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Jan. 28, 2002 (pics coming soon!) - sorry, still haven't brought film in for developing... didn't have the digital camera at the time. Doh! Front Brake Repair 98' F-150 4x4 Edit: Sept. 23, 2003 Both front caliper retaining bolts have come loose. First on passenger side, then on driver's side. I applied loktite to the passenger side caliper bolts when they came loose (sounds like a rattle on front suspension when you go over bumps and a "klunk" when you first step on the brake pedal. My advice is to use any strong thread-locking compound on those large 18mm head bolts. Use a massive torque wrench to apply 100+ lb.ft torque or an impact gun. Edit: June 21, 2003 One of the inboard JC Whitney "titanium" pad has failed on the passenger side, there is no visible brake lining material and audible grinding and deep rotor grooves. There is only 1/4 inch of material left on the remaining good pads. Surprisingly these pads only lasted about 17 months! The pedal feel and stopping distance was very good but in my opinion these wore down way too fast. Mind you they had very little brake dust but I certainly didn't expect to be doing another brake job this soon. I now bought some Raybestos "QS" ceramic pads, the best money can buy for $150cdn. But these do come with abutment clips and anti-squeal clips like the OE parts which are rusted. Those "titanium" pads may be 1/3 price of the best ceramic pads but probably not worth the savings. I'll let you know how these new ceramic pads hold out. They are also supposed to be dust-free compared to OE pads. I've already taken lots of pics of the procedure so will post those below once I have the rotor ground and everything installed. This repair is front disc brakes only, not rear drums/discs. Revised: June 22, 2003. 1 to 4 hours. Tools needed:
Parts needed:
Procedure: Note: follow my instructions at your own risk, I take no responsibility for your actions. Park truck on level ground and apply rear emergency brake and put transmission in park or 1st gear (manual). Block rear wheels with chocks just in case. Loosen the lug nuts on the front wheels (don't remove). Lift the vehicle by the large cross-frame member between the frame rails about 2 ft behind the front bumper. Use a couple 2x4's on top of your jack to get the necessary lift. Place two jack stands on the ends of the frame member in case the hydraulic jack fails as you're working. Lower the vehicle so it places slight pressure on the jack stands. Leave hydraulic jack in place. Then remove the wheels.
Skip next step if you bought new rotors.
More pictures follow here tomorrow! When you get your rotors back or if you have new ones remove the 18mm caliper bolt again and move the caliper out of the way but don't hang it from the brake hose. Apply some neverseeze to the hub face between wheel studs. Mount the rotor on the hub face/wheel studs. You can temporarily hold it on with a single lug nut if you wish. Slide the caliper assembly over the rotor and fasten the two 18mm bolts tightly. If you hear a clunking noise when applying the brakes these may be loose! Remount your wheel/tire assembly and torque the nuts down in a star pattern. Test the feel of the brake pedal, should be same or better than before. Take the vehicle for a test drive. Make 8 gradual stops from 50kph (30mph). Don't slam the brakes on. Do this by your house if you can. Park the vehicle after these "break-in" stops and let the rotors cool for at least an hour or half an hour before driving anywhere. This will ensure your rotors won't warp and your pads will "seat" properly on the rotor surface. Check your wheel lug nut torque again. Clean up the mess. Re-torque your lug nuts after 50-100 miles or your first longer trip. See the article on Brake Bleeding which should be performed as the next service on this vehicle or while you still have the wheels off after a brake job. Change brake fluid every 2 years! You're done. Congratulate yourself on having saved at least $300 bucks. This job is basically the cost of new/reground rotors, pads, lube, your time. |
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Remove 18mm caliper bolts and 13mm slide bolts. You may need to hammer the
wrench as the 18mm bolts will be on there tight.
Remove caliper and string it up out of the way.
Separate slider from caliper and remove the old pads.
Push pistons back with hammer handle and prybar or 2 c-clamps. Use even force as
pushing in only one piston with push out the other one possibly damaging it.
Pry off old caliper clip, install new one.
Pull out & clean each
caliper slider, then relube. Spin it as you insert it.
Push the slider boot back on.
You might have to push it into it's hole a few times to release built-up air
pressre.
Pry off caliper slide clips.
Apply the new clips to the slider.
Apply squeal shims to back of
pads.
Put new pads into slider clips one end at a time and slide to outside of clips.
If you've applied neverseeze on a
previous brake job to the hub face the rotors should remove easy,
If not, apply pry bar! Or large sledge hammer from backside and liberal amount
of WD-40.
Put slider on caliper and tighten 13mm slider bolts.
Use a clean screwdriver to push
pads to outside to make room for putting on the disc.
Temporarily replace one 18mm
caliper bolt to hold it up while rotors are refinished.
Copyright
2001-2003 Peter Ferlow