I have noticed a 1 mpg drop in mileage over the past month or so. The truck is also sluggish starting from a stop. Now, if I travel on the highway for a good while, the mpg average will go up. Bought a IR thermometer and the front driver side rotor is coming in 40 degrees hotter than the front passenger side rotor after being on the highway for 5 minutes or less.

Today, I took the front driver side tire off and tried to turn the rotor with my hands. No way, no how, and I was trying really hard. However, with the wheel on the truck I was able to turn it with some effort on my part. I do know that the wheel provides me with additional leverage. My question is, how hard should it be to turn that rotor with the wheel off. I know it is pretty simple on my rear wheel drive cars.

I do not see abnormal pad wear on the pads. There is still about half the pad present on both pads, but I did not take the right side wheel off to compare the two.

Just debating whether to replace both front calipers, rotors, and pads and the rear rotors and pads too while I am at it.

 

I'd compare the two sides. If you decide to replace the driver's side I'd also replace the passenger side. Sounds like the driver's side is dragging a little bit. If you can do it if also replace the tears, as it's not that expensive to buy the calipers and rotors from Advance Auto. I'd get the Ford Motorcraft premium pads, though, they seem to have the best initial bite to me.

 

You think I should replace the rear calipers too? Kind of makes sense. I replaced the rear calipers on my Taurus 2 years ago and then had to replace the front calipers the next year. Nothing quite like bleeding down the brakes a second time within a year.

Think I am going to try a set of rotors and pads that are offered on Amazon. I am somewhat scared because they seem too good to be true, but they have received pretty decent reviews from the few people on Amazon that have used them. I don't drive the truck that much and rarely haul much with it, so I am interested to see if these things are any good while not putting my life in too much jeopardy.

https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B014PXU6...I1R42S38U0F4NV

I can get the AC Delco calipers from Amazon for $120 each.

https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B000EQRK...=IRAF7TIR1NGVD

Alright, it looks like the Motorcraft calipers from Amazon are even cheaper at $100 and they include a set of pads.

https://smile.amazon.com/Motorcraft-...2003+Ford+F350

The Advance Auto calipers are really cheap at around $60 to $70 a piece for the front and rear calipers, but they are Wearever and not Motorcraft. Guessing they are cheaper because of the core return charge. Now, I am wondering if I should go with Wearever or Motorcraft.

Decisions, decisions. Leaning towards the Wearever calipers and the cross drilled/slotted rotors from Amazon with the carbon pads.

This will be the second time I have to change the rotors and pads on the truck in the 13 years I have owned it, and the current pads aren't that bad off. Guess I shouldn't complain.

 

Yep, I would do front and rear...will save you the hassle of thinking "Man, why didn't I just do both?" in a year or so.

Also, it looks like the Motorcraft calipers on Amazon don't come with the "Super Duty" pads. Those are the good pads I mentioned, so maybe the wearever calipers with the other pads/rotors you mentioned is the best bet.

 

Use TRT30 at advance and use that for an on line only code. Do it store pick up and save $50 off a $150 purchase. Keep the cart to under $150 and hit that code as many times as you want.... saves me $100s of dollars!

 

I would replace the rubber brake hoses too. They can swell shut and give you problems when they get old. I have seen more then one over the years. Plus it isn't much more work or $$.

Depending on the year I would also flush all the brake fluid out and replace with new.

 

BINGO!! A swollen shut brake hose has the same symptoms as a stuck caliper.


Replace the hoses as well.


.

 

Fabsroman, unless I missed it I didn't see what year truck you have. It is advisable to flush the brake fluid every 2 to 3 years. Brake fluid is hygroscopic and will absorb moisture out of the air and cause internal corrosion and rust in the brake system.

 

Before I'd spend the money as advised above, I'd inspect and re-grease the wheel bearings, both sides. I'd also flush the brake fluid on each corner, pull the pads and see if the pads are riding without being stuck, freed up. Use silicone grease and new metals each time you replace your pads.
I know you're probably up in salt road territory and that's something we don't deal with so maybe it's time, but I'd go through the other steps first, esp the wheel bearings. That could easily create the added heat and friction.
It's easy to throw lots of money that way but you might find a simpler, inexpensive fix first.

 

Get yourself an IR Thermometer, point it at your rotors after driving.

You will see the difference in degrees between each rotor, ideally they should reflect 20 or so degrees apart per axle.

 

At 50% pads, rotors are straight, why not just disassemble, lunpbe calipre slide pins and reassemble. A little maintenance and you probably can do 40k more miles on them brakes.

 

Fabsroman,

Sorry for taking so long to respond, but my health is taking the priority over doing anything Powerstroke.

The degree of resistance to rotation, or drag against the rotor changes over time. While checking a brand new installation within a week will show little resistance, a few years down the road will have more. But you should still readily be able to turn with the tire in place, just with not so much free rotation. This has to do with a few things.

• Losses of free movement of the pads within the brackets, usually due to rust build up at the ends of the pads especially with a truck that sits.
• Losses of free movement of the sliding pins, usually due to corrosion in the bracket bores or heat degradation of the rubber parts, caliper pin design level depending on year of your truck (you never stated what year and model, which matters).

