Brake upgrades?

[The_Auto_Tech]

Hey guys, starting to look at brake upgrade options for my street truck. I noticed that TBM has some nice offerings for our trucks nowadays with their lightweight scalloped brakes, and also they now have the "regular" big brake kits too. It seems like there's no way to retain the electronic parking brake if you want to upgrade the rears, but I'm alright with that. What are you guys running?

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[Buyer2021]

Just curious what shortcomings you find with the OE brakes, what aspect of braking are you wanting to improve?

 

[The_Auto_Tech]

Just curious what shortcomings you find with the OE brakes, what aspect of braking are you wanting to improve?

The truck will be undergoing a 5.0/supercharger install, and the factory brakes ain't enough for that anymore. I'm planning ahead. I also upgraded the brakes on my Gen 1 Raptor to Alcons front and rear, and the braking improvement is a welcome addition. The radially mounted calipers feel a lot less "squishy."

 

[HammaMan]

You're stuck w/ the rears as they are though you can change pad material. Going big in front is the easiest and the kits are now around $2k and require 20" wheels. Monster 15.5" discs are plenty.

 

[The_Auto_Tech]

You're stuck w/ the rears as they are though you can change pad material. Going big in front is the easiest and the kits are now around $2k and require 20" wheels. Monster 15.5" discs are plenty.

Can you elaborate on why the rears can't be upgraded? I understand the aftermarket setups don't allow to keep the electronic parking brake, which is fine. Looking at the TBM brake sizes they should fit under a 17" wheel still, but I do know the Wilwoods in the front require a 20" wheel. I'm not sure if they have a matching rear available.

 

[My 2ND Ford]

Glad to see you are planning ahead. Too many people spend big on the Go fast parts but neglect the WHOA parts. However, I don't advocate going without a parking brake. Does the aftermarket support some kind of parking brake?

 

[The_Auto_Tech]

Glad to see you are planning ahead. Too many people spend big on the Go fast parts but neglect the WHOA parts. However, I don't advocate going without a parking brake. Does the aftermarket support some kind of parking brake?

Yeah, having driven stuff that was very fast without proper brakes is pretty scary when you mash the pedal at high speeds and the brakes fade and don't bite anymore. As far as the parking brake goes - because of the electronic parking brake motor/caliper setups these days it's rare to see an aftermarket option that still has a parking brake. I would imagine it has to do with the ability to integrate an electric parking brake motor into a radially mounted caliper and clearance issues. The only time I use a parking brake anymore is on manual trans stuff.

 

[HammaMan]

Yeah, having driven stuff that was very fast without proper brakes is pretty scary when you mash the pedal at high speeds and the brakes fade and don't bite anymore. As far as the parking brake goes - because of the electronic parking brake motor/caliper setups these days it's rare to see an aftermarket option that still has a parking brake. I would imagine it has to do with the ability to integrate an electric parking brake motor into a radially mounted caliper and clearance issues. The only time I use a parking brake anymore is on manual trans stuff.

You should look into parking pawl failures and you'd change your mind. If you're willing to simply remove the parking brake it sounds like you're not aware of just how bad of idea it is. The 16" rotor kit was 2300$ last month, it's now back to 3k+. Rears are more than sufficient. Unless you're going on a road course, you're just spinning your tires chasing something that's not exactly a weak link. Right now you're more than able to get up to 105 and stand on the brakes. Perhaps test them out before believing you're in need of much more aggressive brakes with nothing more than more power. If you're not driving a road course, you're fine.

 

[Polo08816]

https://www.ford.com/police-vehicles/f150-police-truck/

Maybe just retrofit what is in this and call it a day. I would imagine this is just a pad upgrade on top of the Max Tow rear brakes.

 

[Snakebitten]

I dropped the necessary investment into my 2018 Ecoboost. I used the excuse that I had "tuned" it for more performance, so better suspension and braking were justified.

By the way, when it's time for serious braking, the fronts are going to be carrying the vast percentage of the load, so I don't think it's much of an issue to NOT do the rears, since the electric parking brake complicates matters.

In his hayday, he was the master of hauling it down from 200mph. Look closely at the burden the rear brakes were under in EXTREME braking ?

Anyways, here's the previous truck

Full Disclosure:
In real world use, it was towing the little ToyHauler through Colorado annually, that I came to really appreciate the upgrade. I miss how progressive and predictable they were.

 

[powerboatr]

Maybe adopt the explorer st with street pack brakes
The rears are pretty big compared to the f150, actually front and rears are
A bit bigger in rotor etc
1st is rear, 2nd is front
3rd is front 150, 4 th is rear 150
Hmmm

 

[HammaMan]

Maybe adopt the explorer st with street pack brakes
The rears are pretty big compared to the f150, actually front and rears are
A bit bigger in rotor etc
1st is rear, 2nd is front
3rd is front 150, 4 th is rear 150
Hmmm

If you find a way to fit the explorer rotors on an F150, please share pics

 

[The_Auto_Tech]

If you find a way to fit the explorer rotors on an F150, please share pics

That was my thoughts as well. lol

 

[powerboatr]

If you find a way to fit the explorer rotors on an F150, please share pics

I think they use mustang kits on explorer...
That little 5 hole rotor just won't match..
?????
I had to go measure it . Dammm
Why can't all wheels just fit????

 

[The_Auto_Tech]

You should look into parking pawl failures and you'd change your mind. If you're willing to simply remove the parking brake it sounds like you're not aware of just how bad of idea it is. The 16" rotor kit was 2300$ last month, it's now back to 3k+. Rears are more than sufficient. Unless you're going on a road course, you're just spinning your tires chasing something that's not exactly a weak link. Right now you're more than able to get up to 105 and stand on the brakes. Perhaps test them out before believing you're in need of much more aggressive brakes with nothing more than more power. If you're not driving a road course, you're fine.

I plan on installing a line lock on the truck as well, not just for burnouts, but also in case the parking pawl were to break for some reason. That way I would still have a way to lock the vehicle in place and keep it from rolling. Again, I have felt the difference between stock F-150 brakes and aftermarket brakes. My Gen 1 Raptor had a full Powerstop Z37 kit with new calipers and I converted to Alcon front and rear brakes that fit under the same 17" wheels. Massive difference in braking confidence.

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