Got a tough one I can't figure out on my 1999 F350 with the 7.3L and a manual transmission... I'm very mechinically included and cannot figure out why my left rear rotor is always hot recently. The rotor and pads are about 6 months old and still in great shape.

A few weeks ago, I noticed the slight smell of burning brakes. Checking all four rotors, I noticed the left rear was hot. So I proceeded to replace the caliper and bracket/slide pins. I then bled the brakes and tried it out. It still got hot.

Next I replaced the rubber hose to the caliper (I didn't have high hopes this would fix it, because it bled well and seemed to have good flow.) I also disconnected the brake lines and blew them out with air, re-bleeding the system. This did not help either.

Next, I focused on the parking brakes. These were trashed. I spent a good amount of time replacing all the parts... Including new pads, hardware and cables. I adjusted them to the point that they worked well, but I was sure niether side was dragging at all.

After all this, the left rear rotor still gets hot. I put the rear axle up on jacks and ran the truck in gear to spin the rear tires. Feeling the rotor, it is the disc part that gets hot, not the drum for the parking brake. It is still drivable, but I don't like driving it like this. It never gets so hot that it smokes, just too hot to touch or it will burn your hand. The passenger side never gets hot like this.

Am I missing something? Should I try the rubber hose that goes from the frame to the axle next? Again, I don't have high hopes for this because the caliper always bleeds easily through this hose and the passenger side doesn't get hot. Could this be ABS related?

Any help is appreciated.

Thanks,

Spenser

 

could it be where the ends of the brake pads ride being rusty, so they can't easily slide away from the rotor?

and maybe try installing the caliper without brake pads and seeing how it moves sideways on the caliper pins [just by hand, DO NOT press the brake pedal].

 

seems to always be that same caliper on all the fords. i wonder what it is. .i fixed mine by putting powerstop calipers and rotors on with the mounts and everything.

 

No, they are clean and I can slide them easily with my fingers.

I do like this idea, I will do this next time the weather breaks. I would like to witness that they slide with my eyes. Also, I did note that the left and right sides both sit the same distance from the caliper... i.e. the pins are the same distance out/in. They aren't bottomed out or anything.

I'm wondering what it is too! At this point, I may try replacing the rubber hose going from the frame to the axle (probably just for fun). Then go all out and do the pads, rotors, and loaded calipers again from a different brand I guess.

Thanks for the help,

Spenser

 

i did replace all hoses except center rear one too.

 

So you still have the original center rear hose, and it works fine with it? (It wasn't the issue?)

 

I can say that on my 2001 F350, that after 3 yrs, 5 calipers, new parking brake shoes and kits, 4 rotors, 2 hoses, and 3 sets of pads, I found my problem to be the parking brake cables. $150.00 and no problems in the last 6 months.

 

same problem, same wheel, haven't looked into it yet, please let us know what fixes it

 

Not knowing what else to try, I went back to autozone and got a 2nd caliper to change out. It's been two days and it seems to have fixed it! No more hot rotor, and the truck rolls like it should on slight inclines.

So it seems a cheap $50 autozone remanned caliper was to blame.

Thanks for the help!

Spenser