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I don't know why some think it unusual that the brakes on a 4000+ lb. vehicle eventually require service. If you primarily drive your Freestyle in the city, then 34k is not an unreasonable figure for a first brake service. After all, it is how a vehicle is driven, and the conditions under which it is driven, day to day, that determines how quickly the brakes wear. The 34,000 mile figure by itself is pretty much meaningless.
Brakes are a wear item. Deal with it guys.
You aren't dealing with newbies here. We can eyeball compare the rear brakes on Freebies and comparably-sized vehicles. This is the weak point on the 2005-2007 model Freestyles, which are the only ones there will ever be given the name change to Taurus X. And I've been one of the people here who likes the things.
tidester, host
SUVs and Smart Shopper
Hope they don't aske ME.
With all this talk about problems with the rear brakes, I was wondering how can I visually inspect my rear brakes to determine the amount of pad that is left. I have a 2005 FS Limited/AWD with a bit over 36K miles (90% highway driving). The rear discs/rotors appear smooth with no pits or deep scoring which would indicate a problem (I think). I haven't noticed any unusual braking issues (vibration, noise, or pulling) so I guess they are still OK. I need to get my car inspected this month so I'm sure the dealership will alert me to any problems. A quick tip on how to check the amount of pad left would be greatly appreciated and would give me a bit of info to throw back at the service tech if he says my brakes are shot.
Thanks for any/all responses. Over and out for now.
Regards -
M. J. McCloskey
My rear brakes are just about needing replacement at 43K of mostly highway driving, while the front ones are fine. The fact that the rear ones are wearing faster than the front for a FWD vehicle tells me something is wrong. Maybe because I've never used the emergency brake they've lasted longer.
Unfortunately with that the rears wear faster than people are used to(yes I will be talking to ford as mine are gone at 16k which is unacceptable). It seems they could have managed the pad material, bias, size of components, something to get better wear out of the rear brakes than this. All this talk of the emergency brake being involved is silly as the only way they could affect teh rears is if you were driving around with it engaged.
Or if it wasn't fully disengaging.
Holy cow! It's extremely unlikely that you would have to. I've been driving an '05 SEL for two years with no brake problems whatsoever. A friend in another city has an '06 with 30k miles with zero problems as well. This issue has been blown way out of proportion to it's relevance, mostly by those who don't know any better. Besides, if you're buying used.. it's a bit of a crapshoot no matter what you get because you never know how the vehicle was driven and treated by it's owner.
Does anyone know if the parking brake locks the rear brakes on the Freestyle? If so, a sticking or partially disengaged parking brake could certainly be the culprit for those experiencing the problems. I live in flat Minnesota where we rarely use the parking brake.
- Chad
BTW, count me as one of the unlucky 05 owners who needed brake pads and new rotors at 25K. At least my dealership covered most of it.
I'm beginning to suspect a hanging parking brake for the problem.
We need a poll to find out!
previousamigo, "Buick Rainier, Chevy TrailBlazer, GMC Envoy" #7080, 26 Jul 2002 6:16 am
Note that the post is almost 5 years old now. :shades:
I believe you need to do that for the front brakes too.
Fact: Not all Freestyles exhibit this problem.
Fact: The problem is limited to the rear brakes.
Fact: The parking brakes are actuated on the rear brakes.
Fact: It takes excessive usage and/or dragging of the pads on the rotors to wear out brake pad material prematurely.
Conclusions: Since not all Freestyles have this issue (mine is at 37k miles with no brake problems), then something is different between vehicles. Since only the brake pad making contact with the rotors can wear out the pads then one potential cause is the rear brakes are under designed or over utilized. I have read this claim from some here. I believe this is very unlikely because if this were the case ALL Freestyles would be affected.
I believe there must be another problem causing the brake pads to drag on the rotors. The two potential causes for brake pad drag are either the calipers used during normal braking or the parking brake not fully releasing after usage.
Since all Freestyles have the same exact design, the problem is not found in every Freestyle, and EVERYONE uses the brakes but not everyone uses the parking brake, I contend the most likely cause is the parking brake not releasing.
Am I 100% certain? No, but one can logically come to this conclusion based on the facts.
- Chad
I'd be glad to partner with others to call this to the attention of Ford. :mad:
I think there are far too many reports of problems to pin this on driver habits. Most people seem to be long time drivers who haven't had this issue on previous vehicles. I don't think the Freestyle is the type of vehicle people tear from stop sign to stop sign in. I would expect most drivers to be moderate...if you want fast your in the wrong car.
I think Chad had a good analysis above. Someone somewhere likely knows if he is correct...but they are not saying.
The media tends to blow things way way out of proportion to the danger. Check out this chart.
http://www.nsc.org/lrs/statinfo/odds_dying.jpg
Thats right, I have a 1 in 5 chance of dieing from heart disease, yet here I sit typing away instead of getting some real exercise.
Mark
Cheers! :shades:
"NOTE: THE REAR LEFT HAND CALIPER PISTON TURNS CLOCKWISE TO MOVE THE PISTON BACK INTO THE CALIPER AND THE RIGHT HAND CALIPER PISTON TURNS COUNTERCLOCKWISE TO MOVE THE PISTON BACK INTO THE CALIPER. USING THE SPECIAL TOOL 206-026 (T87P-2588-A), COMPRESS THE BRAKE CALIPER PISTON INTO ITS CYLINDER. WHILE ROTATING THE PISTON IN THE APPROPRIATE DIRECTION, A MODERATE TO HEAVY FORCE AGAINST THE PISTON MUST ALSO BE USED. IF SUFFICIENT FORCE IS NOT APPLIED, THE INTERNAL PARK BRAKE MECHANISM CLUTCH CONE WILL NOT ENGAGE AND THE PISTON WILL JUST TURN AND NOT GO IN. IF NECESSARY, USE BRAKE TOOL, OTC 7317A OR EQUIVALENT, TO APPLY ADDITIONAL FORCE WHILE TURNING."
It's worse than that . . I guarantee you have a 100% chance of dying . . . I just can't say when or how.