Observation on Crown Vic brake pads

I just found this really odd... spent yesterday impersonating a
professional mechanic as my friend owns a shop and his best tech was on
vacation, and Saturday is when they (obviously) do most of their
business, and he didn't want to have to turn away customers for lack of
a competent tech.

Aside from discovering that I'm not cut out to work on cars all day
every day (I knew this, this is not news - I work on cars because I like
driving nice cars, not because I enjoy the work itself) one of the jobs
I was set to doing was front brakes on a Grand Marquis - which is a car
that I actually really like. It's an old man's car, but a really nice,
competent one. Ford screwed up and made a decent car for once (and then
discontinued it, but I digress.) If I found an old detective's Vicky
(with the HD suspension, charging, and cooling options) that wasn't
thrashed to ****, I might be tempted to pick it up.

So this GM shows up, I get it racked and give it a quick once-over, and
it appears to be very well maintained and in overall good shape with
only a few issues. The owner brought it in for new front brakes and it
needed both pads and rotors as one of the pads had gone full metal to
metal. Here's the annoying thing - there were no "squeaker" tabs on
either the old pads (which is why she didn't bring it in while the
rotors could still be saved) or on the new ones (Centric Premium Ceramic
IIRC), but there were no brake pad wear sensors either. WHY...?
Doesn't seem to be Centric's issue as the same exact brand/model pads
for another vehicle that I also changed yesterday. Seems like a dumb
decision on Ford's part not to specify a squeaker tab on the brake pads,
would only add a few cents to the cost but would give owners/drivers a
little warning that it was time to change the pads. I find it doubly
confusing as this chassis seems to be a favorite of fleets (police,
taxi, etc.)

nate

--
replace "roosters" with "cox" to reply.
http://members.cox.net/njnagel

Nate Nagel wrote:
> I just found this really odd... spent yesterday impersonating a
> professional mechanic as my friend owns a shop and his best tech was on
> vacation, and Saturday is when they (obviously) do most of their
> business, and he didn't want to have to turn away customers for lack of
> a competent tech.
>
> Aside from discovering that I'm not cut out to work on cars all day
> every day (I knew this, this is not news - I work on cars because I like
> driving nice cars, not because I enjoy the work itself) one of the jobs
> I was set to doing was front brakes on a Grand Marquis - which is a car
> that I actually really like. It's an old man's car, but a really nice,
> competent one. Ford screwed up and made a decent car for once (and then
> discontinued it, but I digress.) If I found an old detective's Vicky
> (with the HD suspension, charging, and cooling options) that wasn't
> thrashed to ****, I might be tempted to pick it up.
>
> So this GM shows up, I get it racked and give it a quick once-over, and
> it appears to be very well maintained and in overall good shape with
> only a few issues. The owner brought it in for new front brakes and it
> needed both pads and rotors as one of the pads had gone full metal to
> metal. Here's the annoying thing - there were no "squeaker" tabs on
> either the old pads (which is why she didn't bring it in while the
> rotors could still be saved) or on the new ones (Centric Premium Ceramic
> IIRC), but there were no brake pad wear sensors either. WHY...? Doesn't
> seem to be Centric's issue as the same exact brand/model pads for
> another vehicle that I also changed yesterday. Seems like a dumb
> decision on Ford's part not to specify a squeaker tab on the brake pads,
> would only add a few cents to the cost but would give owners/drivers a
> little warning that it was time to change the pads. I find it doubly
> confusing as this chassis seems to be a favorite of fleets (police,
> taxi, etc.)
>
> nate

Good question. I noticed the lack of tabs on my son's
new 2005 Stratus pads and my new 2006 Kia Spectra pads.

