I know this may come as a shock to some, that I would even bother to point out the obvious, but on these newer 2008 and up Ford Explorers they use an odd style brake pad separator spring that often times may not even be there by the time it comes to you for brake work. Recently I had a customer complaining about excessive brake noise, along with brake pulsations after just a few months with new rotors.

Come to find out on the 2008 and up Explorer and Flex SUV's they use an odd style brake pad separator spring. This spring is VERY important and not using it will result in all kinds of brake noise and possible warping of the rotors! I myself had to purchase OE Motorcraft pads to get these separator springs, as they weren't on the vehicle when it came to me. I have since done a great deal of these brakes where these springs are missing. Not installing them WILL cause problems and I think the reason so many people leave them off is because they really are a pain to install if you haven't had to install them several times. The clips fit into the inside edge of the pads instead of the outside edge as in past designs. They spin to lock into place and unless they are taught against the caliper bracket they are installed improperly and will only fall off soon. There is really only two ways they can go on, with only one way being the correct way. You should know the difference by the feel, as obviously if it's improperly installed you can just tell it's not staying in place and will fall out. Good luck, just thought I would mention this.

I have not had any luck finding any parts stores local that sell these pad separator springs in a hardware kit, or even with a high dollar set of pads. I can only imagine these pad companies are having to replace a lot of pads prematurely as I am honestly shocked at how often I see these vehicles come in with them missing.









I did find one place online that sells the clips as part of a hardware kit above, but who has the time to wait for mail order for a brake job? Dealer pads aren't that bad, about $60 from Fords and it includes these little bastard clips and also some quality pads and lube.

Anyway, that's a little advice for people that have problems with 2008-up Ford Explorer and Flex SUV's