My 96 F250 2wd has developed a sticking front brake. I took it on a 200 mile trip a week ago and the front right brake was dragging real bad, getting hot, but not red hot luckily. So stopped and wacked a few times on the caliper with a bfh. Had to take it easy on the brakes the rest of the way. Is there an easy fix or are new calipers in order ? Grease sliders maybe ?
Thanks Rick

 

An inspection of the brake hardware is highly recommended. Your problem can be caused by either item you previously listed. Also add in a collapsed brake hose. Start with the simple things first.

 

Couldn't hurt to bleed them some, grease the sliders, and grease the backs of the pads.

If it uses the same calipers my 87 uses remans are pretty cheap at carquest. about 70$ up front then the core charge is about 30$, so about a 40$ part. Hoses are cheap too, and as long as the fitting comes off without incident pretty easy to change.

When putting the banjo bolt back on because the washers have to crush to seal it's hard to tell when they're actually tightened to spec. Use a full torque wrench, torque about a quarter turn at a time tap the bolt gently with a hammer between turns.

The wrench will sit at about 19 lbs for several whole rotations while a copper seals. Once it gets up to spec (check your manual should be between 22 and 30), it should hold.

When I was doing my brakes I wasted time trying to make the old caliper and rotted hoses work. Just isn't worth it.

 

I've never torqued a brake line, usually go to snug and then some. Actually wasn't aware there was even a spec for it.

Skip grease on the back of the pad, sounds like a really easy way to oil your rotors.

Otherwise I third what the previous posters have stated.

IIRC the 96 should have bolt on calipers, if the little boots on the slides are torn they get contaminated easier and can stick.

 

Not the line, the bolt for the banjo fitting. Re-manufactured calipers get sandblasted and it takes the edges off the concentric sealing serrations. If they aren't torqued exactly to spec they won't seal. At least I tried about four different hoses and quite a few different calipers and a whole box of crush washers before I figured that out.

stock, which seals up around 10 ft/lbs.


remanufactured unit, which seals up around considerably higher torque.


Pretty sure I read that in the manual about lightly greasing the backs of the pads, and the pins. The backs of the pads do not come in contact with the rotor surface, but rest against the nodular iron and the rubber boots. I suppose its to let it slide back and forth a little easier, but it's probably not necessary.

 

I've made the mistake of not properly torquing the brake line to caliper banjo bolt. My result was a distorted banjo bolt that caused various problems at each caliper and they all leaked on top of the other problems. It does not take much to over-torque the banjo bolts. They are hollow. I recently did a complete brake job including rebuilding my calipers, and everything went smooth except over-torquing the banjo bolt.

In the interest of saving money, I recommend rebuilding your own calipers. It's cheap and easy.

In your trouble shooting process do also check the boot seal of the caliper piston also. Especially with the buildup of heat you described.