Replacing rear calipers - why???
#1
Replacing rear calipers - why???
I put brakes and rotors on my '06 F350 about 6 weeks ago. Last week I smelled hot brakes and lo and behold, the left rear was dragging. I replaced that one with probably the only available one in the NY Capital district. Today, I did some errands and now the right is starting to do the same but not quite so bad. I already had it on order and it should be here in another day or so. My question - is this a normal/common item to replace on these trucks? If so, why? I've been driving caliper/disc brake equipped vehicles since 1967 - and have only replaced one - EVER - and that was for a broken bleed screw and out of probably 25 or more vehicles. (This truck at 46,000 miles seems to be turning into one 7400 pound pile of junk - what's next????)
#3
When I tested the bad caliper on my bench after replacement, I used a c-clamp to retract each of the pistons. The upper was nice and free, the lower was stuck and needed some force. I also had a problem prying the bottom off of the pads - the piston actually rotated in the bore. A bigger pry bar "corrected" that minor problem.
The caliper replacement is fairly simple as long as you don't have to take the pad bracket off - again. Those bolts are a b@#$h. It's just get expensive - caliper plus 2-1 pint cans of fluid (I flushed the system each time).
Not sure if you saw one of my front rotors/pads when I did the brake job. This was at 45000 miles.
#4
HOLY RUST BATMAN!!! Do you by any chance drive daily in a salt mine? That caliper shows heavy deterioration from corrosion, that has to be hands down the worst condition rotor I have seen. And that is from an 06? Also, if you are not exposed to salt what about corrosive liquids? There is no normal reason for a rotor to be that tore up. I would say that if the condition of that rotor is any benchmark for the overall state of things, then it is absolutely likely that the calipers might be bad. Heck, for that matter, the caliper brackets could be tore up and be weakend to the the point of misalignment.
#6
Mine are original with 108K on the truck. The rears hung up just like you described recently. I pulled them and the lower piston was hung up a bit in the bore like you said. I pushed them back and cycled them a few times in the bore until they felt like the top piston (4 times back and forth) My slide pins were all in good shape, but the groove the pads ride in were full of crap. I cleaned those out, sanded them smooth and used silicone grease there as well. No more issues.
How bad was it for you to remove those front rotors? One of mine is free (I have since used some never seize on it to keep it that way) but the other and both rears are frozen. I've banged the rears with the back of a 5lb maul and they didn't budge so I'm not looking forward to replacing them any time soon....
How bad was it for you to remove those front rotors? One of mine is free (I have since used some never seize on it to keep it that way) but the other and both rears are frozen. I've banged the rears with the back of a 5lb maul and they didn't budge so I'm not looking forward to replacing them any time soon....
#7
What, why, and how? I live in the rust belt and about 20K a year on in complete crap for road conditions (lots of salt included) and mine look absolutely NOTHING even clost to that. Thats pretty nasty to say the least, my 86 and 89 NEVER even got clost to that bad on the drums or discs.
That there is definitly and exception for every ford on the road, and I'd go so far as to say be darn glad you don't own a dodge... a good buddy of mine has an 04 1 ton cummins with 53K on it that has rust holes through it already... and his underbody looks like that rotor.
That there is definitly and exception for every ford on the road, and I'd go so far as to say be darn glad you don't own a dodge... a good buddy of mine has an 04 1 ton cummins with 53K on it that has rust holes through it already... and his underbody looks like that rotor.
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#8
No, these weren't driven in a salt mine, the ocean - only upstate New York highways and byways.
