I am going to change the front left caliper on my truck as it seems to be sticking and wearing the inside pad down quick.
I noticed that at my local kragen, the prices range from $40-$140.
Is there a certain brand I should go with or is it better to go with the more expensive ones for quality reasons?
Also, is it a good idea to replace both sides when doing this?
Any info much appreciated.
Thanks

 

How much is your life worth? I stay away from the low end brands. My experience has been to replace both calipers as a set.

 

Chances are the slides are hanging up. Remove the slide hardware, clean off all corrosion, and antisieze. $0.00

I'm not saying this is definately the problem, but if it's wearing the inboard pad and the outboard pad still looks new then try this first.

 

Yes, definitely try cleaning the slides first. If they are sticking they will cause the same symptoms as a stuck caliper.

There really shouldn't be a big price difference in calipers. You might be looking at loaded vs. unloaded caliper prices. Loaded calipers come with pads, unloaded do not. Even so, I would not go with the cheap ones and I would put brake parts from Autozone, Kragen, Pep boys, etc. on anything I drive. Try ordering online, the prices and quality are both much better.

 

the prices and quality are both much better.

 

Isin't Kragen now called O'reilly ? And don't they offer a limited lifetime replacement ?

 

would or wouldn't?...lol...There's only so many manufactures...As far as F-series trucks go you can get 95-99% of the same brands from the auto parts stores as you can online......I guess Brembo and EBC make garbage better left to the third world... BTW, a very large portion of the police and emergency vehicles in this country brake with Raybestos products that can be had at probably all those stores...

I get the point that stuff like this can be bought "cheaper online" but in this economy It's not a horrible thing to keep your "locally earned" money supporting your own community and stores..... Not to mention if something don't line up you can drive down the street and straighten it out...I order stuff online all the friggen time too, mainly cause I live 60 miles from nowhere, but I do get it...


OP, I'd also check to make sure your not hanging a caliper..As far as parts there's lots of brands to choos from but you are NOT going to die by using anything sold at the local parts store... Of course there are difference's in product quality, you know the old saying you get what you pay for.... but like most other things there IS a point of dimishing returns.....

 

You could just rebuild your stock calipers...