So I finally took my truck up to a local DIY Shop in Sterling VA where I replaced the Front Rotors, Calipers and Pads. Easy fix, which i was surprised about. The only thing I am a little concerned about is the front right brake. It continues to smoke after being in bumper to bumper traffic for about 5 minutes...its a very uneasy feeling when i see a butt ton of smoke come out from my front right. ive checked and it seems to be tight with no leaking. any help on the issue? I replaced the brakes on Saturday the 25 and its now the 29...driven about 100 miles since; youd think they would be broken in by now, maybe?

 

Never had new brakes smoke to break in.

You may have a rubber brake line coming apart inside, causing pressure to be captured, causing the brake to drag quite a bit. Your brake is dragging on that wheel, right?

New or rebuilt calipers? Could be faulty. Will the wheel spin when jacked up?

 

The pads are dragging on the wheel, yes. Good thing, right? Rebuilt calipers and yes the wheel does spin freely.

 

it's pretty common for people not to take care of all the brake parts.
The sliding pins need to be lubed up with dielectric grease so they don't cause the calibers to stick and the pads to rub the rotor to hard and cause premature wear and smoking...

 

Caliper pins? Where are they? Seems like I'm one of those people. Also is grease from a grease gun any different than the dialectic grease that you're talking about? The shop I was at said it didnt matter.

 

Sounds like you a did a nice complete component rework/replacement of the front brakes.

I agree with checking/lubing the caliper pins & yes there is a reason for using the specified lubricant, as it must be compatable with the things it touches, be able to withstand the elevated temps it operates at & be still be able to have the pins move at cold temps in winter!!!!

Did you also flush the brake system with new Motorcraft PM-1 DOT-3 fluid???
If not, after you get this problem fixed, I'd flush the complete system, to get new fluid in there. If it did get flushed, I'd do the troubled wheel again, as it sounds like that wheel has gotten plenty hot, so new fluid would be a good idea on that caliper.

While your down there, also check the free play of your front wheel bearings, if they've never been serviced & you have a lot of miles on the vehicle, both the inner & outer bearings are likely worn & the freeplay is likely out of spec, so this will let the wheel wobble some & can mess with the brake pad wear, although it won't likely be the root cause of the problem your reporting.

My 99 has needed the free play adjusted every 30K as specified & I skipped the first scheduled repacking, doing it at 60K, which was a mistake, as the grease had begun to breakdown, but I caught it barely in time. SO, if any of you out there reading this & have 60K or more miles on your front wheel bearings, better check the free play out, or better yet pull both the inner & outer bearings, repack with synthetic moly loaded grease & install new grease seals, your wheel bearings & brake pads will appreciate it!!!!

More thoughts for consideration, let us know what you find.

 

So now that I know what I am doing I'll sit back at home take my front right and then left apart and put the correct grease in there and check all of the fittings to make sure they are correct. I have all of the tools needed I just hope my complex won't say anything as I work outside. I did change all of my fluid when I bled the brakes. But didn't bleed the rear so when I went to use the brakes, the fluid went back to the gross color. Should I try to start with that first instead?

 

Also, heard a squeak every time I released my foot frI'm the brake pedal. Could that be because the caliper pin is not greased? Also starting hearing my front right squeak while slowing down. Just put those on last Saturday. Starting to think I screwed up on something......