my elderly uncle has a 2001 standard crown vic that needs new rear brakes, the dealer, which he usualy uses for repairs, wanted $140 for a rear brake job
. He says his rotors are good, assuming that this is true, $140 sounds realy high even for a dealers service dept., so
I told him that I would do it for him tomorrow afternoon.
Is there anything unusual about the rear brakes on these that would justify the high repair cost, and are there any special tools, or techniques that I need to replace the rear pads on a crown vic? thanks for your help guys.
Nope, in fact the rear brakes are insanely cheap and easy. Ford was penny-pinching so bad it's even the same caliper for both sides mounted in front on one side and in the rear on the other. New Ford calipers with phenolic pistons run at $45 in my area but they very, very rarely go out. Sounds like you just need to replace the pads and flush out some fluid. The rear brakes like boiling fluid during hard use or "left foot braking". No special tools needed at all except a really large jack, remember these cars are HEAVY! Buy GOOD pads, at least like a NAPA Ceramic at the very least. Soft compound organic and metallic pads (you know, the $9.99! specials) are too soft for these cars and will be dead in under a month.