The really was no deterioration of the brackets - they cleaned up very nicely. What happened - and it's only a guess - is that when the truck was assembled in August 2005, there was never any grease applied directly to the machined area the pads slide. They were for all intents and purposes, frozen in place by rust. At 35K the dealer replaced the rear rotors - and they were still like new when I put the new brake pads and front rotors on the truck. He said that was my occasional braking problem - it was actually the front as you can see. The brakes now are great - except for the caliper problems now showing up. I'll disassemble the right caliper when the new comes in and possibly find out what's going on. Rust maybe from some water contaminated fluid - not from me as I open a fresh can every time any of my vehicles ever need some
The dealer used a (big) hammer on the rears ( I watched) The front rotors came off but also with some persuasion also with a very large hammer - actually much easier then the F150 I had just before this truck - they needed to be Sawzalled off. The aluminum wheels were also "stuck" on - but I now have Lock-Tite everywhere - to the point it's drooling on my wheels.
I guess this is just some of the delights of owning a cost reduced vehicle in the normally frozen tundra of the great North East. I only hope that I don't have the same kind of problem with my '31 A roadster street rod with Wilwood discs
The really was no deterioration of the brackets - they cleaned up very nicely. What happened - and it's only a guess - is that when the truck was assembled in August 2005, there was never any grease applied directly to the machined area the pads slide. They were for all intents and purposes, frozen in place by rust. At 35K the dealer replaced the rear rotors - and they were still like new when I put the new brake pads and front rotors on the truck. He said that was my occasional braking problem - it was actually the front as you can see. The brakes now are great - except for the caliper problems now showing up. I'll disassemble the right caliper when the new comes in and possibly find out what's going on. Rust maybe from some water contaminated fluid - not from me as I open a fresh can every time any of my vehicles ever need some
The dealer used a (big) hammer on the rears ( I watched) The front rotors came off but also with some persuasion also with a very large hammer - actually much easier then the F150 I had just before this truck - they needed to be Sawzalled off. The aluminum wheels were also "stuck" on - but I now have Lock-Tite everywhere - to the point it's drooling on my wheels.
I guess this is just some of the delights of owning a cost reduced vehicle in the normally frozen tundra of the great North East. I only hope that I don't have the same kind of problem with my '31 A roadster street rod with Wilwood discs
#9
What, why, and how? I live in the rust belt and about 20K a year on in complete crap for road conditions (lots of salt included) and mine look absolutely NOTHING even clost to that. Thats pretty nasty to say the least, my 86 and 89 NEVER even got clost to that bad on the drums or discs.
That there is definitly and exception for every ford on the road, and I'd go so far as to say be darn glad you don't own a dodge... a good buddy of mine has an 04 1 ton cummins with 53K on it that has rust holes through it already... and his underbody looks like that rotor.
That there is definitly and exception for every ford on the road, and I'd go so far as to say be darn glad you don't own a dodge... a good buddy of mine has an 04 1 ton cummins with 53K on it that has rust holes through it already... and his underbody looks like that rotor.
.....now if they would put that Cummins in a Ford instead of that 6.0 or 6.4......
A friend bought a "new bodied' '94 - it was total rot within 2 years - doors, fenders, floor, bed.
#10
My rotors looks somewhat like that when I last did them - I used a torch to blast the rust out.
To me, it looked as if the cast iron was porous, let water in, and it actually rusted UNDER the metal.
Yours look like what mine were going to become - they are still on the truck, so they aren't as bad as yours were...
To me, it looked as if the cast iron was porous, let water in, and it actually rusted UNDER the metal.
Yours look like what mine were going to become - they are still on the truck, so they aren't as bad as yours were...
#11
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#13
The only other explanation I can think of would be micro fractures from the rotors being exposed to water after being very hot. The microfractures let in salt water that subsequently rusted, and bam, chipola. It is a miracle this truck stopped at all.
#14
I did car mechanics for years full then part time to pay for my "toys". The only worse braking surface I had ever seen was a drum on an el cheapo customer's car that had worn totally out - the shoe actually cut the drum into 2 pieces.
#15
My god that is most certainly the worst rotor and caliper I have ever seen and I have seen plenty. My 2000 superduty has 162,000 miles on it, I live right on the ocean (northwest coast) and they look nothing like that. Do you tow a good deal? It looks to me like they have been VERY hot. This burns ALL the oil off the parts and they will rust very quickly. Just a thought.