I was going to go hunting tomorrow, but I decided to stay home with my wife, so I might as well look into getting a new caliper......

Do they come preloaded with pads or so I reuse them.......?

Any special brake fluid? Will I need something like liquid wrench etc. to get those bolts unfrozen?

I might as well take the plunge....

 

Looks like Autozone and Advanced Auto Parts have calipers for like $60+ core charge. Does that sound about right?

The loaded ones aren't available in the store evidently.

 

You can get them or without pads As hot as you got your pads you will probably want to put new ones on, then while you are at it, some may suggest that you put new pads on the other side as well. If your pads got real hot they may have cracked, if thats the case you would definitely need to change them. Also I am assuming that the parts store will want your core right away so before you head into the parts store visually check your rotor for cracks or sever warpage and replace it if necessary. One thing about brakes, don't cheat them by reusing warn out old parts or you will be tearing into them again very shortly and doing it right the second time around

$60 sounds like a pretty good price. They are pretty much all remans at this point.

Before you get pads do some research on here and get a good pad. That is probably the most important item pertaining to brakes and getting your ride stopped. A lot of guys talk up the Hawk or EBC pads. Myself, I just went with a good qulity pad for the rear since the rear is not as important as the front. I think I put Motorcraft on my rear. When I do my fronts I am going with the EBC green stuff and slotted rotors.

As for brake fluid, you will want a good name brand DOT3/4 synthetic. Do not get DOT 5! It does not play well with our trucks.

Depending on how rusty or long it has been since your bolts were last removed you may want to pretreat them with some kind of penetrating fluid, just make sure that when you spray the stuff on you don't get any one the rotor.

Good luck and have fun, it really is a good feeling doing it yourself!

 

Everybody is providing solid feedback and I back everything up - except I didn't measure the torque on my caliper bolts. My rear brake job was a complete brake replacement and I researched the whole pad thing very carefully before I bought mine. I went with plain ol' semi-metallic pads and you can see my rotors in the picture above.

I pre-filled my calipers with brake fluid before installing (to make bleeding easier) and I did the little juggling act of moving the hose from one caliper to the other in one swift move. Removing the hose from the old caliper shouldn't be done until the new caliper is prepped and sitting right there to be installed, or your brake fluid could make a mess. You will want a rag, hand cleaner, and something to catch the fluid before you pop that hose.

Don't forget to top off your brake fluid reservoir after bleeding.

 

Cool Thanks.

I assume the bolts to be tourqued to 26lbs are the ones that mount the caliper to the axle right? Any idea what size that bolt is?

My tourque wrench is here but my rachets are in Vermont at our cabin.......so I might score a socket to get me through....just need the size.

So far my shopping list is:

Jack Stands
PB Blaster or similar
Caliper
Pads ......probably motorcraft due to store availability
socket
Brake Fluid...DOT 3 or 4 not 5
Hand Cleaner....

Patience.....

First I have to remove the load of wood in the bed. No way do I want to jack this thing up without moving the load first......good exercise.

Thanks for the help guys....

So far my shopping list i

 

I find it ironic that after I got this far on my original brake issue, I'm faced again with the rear dirver's side sticking this evening. Again, Ironic in that I have the jack stands now, the original non-loaded caliper that I bought in 2011 and most of the original brake fluid I purchased. I also have a spare set of slide pins.

I wasn't able to tackle this myself last time (lack of time and pussed out) paid the shop to replace the caliper.....and now, here we are 3 years later and I have the beginnings of the same sticky caliper.

And of course I need to tow next weekend and this weekend it is pissing rain again......feels like groundhog day to my original posts. This thread has a great amount of information in it....

Seems like my plan will be to pull the offending wheel, chuck some jack stands under the axle and pull the rear caliper. Two main bolts with an 18mm I believe and then I'm hoping it is just a slide pin job where I have to back out the bolts for the pins, clean the holes in the caliper body and then grease and remount.......does that sound right?

What grease do I need for the slide pins?

