Hi! It's time to do the brakes on my E350-based motorhome. It's a 1999 Superduty chassis, so it's got the big ol' brake rotor hub thingies up front. I'm just doing the front brakes, bearings, etc. for now--the rear axle was done before I bought the vehicle.
Now, for the horse that I'm sure we have beaten to death.
What kind of pads should I buy?
Let's scratch price off the list of things that matter because I don't expect to need to replace these very often.
I tow with it, and I am probably very close to the maximum weight, so quality is important. I don't know anything about towing pad compounds. I sort of imagine they would have some things in common with racing pads, but they don't sell racing pads for my RV for some reason...
In reply to confuZion3 :
Not a motor home, just a regular extended length passenger Van, so your mileage may very. But I bought the "upgraded" or maybe it was "towing" grade kit from RockAuto. The one with drilled holes in the rotors. They initially worked amazing. HOWEVER, I had to remove them (way before the end of life for the pads) because they developed a Violent shimmy/paulsation due to the drilled holes. Holes would become the hot spot on the rotor and heat treat/harden and essentially become a non wearable surface that protruded out further than the rest of the rotor ( that wore like a typical rotor )
My recommendation is to AVOID drilled holes in your rotor.
wae
UltimaDork
9/14/25 6:13 p.m.
Apples and oranges, I'm sure, but when I had an E150 and needed pads, there was a motorcraft pad that was marketed as being for heavy duty/towing use. They were expensive and I never regretted a single penny. Not sure if they do such a thing for the E350, but worth a look.
Indy, I agree, I feel like drilled rotors on a massive brake might be a recipe for trouble in the long term. I don't trust drilled rotors for long term use because I worry about cracks leading to explosions after a few years' use.
Wae, I will see if there is a Motorcraft unit. Thank you for the suggestion!
The Motorcraft pads that were available for my unit seemed to be less "towing and heavy duty" and more medium duty. Something like that. I ended up with Wagner (SX655) Severe Duty pads. Holy smokes, what a difference fresh brakes and bearings make. So I did bearings, bearing seals, hub/rotors, and pads. I also greased up all the ball joints that I could find. I'm glad I replaced the pads, because the passenger side front pads were basically painted onto the backings--less than 1/2mm left! So no more wobble under braking--just smooth action.
Next up, I guess I need to bleed the brakes and flush out all the old brake fluid. It's dirty amber, and that means it's probably full of water.
