I'm trying to replace the front brake rotors on a 97 Ford Explorer (AWD, 5.0 L). I've removed the calipers and pads - but can not loosen the old rotors. It looks held on by rust - but do I need a special rotor pulling tool?
View 8 RepliesI need to change the rear brake pads on a 2007 Expedition and was going to turn the rotors also. It appears the rotor is held onto the axle by a large nut and not having done any brake jobs in several years, I've never run into a rear rotor that's bolted on. Is this the case and if so, what size socket do I need to get it off. Also, I was curious if there is anything else I need to know before I dive in. I heard it was difficult to get off.
View 7 RepliesMy 97 f150 had been sitting for a while and after a few miles I could smell brakes and the left front rotor was hot. So I removed the caliper to see if I could free it up. When i push 1 piston in with a C clamp the other one comes out and visa-verse but I cannot push both in with 2 C clamps. When I push the brake pedal they both come out. Its like there is a check valve in the line. How should I go about trouble shooting this?
View 1 RepliesI can't figure out how to get my front brake rotors off to replace them. I removed the caliper and thought the rotors should just come right off but they didn't? I then pulled the hub out and there was a retaining ring with a good size nut behind it , but you shouldn't have to remove the hubs to remove the brake rotors should you?
The stats of the truck are 04 f250 4wd w/manual hubs!
I changed over to summer tires today on my 1999 4wd F350 diesel . While the front tires were off of the ground, I tried rotating the wheels by hand to see what the resistance was like. I was surprised at how stiff they were. It would take three fingers to rotate the wheel and as soon as I stopped applying pressure the wheel stopped turning. I pulled the rims off and found that the calipers appeared to be contacting the rotors and causing resistance.
My last rig was a 1960s 4wd F250 that had calipers that could be adjusted manually. I kept these adjusted so the calipers were almost touching the rotors. I could spin the rims with one finger and the wheel would turn for 30 seconds or so until coming to a stop. Is this normal?
The shop replacing my front tires advised me to replace my front brakes and rotors soon. I'm not a huge car repair person, but I remembered my father-in-law saying brakes aren't that bad to work with. The car is the "college beater" I bought ten years ago and I'm trying to keep investments in it minimal. I told the shop I would do the brakes myself. So I spent the weekend with the Haynes manual fussing with overtorqued lug nuts, rusted on rotors, tightly wedged guide pins, and outer pads that didn't seem to have room (not the piston side). Got everything assembled, bled the caliper that was disconnected, and took it for a test drive.
I got about 30 feet from the driveway before pulling back in. The front of the car was making an grumble sound and had an odd vibration like a flat tire. This was with brakes engaged and not engaged. The car stopped fine, but I probably didn't get above 10 mph. Is this part of the "bedding/seating" process? I put in new (cheap) rotors and pads. This afternoon I'll check to ensure the pads are in properly and aren't dragging on the rotor and that I have the wheels properly centered. Car is a 96 Ford Escort 2 door hatchback.
I plan to attempt my first ever brake job on a 2008 Ford F-150 XL 4.2L V6 RWD with 50K miles on it.
I've done a lot of reading in order to prepare and from what I can gather it seems best to take off the brake rotor altogether in order to clean off the rust build-up and apply some nickel anti-seize compound in between the hub and rotor. I live in a cold climate and we use quite a bit of salt on the roads here so I thought while I'm changing the pads I might as well clean the rotors of all rust build up while I got the calipers off.
My only problem is that I only have a 265 foot pound torque wrench and the spindle nut that holds my rotors on calls for 295 ft. pounds torque. Also the Haynes manual says that you should buy a new spindle nut ($20 part) and cotter pin. I have neither.
So...I am wondering whether I should forestall taking off the rotor and just do some surface clean-up of the rotor with some Evapo-Rust Rust Remover then blast it with some Brakleen and call it good. I plan to use some caliper grease of course and a dab of nickel anti-seize compound on the backsides of the new brake pads. Is this bad practice, will I regret this in 50K more miles when the wheel hub is completely married to a rotor? How likely is that do you think?
I have a '79 F150 4wd and was wondering what would indicate a caliper needing replacement. I'm already going to replace everything on my rear brakes, they are completely trashed. However, the fronts seem OK, NO indications of leaks or seizing both sides of the rotors appear to be evenly "used" I guess. The inner pads do seem to be thicker than the outer pads is this normal? Anything I should be specifically looking for before I have the rotors turned and put a new set of pads on?
View 5 RepliesI replaced the master cylinder 2 months ago and now every now and then the rear lock up for a second. its only happened a couple of times. Pulled the wheels and everything is in place with nominal wear with clean drums and rotors. Am at a loss as to why this is happening.
View 1 RepliesHow should the front rotors look for a 2000 2WD Excursion:
Photo #1 - With Studs:
OR
Photo #2 - Without Studs:
When I do searches online for parts, I get both kind.
Also, if with studs, do you have to remove the hub and cotter pin to remove the rotor?
How do you remove the front and rear rotors, Any DIY's out there I didn't see.
View 2 Replies2000 Explorer 2WD. I had tons of front end issues that I have been working through. So far I have done upper control arms, upper and lower ball joints, tie rod ends, got an alignment. The steering/suspension system is in good shape now.
Now the only thing left is a scraping/grinding sound coming from the driver's side brakes. I mostly hear it at low speeds (taking off from lights, etc).
When I was doing all of the other work, I observed that the rotor is in great shape, brake pads look great. I am wondering if it is a caliper issue, maybe the caliper isn't releasing enough or something. What to check?
