I have a 94 F-350 Crew Cab C+C 4x4 that i have converted to a pickup. I purchased the truck about 2 months ago. When i drove it home, i noticed the front brakes were sticking a little after hard braking.

I got some time to work on it and i took the front calipers off, greased up the sliders and made sure everything moves freely. I put it back together with the same result... If i stomp on the brakes, the front wheels stay locked. After about 5 minutes, they would loosen back up.

I took the front wheels off and checked resistance to rotation after the truck had been sitting, i could rotate the hub with one hand.
I pressed and released the brakes and checked again, I could not rotate the hub with both hands. I then loosened the bleeder to determine if it was the braking system or the caliper. No pressure came out... With the bleeder loose, the caliper still held fast.

These calipers appear to be new, there is no rust and they are very clean. I took the caliper apart on the drivers side by pressing the pedal until the pistons came out. It took quite a bit of pressure on the pedal to get the pistons to budge. I then dissassembled the caliper to determine where all the resistance was coming from. With the piston seals out of the caliper, the pistons slide in and out just like they are supposed to with no resistance. With the seals installed and everything greased up nice... I had to exert a huge amount of force to move the piston at all. Usually on other vehicles you can push in the piston slowly with your hand, this is not the case. All of this resistance and what is holding the pistons from moving is the seals, they are just too tight on the piston.

What brand of caliper have you guys had good luck with? As i need a new set and i can not tell what brand these are.

 

Most that you get are rebuilt, so they arent different brands. I've had good luck with cheap remans from Autozone but I'd just go to whatever discount store is nearby.

 

Honestly... I have done about 2 doz caliper rebuilds now... they are quick and easy to take apart, clean, put new seals in, and slap back on. I havn't had one complaint yet! There is only 1 o-ring and a dust seal to replace. All you need is caliper lube and a rebuild kit!

Spend $20 and do it yourself with a rebuild kit and save your money! Seems to me the last time I priced rebuilt A1 Cardone calipers they were $40...

Dorman D352730 is the part number for your caliper rebuild kits!
http://www.amazon.com/Dorman-D352730.../dp/B002EOTLK0
Amazon.com: Permatex 20353 Ultra Disc Brake Caliper Lube, 2 oz Tube with Nozzle: Automotive

 

Awesome! All i need is a set of seals... i'm getting a rebuild kit and will see if the new seals are a little thinner and allow my pistons to return.

Thanks!

 

it's not the seals needing to be smaller... it's the dirt and road debris that is making your pistons stick inside the caliper.

take them apart... I mean all the way apart! Take the seals off and the pistons out until you have nothing but the metal shell of the caliper (there is usually some sort of lock ring holding it all together). Then blast them down really well with break part cleaner and make sure the cylinder walls are nice and shinny with no burs that will cut up your piston. Once good and clean all the way around, reasemble with new seals and break caliper lube. They'll work like new again!

Also!!!!

Break fluid has a tendency to draw in moisture... IE: holds water in and rusts your break lines and calipers from the inside. This is the reason that dealerships like toyota have preventative maintence packages they sell for every 30K you put on the car. One of the items they do is fully bleeding out all old break fluid and replacing with new stuff. At this point you might want to just bleed out all your old break fluid and put new in! Your truck will love you for the extra care you put in

 

I see what you are saying. But... I thought they were in rough shape also inside... But these are like brand new inside. I even ran a ball hone inside for a second. The pistons are just fine inside the caliper until i install the seals. All of the resistance is from the seals.

 

ball hone = bad idea...

Ball hones are made to rough a surface up so piston rings seat better on engine cylinders. You want a super shinny smooth as glass caliper surface.

If a caliper and piston are all cleaned up the should slide nice and smooth. Up to you but you could probably still pull a spare caliper from the junk yard for 5 bucks and rebuild it for another $10... still less than half of a new one...

 

Noted about the ball hone... I'm going to install new seals and see what kind of resistance i have with the new ones. I will update soon.

 

Also if the piston has any pits at all , replace it...