Grabby brakes

[OT18]

Picked up my '24 lariat hybrid the first week of December, just under 6k miles so far with no problems at all: until this morning. Pulled out of my driveway and went about 1/4 mi to the stop sign. When I hit the brakes, I thought I was going to get thrown through the windshield. The truck started slowing down and then the brakes locked up. I had a C-Max before, and the brake were a bit grabby but never like this. I continued to drive but when stopping, I would ease up on the pedal a bit then gently apply the brakes again. They would still grab but not as bad as the first time. Looks like I'll be making a trip to the service department.

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[Master Blaster]

It sounds like you had wet brakes, maybe due to condensation. Its been a known problem with all of the Ford factory organic pads since they came out at least a dozen years ago. Thankfully all the non-Ford pads that I've ever tried have not had this issue. Also, the brakes on the Mav are bigger than the C-Max, Escape or Bronco, so you do need to be mode gentle with them when doing "normal" stops. I think they put on bigger brakes in case you're running with max load.

 

[JJM]

Your brakes got wet…what happened to you is standard on just about every vehicle I’ve ever driven.

 

[BlueRaven]

It sounds like you had wet brakes, maybe due to condensation. Its been a known problem with all of the Ford factory organic pads since they came out at least a dozen years ago. Thankfully all the non-Ford pads that I've ever tried have not had this issue. Also, the brakes on the Mav are bigger than the C-Max, Escape or Bronco, so you do need to be mode gentle with them when doing "normal" stops. I think they put on bigger brakes in case you're running with max load.

ford uses semi-metallic, not organic.

to OP switch front brake pads to powerstop ceramic. not paid endorsement. they are just good pads. grabby brakes on hybrids are a known issue. uses the same brakes as eb's but the regen braking makes them weird.

 

[Ford Motor Company]

Picked up my '24 lariat hybrid the first week of December, just under 6k miles so far with no problems at all: until this morning. Pulled out of my driveway and went about 1/4 mi to the stop sign. When I hit the brakes, I thought I was going to get thrown through the windshield. The truck started slowing down and then the brakes locked up. I had a C-Max before, and the brake were a bit grabby but never like this. I continued to drive but when stopping, I would ease up on the pedal a bit then gently apply the brakes again. They would still grab but not as bad as the first time. Looks like I'll be making a trip to the service department.

Hi there, John! Go ahead and send us a private message with your VIN and the name and location of your Ford dealer, and I’ll look into this concern with your brakes. Thanks!

 

[OT18]

Thanks for the replies but I don't think the brakes got wet. The previous day was sunny and dry, and we had near record temps: in the 70's and our normal is highs in the 40's. The Mav was parked inside and the weather was still dry in the morning. We paid dearly for the warm weather we had on Wednesday though. Thursday afternoon we had severe storms. 3" of rain, high winds and several tornados just south of me. Mostly a rural area but several homes were destroyed and a little further south, several people lost their lives when another tornado hit the area. My brake problem doesn't compare to the problems those people are having to deal with.

 

[OT18]

Your brakes got wet…what happened to you is standard on just about every vehicle I’ve ever driven.

Thanks for the replies but I don't think the brakes got wet. The previous day was sunny and dry, and we had near record temps: in the 70's and our normal is highs in the 40's. The Mav was parked inside and the weather was still dry in the morning. We paid dearly for the warm weather we had on Wednesday though. Thursday afternoon we had severe storms. 3" of rain, high winds and several tornados just south of me. Mostly a rural area but several homes were destroyed and a little further south, several people lost their lives when another tornado hit the area. My brake problem doesn't compare to the problems those people are having to deal with.

 

[Master Blaster]

ford uses semi-metallic, not organic.

to OP switch front brake pads to powerstop ceramic. not paid endorsement. they are just good pads. grabby brakes on hybrids are a known issue. uses the same brakes as eb's but the regen braking makes them weird.

Use whatever pad composition rocks your boat. Just be aware that both ceramic and full metallic pads need a hard stop or two to warm up, and until warm you will have sub-par braking. On a hybrid you use the brakes so little that you basically are never going to get them warmed up, so ceramic pads will suck.

 

[Gregk]

Grabbiest dang brakes I've ever had. Especially first thing in the morning.

I called my local dealer and they told me that overnight (on a damp night) a think layer of rust accumulates on the discs and this causes the initial grabbiness. It does go away (mostly) after a block or so. But still, the first stop knocks my fillings out.

I am very skeptical of the Ford Dealer response. I think they just used crappy pads.

 

[Ozarkbeard]

I called my local dealer and they told me that overnight (on a damp night) a think layer of rust accumulates on the discs and this causes the initial grabbiness. It does go away (mostly) after a block or so.

We get drastic temp & humidity changes frequently. In the mornings, after a weather/humidity flip-flop, my brakes are sometimes grabby until I use them enough to get rid of moisture and or rust on the rotors. And it takes longer to get rid of the gunk on a Hybrid's brake pads & rotors because a lot of the time, you're using Regenerative braking - the friction brakes just don't get used nearly as much.

My F-150 had brake annoyances for many many years. They didn't really grab, but would make gawd-awful noise upon first-brake of the day and mostly when backing up. It would happen in conditions where the weather had just gone through drastic temp/humidity changes.

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