Why Ford Gets My Business & "OMG, that was almost too easy!"

Oy... fun little project there. I decided a while back that my front brakes were on their way out after 3 years of hard driving and it was time to replace some stuff. I researched and ordered the most robust rotors (shiny round disky things) and pads (they squeeze against the rotor to make the car slow down) I could put on the car. The interesting this is that for all the WACKY projects I've done on my various cars over the years..... stuff professional mechanics can't accomplish..... I have somehow never done a brake job. Huh.

Tackled that this evening after Tori went home (hope you feel better if it turns out to be a cold, honey). It was funny.... after I took the wheels off I looked at the parts and scratched my head. I've never really taken a good look at how brakes work. They are VERY VERY simple. But I wanted to make sure I wasn't going to unscrew the wrong screw, ya know? I checked online and was fortunate to find.... absolutely NOTHING giving me a direct example of how to remove these particular brakes. To make a long story short, I went downstairs and winged it. Got it right, too, though the rotors weren't so easy because the bracket which holds the calipers (bulky things over the rotor which press the pads into the rotor when you apply pressure to them via the brake pedal) to the rotor was a pain to remove.

So the brakes are done and completely new and heavy duty except for the calipers, which are hardy pieces. Woo! Neck-snapping stopping power..... on a 4,500 pound dump truck, LOL!

I presume that brakes in general on any car must be similarly simple to handle. But I'm going to put in my Ford plug here. Why? Because the car was dumped in a pond (or flooded in Florida, where it came from) which is a most pointedly BAD thing to have happen to a car. While the interior may dry out, the rest of it will rust and engines do NOT like moisture or particulate matter on the insides. But this one was fully submerged and I knew it when I bought it and bought it anyway because the price was a STEAL, regardless. So knowing that.... then add to the story that I used to commute roughly 70 miles each day to Southbury. Call it 100 to 120 twice a week if the gf demanded and audience. And bear in mind that almost the entire time it was on the highway I was flat-footing the gas and going 90+ mph on I-84. So I basically treated the car like the commuter it has been and abused it. And it has held up without a wimper. These rotors and pads are wearable parts which all cars need. The only unscheduled replacement of parts has been..... 3 coils which went bad after being submerged and re-used. I replaced them for less than $100. Everything else has been upgrades.... like brighter headlight bulbs, fog lamps, clarion cd/stereo, etc. But this car runs without complaint no matter what. AND its easy to work on, as well as cheap and ALL the parts are in abundance (Hello, it's a Police, Taxi and Federal fleet vehicle).

Now take ALLLLL that praise.... and compare it to the PIECE 'O SHITE Corvette. Even on the day I took delivery, beautiful and powerful as the car was..... stuff was broken on it. Same stuff kept breaking. Dealership couldn't fix it. GM didn't want to pay to fix it properly. They would have it for weeks, claim it was fixed and only find it MORE broken before I even left the place. The electrical would short out randomly. The Steering wheel would lock. The rear end never stopped leaking. The interior pieces pulled apart. Headlights and interior lights would kick out randomly. Etc etc.... And THAT car was supposed to be the Flagship product for GM. Well kiss my ass. I'll take my cheapo econo-car (it gets good mileage for such a big beast and all the comfort and style) any day.

Kudos to the Vic. =) Now I just need to order another tire for the rear and it's set for the forseeable future. Woo!

Oh, and I was SHOCKED at how foolishly simple it was to change the brake pads. That is all that gets done to your car most times you take it to a shop. I bought the "high end" pads for under $40 or so and all said it took me maybe 20 minutes to slide the pucks out and slap the new ones in. But if you bring it to a shop you end up paying $70 for "parts" and $150 labor... just for PADS. God help the people whom they con into changing rotors, too.... oy!