2003 F-250 brakes.....arrrggg.....

My F-250 has 60K miles and is in need of its fifth (as in 5) turning of the
front rotors. No one I know with this or a similar Ford has had anything
like this problem. The front brakes start chattering within a heart beat;
its 's not something gets worse over time. It has happened when going
downhill pulling my 5th wheel, and has happen with just my ATV in the bed
(appx 600 lbs). Mr. Goodwrench at the local Ford dealer sez there is
nothing wrong other than I am improperly breaking. BS in my opinion. As a
bit of background, when the truck was new (less than 10K miles) I had the
ABS system light come on on two occassions, both times while just driving
down the freeway and not using the brakes (or had not used them for a long
period of time). Each time Ford said they could find nothing wrong, and
reset the the on board error recorder to 0.

My non-technician solution was to get some high performance rotors and pads.
The high performance shop is more than willing to sell me some, but it is
their opinion that there is something going on with the ABS system or
proportioning valve. Maybe the early on ABS light is a clue?

Anyway, since my local Ford dealer seems to know nothing beyond turning down
the rotors again, and again, and again; it doesn't seem likely they are
smart enough to diagnose a possible ASB problem. Is there a way I can
eliminate or confirm there is a problem with the ABS syetm?

"Tom Minger" <tomminger.RemoveThis@volcano.net> wrote in message
news:RLidnfz6H4cPk-7anZ2dnUVZ_u-unZ2d@neonova.net...
> My F-250 has 60K miles and is in need of its fifth (as in 5) turning of
> the front rotors. No one I know with this or a similar Ford has had
> anything like this problem. The front brakes start chattering within a
> heart beat; its 's not something gets worse over time. It has happened
> when going downhill pulling my 5th wheel, and has happen with just my ATV
> in the bed (appx 600 lbs). Mr. Goodwrench at the local Ford dealer sez
> there is nothing wrong other than I am improperly breaking. BS in my
> opinion. As a bit of background, when the truck was new (less than 10K
> miles) I had the ABS system light come on on two occassions, both times
> while just driving down the freeway and not using the brakes (or had not
> used them for a long period of time). Each time Ford said they could find
> nothing wrong, and reset the the on board error recorder to 0.
>
> My non-technician solution was to get some high performance rotors and
> pads. The high performance shop is more than willing to sell me some, but
> it is their opinion that there is something going on with the ABS system
> or proportioning valve. Maybe the early on ABS light is a clue?
>
> Anyway, since my local Ford dealer seems to know nothing beyond turning
> down the rotors again, and again, and again; it doesn't seem likely they
> are smart enough to diagnose a possible ASB problem. Is there a way I can
> eliminate or confirm there is a problem with the ABS syetm?
>
>

Mechanics and dealerships are like any other professions and businesses.
Well over 50% are sub standard. Keep trying different dealership service
departments until you find a good one. If you don't find a good one, start
looking at "other" auto repair places. Ask around, save yourself some time
only try the places people give you a good review of...