and to my surprise they don't release as much brake dust as I figured they would ,definitely recommend them .I'm running stock replacement rotors
and they seem to pair very well