Hi All, I'm a newbie to this group and wanted to see if anyone else has any advice on two issues I'm having. 2001 XLT with 50Km's. First, I noticed a grinding noise with the brakes when first pulling out of the driveway in the morning. I inspected the front pads and it looks like they will need to be replaced soon. One side of the pads is worn down. I decided to check the rear drum brakes too while I'm at it but for the life of me I can't get the damn drums off to see the shoes. I have seen this before in other cars where the rust is causing the drums to stick but usually some WD-40 and some elbow grease will get it off. I have tried everything to remove the drums but they won't budge which makes me think now that I am doing something wrong. I have done brake jobs in the past on other fords so I know what I am doing but this is the first for the Escape so I am second guessing myself now. Does anyone have any experience with taking the drums off? Second, the brake dust on the front wheels is plaguing me like many others. However, now I am noticing that it looks like the rims themselves are starting to rust and become pitted. It looks like to me that the brake dust is corroding the rims. Has anyone else run into this? Thanks, John

I am in the process of looking for my Escape so I don't have specific Escape experience but I have fought lots with rear brake drums. Is there any chance your emergency brake is on? Or maybe it is too tight? Can you back off the brake tensioner from inside the backing plate. Used drums get a small ridge of rust/unused metal and make the drums hard to come off. If all else fails you may have to drill or grind off the head of the small nail like brake shoe holders (from the outside) than the whole kit and kaboodle will fall off with a little help but you will have to figure out how to put it all back togeather afterwards. Jimmie

The only solution I know for brake dust is wheel covers. http://www.autotrucktoys.com/stores/showdetl.cfm? &DID=8&Product_ID=7305&CATID=84 this helps keep the brake dust off the wheels. Don't know anything about changing brakes sorry. Hope at least this solves your brake dust prob.

Jusst after 50,000 kms, I have a grinding noise when I applied my breaks. After having it in twice, I ended up having to get new front rotors and pads. The front rotors had worn quite a bit. Since they were changed, I have had no problems. Kleen wheels dust shields are the most common dust covers. There has been a number in the posts in the past regarding them. They do yield good results with no extra heating. http://www.autogeek.net/kleenwheeldu.html This is just one of many places to order them. Gary

You might remember that I had brakes put on at 71,500 MILES. I still had some pad left, but opted to replace them anyway. After about 4,000 miles on the new pads I started getting a grinding sound every now and then. I took it back where the work was done, after a little bit of haggling they replaced the pads again and turned down the rotors. When I got in my Escape to leave it would hardly stop. The pedal was real mushy and it would slow down, but would not come to a hard stop. Neither the mechanic that did the work, nor the manager felt that anything was wrong. I argued with them, but they would not change their tune. I drove it to the nearest Ford Dealer to get it checked out. Turns out they turned my rotors down past the minimum specifications. Minimum is 22mm and they were turned down to 20.8mm. This obviously doesn't allow a good grip, but it also over works the system, which overheats the fluid actually boiling it and this in turn renders the braking system ineffective. It cost me $445.73 (US) to replace the rotors and pads again. Have given the other shop 10 working days to reimburse me or we go to court. Dennis

Good luck Dennis in getting your money back. The other shop definitely was in error. I always take my vehicles back to the dealer to get fixed. Sometimes it costs more but I trust them. A study in Canada showed how many repair shops are crooked or incompetent, even some respected chain stores. Gary