Replacing the rear brake pads on your Expedition

Brake pads on large sport utility vehicles often wear out more quickly than passenger cars and brake jobs can be costly but with only basic tools you can save yourself the money and service your own brake systems.

Other than the parts, to change your own rear brake pads you will need the following items:

-A floor jack
-Jackstands
-Wheel wrench
-A socket set and ratchet
-Large pliers or c-clamp
-A wire brush
-Flat head screwdriver

Step One
Open the hood and check the brake fluid level before beginning.  If your brake fluid is very low you may have more severe brake system problems.  With your F150 on the ground, take your wheel lug wrench and break the lugnuts loose.  DO NOT REMOVE THEM; just make sure that they are all broken loose.  This can be much harder to do when the truck is off the ground. 

Step Two
Jack up the driver’s side of your F150 and place a jack stand under the truck then repeat on the passenger’s side.  Use the wheel lug wrench to remove the lug nuts and rear wheels.  If you have an issue with the brake fluid level, inspect around the brake calipers and brake hoses for any wetness.  If you have extremely low brake fluid the calipers and brake hoses are the most likely sources of a major leak.

Step Three
Look on the back of your brake calipers and find the two smaller bolts that hold the floating portion of the caliper in place.  Do not confuse them with the thick bolts closer to the axles.  Use your socket set to loosen the caliper bolts and put the screwdriver in through the top hole in the caliper, prying against the back of the front brake pad.  This will make it easier to slide the floating part of the caliper off of the rotor.  Once off of the rotor, the brake pads will pop off of the caliper.

Step Four
You need to push the caliper piston back in and this is where the large pliers or c-clamp comes into play.  You may be able to fit pliers around the caliper to shove the piston back in but if not, you will need to put the c-clamp on the piston and drive it back in.  Take the wire brush and clean off any dirt or rust on the portion of the caliper still bolted over the rotor, doing the same to the now-loose part.  Once the friction areas of the caliper are clean, put the new pads on the floating portion of the caliper and slide them over the rotor, finishing if off by re-installing the two bolts in the back of the caliper.

Step Five
Move to the other side and repeat steps 3, 4 and 5.

Step Six
Put the wheels back on and tighten down the lugnuts.  Lower the truck to the ground and recheck the lugnuts.  Remember that when doing a brake job you may have a loss of brake pressure when you first drive it after doing the work so make sure that you pump the brakes until the pedal feels normal.