I don't think I have a siezed piston at this point, hopefully just pins sticking.

Do I loosen the bolt holding the line in to let some pressure and fluid out but leave the bleed valve closed?

Thoughts?

Friggin' brakes on this rig have been the one sore spot for me......lines were replaced a month or 2 ago.

 

di electric grease works if you have that lying around. Or you can buy caliper grease from the parts store. They usually try to sell you the single use packets at the counter if you buy anything brake related.

 

If you already have the caliper just replace it. You cant really tell if the caliper piston is sticking without taking it apart. When I bought mine it needed brakes all around due to a combination of both slides and stuck caliper pistons.

 

Came home from work and got out of the rig, smelled brakes..... ****......had a water in my hand, threw some on the driver rear caliper.....steam bath......threw some of the left rear....cool as a cucumber. SOB. I have to tow on Sunday.....

Off to the store, complete new caliper with braket and padset....$150 ($40 core).....

Back home, jack it up, throw a stand under the axle, pull the wheel, all 4 bolts loosen up easily, got the caliper off no problem, it is hangling off the leaf spring by a bungee for now. Once I mount the new one I'll swap over the hose real quick.

Got the pads in the new caliper, a minor PITA but no harm no foul. Ready to mount up the new one in the morning.......bleed, then test.

Anything I should know about bleeding? I plan on working with my wife pumping the pedal with the valve open until nothing but fluid comes out.....

If I'm being retarded tell me know before I spread 2400lbs of horses all over the highway on Sunday

 

The most common mistake I see people make; open the bleeder valve and repeatedly pump the brake. If the valve is open when you take your foot off the brake you're sucking air back into the system.

If you are having your wife pump the brakes while you crack open the valve, have her pump it a few times, then hold. Then she will tell you so you can open the valve. Then before the pedal bottoms out she has to yell to you so you know to close the valve. Ideally you will want to use a clear tube connected to the bleeder valve so you can see any air bubbles that are still in the system.

 

And keep and eye on the brake fluid reservoir to make sure you don't suck air into the system from there.

 

I haven't finished revamping the tech folder here in the 7.3L forum, so I hafta point you to the Excursion forum tech folder that I completed some time ago.

Click on the tech folder sticky in the Excursion forum, scroll down to the "Brakes, Wheels, Etc" section and click on the link for brake bleeding.

Stewart

 

Make sure the slide pin rubbers are OK and seated. Sometimes the rubbers crack or come unseated allowing the elements to get in. You should also bleed all your brakes to get fresh brake fluid into the master and all the calipers. Always start from the caliper furthest from the master and work towards the master, R rear, L rear, R front and L front. I always suck what I can out of the master, then put new fluid in and bleed the hell out of the R rear until the fluid comes out nice and clean. I use a clear line in an old brake fluid bottle that way when my bottle gets to a certain fill point I check my master for fluid. The problem with all brake fluid except DOT 5 (DOT 5 is synthetic and will not mix with DOT 3 & 4, turns to jelly) is it adsorbs moisture very well. This moisture sinks to the lowest level which is the calipers and causes corrosion. Corrosion is one of the reasons calipers fail and stick. I have a moisture test kit for my brake fluid and do a flush every 2-3 years with a slide pin lube.

 

Thanks guys.

Stewart, I read the tech write up in the Ex forum, thanks.

The goal is to get this caliper back up and running so I can tow tomorrow and then I'll probably do the left rear as well so we have balanced pad age on the wheels. Thanks for all the help and support along the way, granted this thread started a couple years back when I had my initial issue. Getting over the hump and digging in was the hardest part; now I'm considering installing new rotors over the summer as well.

To save some trial and error, anyone remember what size tubing fits and works well for bleeder valves?

I know 3/8" works for the fuel bowl so I might as well get some of that as well.

 

Can the Dot 3/4 be flushed completely from the system and replaced with Dot 5? If it can, it seems better to use a fluid that doesn't attract water as Kamstutz mentioned.