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Fiesta Metal Drum Brakes Or Drum Breaks ?????


Nimrod
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Quick question -

The drum breaks on the back of Fiesta Metal.... Are these any good or would you recommend converting to discs.

I haven't seen drum brakes on a car for quite some time and wondered why Ford chose to put drums on a car that potentially need stopping power more than most...! Odd choice?????

Has anyone done the conversion?

Cheers

Andy

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Reason? Cost saving.It's still a Ford at the end of the day :P

A few members on zsoc.com have fitted MK3 Mondeo calipers from what I've read, might be worth checking out.

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http://www.pumaspeed.co.uk/product-Fiesta-Mk7-Rear-Disc-Conversion_1128.jsp

Believe that is what you need. If you're handy though, probably a good deal cheaper to be off to the scrap yard once finding out which calipers you need.

In fairness though, drums are pretty good for the application.

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Thanks for the info. To be honest, I'm amazed to see drums on a car that costs £16k... Bazar that I didnt notice.

Do the Zetec S's have drums or calipers?

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Thanks for the info. To be honest, I'm amazed to see drums on a car that costs £16k... Bazar that I didnt notice.

Do the Zetec S's have drums or calipers?

All Mk7 Fiestas have drums at the rear, with the possible exception of the up and coming ST.

While the Fiesta Zetec S/Metal can go a bit quicker than the rest as above they don't actually need discs so Ford don't fit them. Drums are cheaper and usually require less maintenance. The Fiesta is a fairly light car so can get away with drums fine under most circumstances.

If you do decide to pursue a conversion then you better speak to your insurance company as most will likely insist on the work being signed off my a qualified mechanic and bump up the premium as per any other mod.

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One big advantage of having drums on the rear, is that very rarely will the handbrake get stuck. (Well brakes stuck on with handbrake down)

My mum's car often has trouble just after a wash and a lot in the winter.

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Honestly, there is no point switching from drums, the back end is so light and the car generally is pretty light; like 80% of the breaking is done up front so disks at back may just be lock up bait and to be honest up to a point, drums are more efficient than disks.. I know they don't look as good, but to be honest drums are under-rated. You'd be better to just upgrade the front breaks, something like this;

http://www.pumaspeed.co.uk/product-Fiesta-Mk7-Stage-2-Front-Big-Brake-Upgrade-Kit-300mm_1010.jsp

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With the looks of the rest of the car and the nice alloys that are fitted to the Zetec S I've always found it a shame that I have tacky drums on the back. Even my old 1.6 Clio had discs all round. As some have said it's not as if the MK7 Zetec S is cheap (esp when it first lauched)

A a lot of simalar cars (price, power, class, wheel size) such as the Twingo RS and Suzuki Swift sport are fitted with small discs at the back.

Writing this has just reminded me that I need to paint my rusty drums at some point!

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It's never really been a problem that I've noticed, the car breaks well enough as it is & wheels with discs are a bugger to clean :P

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It's never really been a problem that I've noticed, the car breaks well enough as it is & wheels with discs are a bugger to clean :P

How could I forget that lol.

If I havent cleaned my car for a while, front alloys can be going brown while the rears still spotless.

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I have to agree with David here that drums on the rear are perfectly ok and there is nothing to be gained by changing them to discs. I would go further and say that 90% of the braking effect is done by the front brakes (except in reverse of course). It has become a bit of a fashionable thing to have discs on the back and the manufacturers have gone along with it to be able to say 'discs all round'.

The only quibble I have with the Fiesta brakes is that they are SO NOISY - back and front and Ford seem unable to do anything about it. When I last took it in on this matter, the service manager went a test drive with me and heard the noise and said that Ford will not pay for this under warranty as it's not seen as a fault but as a goodwill gesture he offered to have the car in to clean and adjust the brakes at no cost. This they did and guess what - it's exactly the same ! I think 'gesture ' was the right word as I doubt if they did anything !

Anyone else got noisy brakes ?

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Yes I got noisy breaks.None of my other cars ever had noisy breaks and they was all older than this one.

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I have to admit to being disappointed in the brakes. Mine too are very noisy which prompted me to have a look. I have far too much brake travel before it really bites. I take the point that 90% is the front brakes and agree so wonder if it's just my brakes that are very poor. I tested it today and reckon I have 50% of pedal travel before the brakes give sign of slowing me down. Surely this can't be right?

Does this sound familiar or should I take it in. I'm convinced that it wouldn't pass a brake test.

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Yes, Nimrod, I would definitely take it in with the symptoms you have which are more serious than just annoying noises. Although noisy, my brakes work very well. The service manager that did a test drive with me even explained where the noise was coming from. He said that it is the springs holding the pads on the front, so he was admitting to a design flaw. I have realised that I will have to take it to a brake specialist and pay to get rid of the noise, if only temporarily. Did the previous Fiesta (mk6 ) have any history of noisy brakes and have Ford changed the design ?

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I had 2 mk6's and they didn't have noisy breaks.

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my mk7 zs has no noises from front brakes....

they squeel for the first 2-3 min after a wheel/caliper wash but thats normal.

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Exactly the same! ^ it's just where it runs off the rust after washing

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A bit offtopic, but can the pads be damaged by the scraping off of rust? Because of the really bad grinding noise I always try and brake with less force until the rust has gone as I have visions of the pads being shredded!

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Im not a professional by any means but it is a very thin layer of rust, which you'd probably get driving in the rain anyway.... I've not heard any horror stories either. Sure someone with the knowhow will be along shortly anyway :P

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Brake pads are abrasive anyway.

The noise may mean you have a pitted or damaged drum surface.

To stop noise on disc brakes use copper grease on the back of the pads and check the squeal shims are in place.

The best way to clean out drums is a wire brush and a scourer pad and a good spray of disc cleaner and wipe it off thoroughly.

Don't breathe the dust.

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I have to admit to being disappointed in the brakes. Mine too are very noisy which prompted me to have a look. I have far too much brake travel before it really bites. I take the point that 90% is the front brakes and agree so wonder if it's just my brakes that are very poor. I tested it today and reckon I have 50% of pedal travel before the brakes give sign of slowing me down. Surely this can't be right?

Does this sound familiar or should I take it in. I'm convinced that it wouldn't pass a brake test.

this to me just sounds like the system needs bleeding! Can u pump them hard whilst the engine is running??
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  • 2 years later...

Guys I have a 58 Zetec S diesel with rear drums, was bleeding the brakes and bleed nipples snapped off both sides and was incredibly gentle.

I've bought new cylinders however my drums are a bit different as have 2 hex/ star on them and I didn't take pic. Does anyone know what size and if hex or star ?

any help would be much appreciated

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