Looking for really good ceramic brake pads and rotors for my 2013 Honda Accord LX? I use my car for everyday driving in the city and highway and was hoping to find something that works well in all weather conditions including snow.
View 19 Replies2008 F-150 2WD
How tight should the wheel bearing retaining nut (sealed bearing hubs) be torqued when replacing the front rotors?
Is there a spec, or just real good and tight since the bearings are sealed units.....
Two weeks ago my front left wheel would start shaking like hell when I brake, not at first but after say may eight miles of driving. I have never been in a vehicle shaking so violently and after proceeding from a stop it would continue until it cooled down. I tore out the caliper and made sure everything was clean and lubed and also to make sure I did not put the pads on wrong. Fast forward one commute and the same crap. I could not go faster than 45 mph without feeling like it was going to disintegrate.
When I got home the damn thing was smoking. I managed to get it to the dealership this afternoon and two hours later the guy told me that the guides just needed some cleaning and grease. They did not want to charge me anything (draw your own conclusion) for it. I was told they drove it up/down hills and it was alright. I left kind of suspicious and four miles later the problem revealed itself again. My next thought it maybe axle end play, bad bearings or joints? Intermittent why? 2004 f150 lariat 4x4 ....
I was driving on a short business trip and I noticed what I thought at first was clutch smell, and then I realized I had a brake overheating. I pulled over and the front right rotor and hub were very hot. The caliber not so much. I let it cool while I was at the meeting. About 1 1/2 hours later I jacked the truck up to see if the bearings felt bad. Seemed fine so I drove home trying not to use the brakes and the heat did not return. I replace the caliber with one from Ford, but the only lines I could find were from CARQUEST and they are made by Raybestos. I am assuming that these lines are made in China.
I have been looking for some braided SS lines, but can't find any for a 2 wheel drive dually with 4 wheel ABS. Where I can order some better lines???
I hated my old 1994 F-350 that had those Metal/rubber pins, they would mess up and overheat also, I thought that my 2000 would not have this problem, I was wrong.
FYI, about a month ago I replaced the rear pads, and changed all the brake fluid with Valvoline synthetic DOT 3. I installed Akebono pads on the rear and just today Akebono on the problem front side. Will change out line and pads on driver side later this week. I hope I got if fixed.
I have a 1994 F-250 4x4 w/manual transmission. I was driving a few days ago when the brake pedal suddenly went to the floor. I had almost no brakes (less than 10% at most), but luckily was able to get off the road safely. It was immediately apparent that the line connecting the T-fitting and the passenger side drum had broken.
I have never blown a brake line before, but I always assumed that you would have either front or rear brakes, depending on which line blew. Unfortunately I was wrong! The master cylinder reservoir was about 3/4 full when I initially checked it, but after I moved (slowly) the truck to a safer spot in the parking lot, I checked again and it was nearly empty.
Is my brake system behaving normally (no brakes front or rear, blown line completely empties the reservoir), or should there be some safety factor built in? If the system is operating correctly, is there any way to convert to a system that doesn't give out fully when a line is blown?
I just replaced the front break pads. I didn't replace the rotors or get them machined, didn't look like they needed them. Once I pushed on the brakes (truck off) I noticed that brake fluid spilled out the brake reservoir. I'm guessing it happened when I compressed the piston into the caliper? I took some of the fluid out of the reservoir and now its at MAX (I didn't bleed them). I've only been only be able to stop and go on the driveway (I'm waiting on a new radius arm bracket). The brakes seems spongy, the brake hits the floor. ABS and Brake lights came on then turned off once I started to pump them when I turned the truck 'on'. Do I just need to actually drive and "break" the breaks in?
View 2 RepliesBefore I get started... My truck is a 2006 F-250 Super Duty XLT 6-speed 4x4 with a Limited Slip.
I just got finished with a big job on my truck. New pads all the way around, turned rotors, new emergency brake shoes, hardware, and backing plate as well as replaced the rear wheel bearings both inner and outer as well as the axle o-ring and inner seal. Also, took off the rear pumpkin cover painted it and put fresh fluid in, went with Mobil 1 75W140 LS.
Took it for a drive and the brakes work great. Followed the directions for breaking in the emergency brake which worked fine.
Now the problem is I'm getting rattling from possibly all of the wheels. Definitely from the front driver and at least one of the rear wheels. It was so dark I didn't get a chance to look at it I just pulled it back in driveway.
I'll start looking at things tomorrow but, any common mistakes or things I should check first?
I have a 2005 F250 & both front calipers are locking up. I have replaced the front pads, no change, my mechanic installed a new master cylinder. No lockup for about two weeks until today. Front calibers are locking up again.
View 1 RepliesOn braking my front brakes locks up and there's a screeching of tires. Once I release the pedal all seems fine...or is it?
I dissassembled the front brake calipers and cleaned out the cylinder bores and blew out any contaminants from the line. Reassembled and bled the system only to find the pads doesn't move as freely from the rotors as they should. C-clamped the cylinder as far back in the caliper as it will go, pumped the brakes and still the rotor doesn't move freely from the pads, when the pedal is released...which accounts for the radical "loss of power", as the front brakes are holding on.
Bare in mind the vehicle hasn't seen the long road for almost 5 years and has been under the grinder/ welder/ primer/ sanding for most of that period and only moves out in the driveway when it's a good day to work outside.
New flex hoses? Flush the brake fluid from the whole system and start fresh? New caliper rubber seals? Blow the lines out with compressed air to rid of goop? New proportioning valve?