Nate Nagel wrote:
> I just found this really odd... spent yesterday impersonating a
> professional mechanic as my friend owns a shop and his best tech was on
> vacation, and Saturday is when they (obviously) do most of their
> business, and he didn't want to have to turn away customers for lack of
> a competent tech.
>
> Aside from discovering that I'm not cut out to work on cars all day
> every day (I knew this, this is not news - I work on cars because I like
> driving nice cars, not because I enjoy the work itself) one of the jobs
> I was set to doing was front brakes on a Grand Marquis - which is a car
> that I actually really like. It's an old man's car, but a really nice,
> competent one. Ford screwed up and made a decent car for once (and then
> discontinued it, but I digress.) If I found an old detective's Vicky
> (with the HD suspension, charging, and cooling options) that wasn't
> thrashed to ****, I might be tempted to pick it up.
>
> So this GM shows up, I get it racked and give it a quick once-over, and
> it appears to be very well maintained and in overall good shape with
> only a few issues. The owner brought it in for new front brakes and it
> needed both pads and rotors as one of the pads had gone full metal to
> metal. Here's the annoying thing - there were no "squeaker" tabs on
> either the old pads (which is why she didn't bring it in while the
> rotors could still be saved) or on the new ones (Centric Premium Ceramic
> IIRC), but there were no brake pad wear sensors either. WHY...?
> Doesn't seem to be Centric's issue as the same exact brand/model pads
> for another vehicle that I also changed yesterday. Seems like a dumb
> decision on Ford's part not to specify a squeaker tab on the brake pads,
> would only add a few cents to the cost but would give owners/drivers a
> little warning that it was time to change the pads. I find it doubly
> confusing as this chassis seems to be a favorite of fleets (police,
> taxi, etc.)
>
> nate
>

Virtually every set of brakes I've done in the past year lacked
squealers. If the old ones have them and the new pads have the tabs/pins
I've removed the squealer and installed it on the new ones.

Didn't matter the source or maker of the part or if it was a low or high
dollar item either.

I think it is due to the current trend of replacing the rotors at every
pad change just to prevent comebacks and liability issues.

--
Steve W.

Nate Nagel wrote:
> ....
> I was set to doing was front brakes on a Grand Marquis.... it
> needed both pads and rotors as one of the pads had gone full metal to
> metal. ....there were no "squeaker" tabs on
> either the old pads .... WHY...? ... I find it doubly
> confusing as this chassis seems to be a favorite of fleets (police,
> taxi, etc.)
>
> nate


maybe the car being designed for fleet work, is the answer. A proper
fleet is repeatedly inspected by techs; and the drivers would all ignore
any squeaking anyway.

GW

On 2013-11-10, Nate Nagel > wrote:
> Aside from discovering that I'm not cut out to work on cars all day
> every day (I knew this, this is not news - I work on cars because I like
> driving nice cars, not because I enjoy the work itself) one of the jobs
> I was set to doing was front brakes on a Grand Marquis - which is a car
> that I actually really like. It's an old man's car, but a really nice,
> competent one. Ford screwed up and made a decent car for once (and then
> discontinued it, but I digress.) If I found an old detective's Vicky
> (with the HD suspension, charging, and cooling options) that wasn't
> thrashed to ****, I might be tempted to pick it up.

Nate, it wasn't just canceled for giggles. The 'vic was made from the
late 1970s to just a couple years ago when it finally fell victim to
government regulation and old age. There was no reason to ever design a
replacement since impending regulation that could kill it and any car
like it had been hovering over it since 1985. All but the panther
platform died between 1984 and 1996.

> So this GM shows up, I get it racked and give it a quick once-over, and
> it appears to be very well maintained and in overall good shape with
> only a few issues. The owner brought it in for new front brakes and it
> needed both pads and rotors as one of the pads had gone full metal to
> metal. Here's the annoying thing - there were no "squeaker" tabs on
> either the old pads (which is why she didn't bring it in while the
> rotors could still be saved) or on the new ones (Centric Premium Ceramic
> IIRC), but there were no brake pad wear sensors either. WHY...?

Because that's just the way it is. Sometimes no apparent reason other
than to save a few pennies, sometimes there's no place for it.

> Doesn't seem to be Centric's issue as the same exact brand/model pads
> for another vehicle that I also changed yesterday. Seems like a dumb
> decision on Ford's part not to specify a squeaker tab on the brake pads,
> would only add a few cents to the cost but would give owners/drivers a
> little warning that it was time to change the pads. I find it doubly
> confusing as this chassis seems to be a favorite of fleets (police,
> taxi, etc.)

For a decently run fleet people check the pads or just replace them on a
regular basis. A typical neglected taxi the drivers would just ignore
the sqeakers.

For the panther specifically, looking at the diagram on fordparts.com
for a 2010 CV, I can't say why there isn't a squeaker other than
possible space issues and it's likely the product of 40 years of design
changes to fit the same basic car.