Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums Modifications Brakes Brake Time (Longwinded)

Hello,

I've got a 99 SVT that I purchased back in January. It looks like they put new pads on it at the time, but I'm not sure if the rotors were turned or not. Within the last 2 months, I've started getting a little chirp in the front left wheel as a I drive. I took a look at everything and it all seemed ok, so I let it be. Within the last few weeks it's turned into a slightly louder squeal, but still not noticable unless I'm driving next to a wall/barrier. I finally decided to take a close look at everything and here's what I found:

The front passenger's rotor, as well as the rear do not seem to have any sort of ridge on the rotor from pad wear (a good thing). But the driver's front, has about a 1/16 ridge on both the outside and inside surface. Any thoughts on the cause?

So I'm planning on taking it apart in a couple of weeks. I suspect I will have to replace this rotor as opposed to just being able to turn it. Does anyone know the wear limit on the rotors?

I know that if you replace a rotor your should replace the pads as well, so I'm looking into that. My build date was 11/30/98, so based on what I've read, I should have the taller pads. However, looking at shoshop's site, they say if you have around 1/4" or so of unworn area on the inside of the rotor, then you have the shorter pads. I indeed have the 1/4" or so of unworn area. Are the two pads interchangable or are the specific to the caliper?

As for rotors, I might just replace both of the fronts at the same time. I'm not interested in getting drilled or slotted, nor am I (financially) interested in getting a bigger brake upgrade kit. So I suppose my question is, how do shoshop's rotors compare to the factory? Shoshop has a rotor and pad kit for $150 which seems more reasonable than genuine Ford equipment. I see spmotorsports has some reasonably priced rotors as well. Any comments or suggestions on these? How about resistance to warping?

Thanks for the info.

I'm sure that you have the late SVT type pads and calipers whaich are the same as the non SVT. You can get a good explanation from the BAT site (which might be the same info as you found from shoshop). www.batinc.net Be aware that the date they show as the changeover date is know to be inaccurate. It was much earlier, perhaps as early as Feburary 98.

The wear limit on the rotor is cast into the rotor near the outer hub face. If you look back a few weeks I posted that figure for someone else. Until you measure the rotor it's anyones guess as to if you have enough material left to machine the rotors.

You posted that the "caliper" does not have any ridge from wear. Did you mean the rotor? If you have that much of a lip, I would say there is a good chance that you will need a rotor.

Autozone sells Performance Friction pads as their "upgraded" pad for pretty reasonable. These are pretty good pads for the $$$ by most reports. (including my expereince...) Definately check out the BAT catalog for info.

As an update, I borrowed some digital calipers and measured my rotors. They are as follows:

Driver's Front: .904"
Pass Front: .912"

Driver's Rear: .802"
Pass Rear: .786"

(From Ford Service CD):
Front Wear Limit: .87"
Rear Wear Limit: .71"

It seems odd that they have worn so differently side-to-side, but it looks like I can get away with just turning them, replacing the pads, and sticking a hardware kit on them. From what I can see without removing the calipers, I have about 1/4" of pad material left on pads. The driver's front squeal is getting a lot worse.

As for pads, would you guys recommend aftermarket pads over the OEM Ford pads? I was eying the the Mintex A/F pads vs. the KVR CF pads. I've read good things about both. Has anyone had both and able to give a comparison of the two based on experience?

Thanks again.

I have used the Mintex pads and they are nice as ling as you dont plan running them on the track. If you want to run the car on the track I would get the Mintex C-Tech fast road pad. It stops alot harder at speed, it's just a bit harder on rotors then the standard mintex.

Roger