• Losses of seal roll back of the caliper pistons due to either thermal degradation and aging of the square cut pressure seal o-rings, or rust build up under the dust boot grooves or between the dust boot and sealing o-rings.

Notice I did not mention the brake hoses as failure of the inner wall of the brake hose acts as a one-way valve, either keeping all of the pressure from the caliper or at the caliper upon release. It can bleed down so there is only an apparent drag at the wheel but in the condition presents itself much more dramatic during a brake apply while driving.

Shooting temperature of the wheels is a good idea but there is more work to be done then that being the ultimatum for what is wrong. You noted in the first post, first paragraph that you did take an IR reading, but that showed the driver’s side hotter, while it’s the pass side that has the higher hysteresis. 40°F is not that much of a differential, but it really depends on how and when the reading is taken. Often looking for an abnormally dusty wheel is more telling.

You also need to check the rear brakes for drag as well with that loss of mpg, and the easiest way to do that is with the wheel off the ground pull the axle shaft out of the hub so the wheel is free revolving. There will be some oil loss, and the axle o-ring seal can be reused, so the only cost to this act is replacing some differential oil depending on the quantity lost when pulling the shaft.

With that much life left on the pads it’s worth going in and checking the brake assembly to see what is going on, especially if it’s the pads hanging in the brackets rather then the pistons hanging up. Again, could also be slides so that’s more of a reason to check what is going on.

Sometimes there is a situation where a caliper piston adheres to the o-ring and just pushing the pistons back in interrupts this situation and the pads stay off the rotor afterwards.

If you do go for new parts the Motorcraft rebuilt calipers are the best deal, as Ford requires the rebuilders of the calipers to do a freedom of movement check of the pistons after they are rebuilt. No other rebuilders do that for any brands. Otherwise you are the one who is going to need to check that, doing so by installing the calipers, pushing the pistons out with one or two half strokes of the brake pedal, then see how easily the pistons go back in. With a brand new caliper the pistons should be able to be pushed in individually with your two thumbs. That’s the best in-field value I can give you, the bench test equipment for doing this costs more then a new truck. This doesn’t work with in-service calipers however as the forces required to move the pistons back increases over time due to the fore mentioned thermal degradation, the hardening of the o-rings.

Rotors that have holes and slots are mostly a waste of time, grooves showing only an improvement for consumer vehicles for instantaneous friction under wet rotor conditions, or fade resistance if your are using really cheap brake pads that outgas.

 

Jack,
Glad to see your comments and hope you're up to speed with your health.

 

Jack,

I completely understand about health taking precedence over everything else in life, and most definitely over Ford Truck Enthusiasts. So, no worries about getting back to me. However, thank you for the lengthy response.

I pretty much have the same truck as you. Just a lot less miles than you do. I added the description to my signature line.

I'll do most of what you have suggested. The 40 degree higher temp reading is on the front driver's side and that is also the one that is hard to turn by hand. Must have screwed that up in my initial write-up. About the only thing I am not going to do in your list of suggestions is pulling the rear axles. I have never done it and don't really feel like figuring it out in lieu of just replacing the calipers.

Three years ago I replaced the brake lines with Nicopp and the rubber lines going from the Nicopp to the calipers. The factory steel lines blew out right behind the gas tank. Bled all the lines at that time. These brakes and rotors have been on the truck since March of 2010 when the truck had 15,000 miles on it. I had to replace the brakes and rotors back then because of rust, not wear. That is the only time the pads and rotors have been changed. Now, the truck has 68,000 miles on it and the rear passenger side rotor is showing some rust on it that the pads just aren't cleaning/removing. Again, there is still a lot of pad and rotor left on all four wheels and I am debating what to do about this rear passenger side rotor. Thought about taking it off and hitting it with a polishing wheel and then sanding down a little of the pads, but I am not sure about this.

The upper and lower ball joints, the sway bar bushings, the end links, shocks, axle seals, and driver side wheel bearing were replaced in 2014. I liberally greased up the wheel bearings/axle bearings before putting everything back together.

This weekend I'll take everything apart and inspect the calipers more thoroughly along with the sliding pins. I had a pin rust up in my Taurus about 8 years ago and it was a bear to get out. Lots of heat, PB Blaster, and banging. I've been greasing those pins with high temp grease every time I replace rotors and pads now. Thing is, on the truck I have only replaced the rotors and pads once in its 13 years.

I am hoping that this is an easy fix and that I can save $500 or so in parts. Was looking forward to painting some new calipers Ford blue, but I can wait a while to do that (like years).

Each time I had a sticking caliper in my Taurus, it was easy to figure out. The brakes smelled terrible. Then, the first time it happened, one rotor was just clean as a whistle and completely white. The second time it happened, one rotor was glowing red. That just isn't the case with the truck, so I am thinking it might be something a lot simpler than a sticking caliper.

 

I've had probably as many stuck calipers as anyone on here. I think I have replaced 8! There was always a stink of brakes, often there was smoke. I did not need an IR thermometer, just my hand. The bad caliper was noticeably hot with my hand anywhere near the wheel.

The last two yrs have been good - I flush the brake lines every 10K mi - seems to help. I also replaced the lines with the calipers when there was a problem.

I did have about a 1mph decrease when it happened, but the stink was the first sign every time.