Ranger Mods

Hey dudes and dudettes,

Has anybody here done a brake upgrade on a PX2?

I do a bit of towing, beach driving and long haul driving. One thing that I’ve noticed about my wildtrak is the brakes don’t feel Ike they are as good/reliable as they should be for a car that’s $55k plus. Feels like they don’t give the best bite and seem to fade out especially when towing an unbraked trailer.
It’s kinda got me worried that if I’m towing and need that instant bite I’m not gunna get it or stop before danger.

I done some searching on the googles and saw that pedders do an upgrade kit.

Anybody done the conversion from drum to disk? I’ve to hear feedback.

Try different disc pads, you can get much better ones than stock.
Get the discs you have slotted, that lelps a lot.
There are better discs around as well.
I believe better drum brake linings are also available.
Not a fan of Pedders or anything they sell, don't like made in China

Rosspat

There are several options, I'd look at the front first, try DBA - there are several knowledgeable outlets, I use Rocket Industries at Eastern Creek Sydney, they know everything about DBA and the various pads to suit your car and its intended use. DBA do a variety of drilled and slotted discs for the Ford Ranger with "soft", "hard" and "Competition" pads.
Soft - instant grip but they heat up quickly and begin to fade, good for traffic but I'd question them towing a trailer down say Kangaroo Pass,
Hard, they take more pressure to grip, they take a lot of heat before they begin to fade.
Competition, super hard and avoid them unless you want to go racing.

I'd look at a set of drilled and slotted - the drilled holes and the radial slots are there to allow the build up of gas caused by the high temperature friction generated between the pad and the disc to escape - otherwise you can have a micron or two of gas between the two surfaces which leads to reduced braking performance.

There is nothing wrong with drum brakes, all big rigs and trucks use them you just have to select the right shoes. On my rally car I used to have soft leading shoes and hard trailing but that was just me, I liked the rears to come on first (instant grip) to put the car sideways.
I'd advise a "medium" set to compliment the harder selection on the front.
Just on that, remember if you go to hard pads don't expect instant "up on your nose" style braking in the wet or first thing in the morning - the hard pads will take a kilometre or so of normal use to warm up and as I said, don't go silly and select competition pads.

One more thing, the harder the pad and drum shoe material , the greater the wear on the disc or drum. If you go to a very hard material you should expect to have to have your discs and drums machined at least every 40,000 kms - some drilled and slotted discs cannot be machined.

Do you have brakes and an electric brake controller such as the RedArc set-up for your trailer ? if not get one and have electric brakes fitted to your trailer, again, drums will be quire sufficient -- its so much more comforting to feel the trailer brakes come on an instant before the car brakes and that the trailer is not going to jack-knife because its slowing the car down as much as the car is slowing the trailer.

Happy motoring, if you need any more info, just ask

I know all of that, just pointing out there are things that can be done without paying a fortune.
A lot of times upgrades are over rated on this style of vehicle.
Been involved with racing for many years.

RossPat wrote: ↑Sun Feb 02, 2020 1:06 pm I know all of that, just pointing out there are things that can be done without paying a fortune.
A lot of times upgrades are over rated on this style of vehicle.
Been involved with racing for many years.

Very true, in my experience with brakes you have to spend an awful lot of money for what can amount to very little improved performance. The only "low cost" option is to replace the pad and shoe material and see how it goes.

If you're interested in big brake kit look at PB Brakes. I'm running the 345mm 6 piston kit on my USA 2019 Lariat.

RCMUSTANG wrote: ↑Tue Feb 04, 2020 3:03 am If you're interested in big brake kit look at PB Brakes. I'm running the 345mm 6 piston kit on my USA 2019 Lariat.

Fine if you're running 20" rims with rubber band tyres otherwise you wouldn't fit the disc and calliper assembly into the wheel hub -- most 4WD Rangers would be on smaller diameter rims to gain a bigger aspect ratio (65-75%) and tyre side wall height for some off road driving --- and then there is the cost !!!

Iainboyd wrote: ↑Tue Feb 04, 2020 8:56 am

RCMUSTANG wrote: ↑Tue Feb 04, 2020 3:03 am If you're interested in big brake kit look at PB Brakes. I'm running the 345mm 6 piston kit on my USA 2019 Lariat.

Fine if you're running 20" rims with rubber band tyres otherwise you wouldn't fit the disc and calliper assembly into the wheel hub -- most 4WD Rangers would be on smaller diameter rims to gain a bigger aspect ratio (65-75%) and tyre side wall height for some off road driving --- and then there is the cost !!!

I'm running 17's.

I've used PB products before predominantly for sports /drag way cars. Whilst I can't vouch for ranger specific products, everything else seemed great quality.

I changed my front disks and pads out, I put DBA T2 disks (DBA2132S) and Bendix Heavy duty 4x4 pads (DB2074-HD). It was a real simple DIY job and I can definitely notice the truck pulling up much better (and my rig is running pretty heavy). For ~$450 it's defiantly an upgrade that i would recommend if you want a bit more stopping power.

I haven't done anything to the rear yet - I haven't seen the need, The Mrs has also mentioned about changing to braided lines, I haven't seem the need to do that either

The bendix upgrade kit is a good thing including pads slotted rotors fluid & braided lines. Takes a touch of squish out of the pedal feel.