I just had a left break sorta lock up but not totally however it cooked caliper, pads, rotor etc so I decided to NOT go to ford dealer to save money. I had napa ultra premium pads and left rotor and both new calipers installed. 800 bucks later the breaks suck a the pedal has lousy feel and moves twice the distance before actually starting to break the truck. Is this because of the aftermarket parts or just poor installation. Im sick as this truck HAD the best
breaks of any truck I ever owned but now feels like my friends chevy's with poor modulation and overall feel. So is this bad components or bad installation?

 

hate to ask the stupid questions but I will

Did you fully bleed the whole system?
Have you checked the brake fluid is full?
Did you flush the brake fluid?

 

How are the slide pins? Did they move freely? If u did not turn the rotors, i t will feel weird for a days. Also, make sure the system is bled out good.

 

Every ford superduty I did brakes on had at least one caliper slide pin assembly siezed up , causing the caliper piston to have excessive travel to compensate, causing a low pedal.

 

$800?

I had the rear brakes done at my local tire shop for less than half of that, with new calipers pads, and 1 rotor replaced.

 

It just needs a good bleed. New calipers should be bench bled before being installed them the whole system (all corners) should be bled once they are on the truck.

 

+1. I bought one of those universal pressure bleeders off of ebay and used it on everything I own. Worked like a charm and what a difference it made in the brakes.

 

look in to a reverse bleeder
Phoenix Systems V-12 DIY Reverse Brake Bleeder Walkthrough - YouTube

 

also, just my advice, but dont pay someone to do your brakes.
you have 4 wheel disk brakes, which are super easy to do yourself. if you watch it done once on youtube
How to replace F-250 Brake Pads - YouTube

you will be able to do it on your own with no problems.
this guy does the front brakes, but the back brakes are identical, just with different sized hardware.

if you do it yourself, you will be confident that everything was done correctly.
the way i see it, its not like your average mechanic is some kind of genius, they just have a special skill set. one that (obviously) anybody can learn (look at some of the people working as mechanics)

thats my two cents.

as for how to improve your brake feel, it may be your pads, calipers, or air.
i ONLY use hawks pads. they have a large variety of pads for different vehicles, but if you call them up, they are super friendly and will help you out.

new rotors will give your brakes increased feel, but you have to brake them in properly.

when rotors are new, the surface looks like one of those corrugated mattress toppers.
when you use it, it smooths out and matches the shape of the pad.
you have to be extra careful for the first 10-20 miles of driving not to overheat the new rotors. since the contact surface is less when they are new, the rotors will overheat easily, this will also affect the pads.

the basic idea is to get up to about 45 mph and apply the brakes enough to slow you to 25-30mph and then release them. then repeat about 5-10 times. allow enough time in between to let your brakes cool.
once you have done this, get up to a higher speed and slow down again to around 25 mph. do this a few times.

if you are looking for the maximum performance, you should then get up to around 70-80 and do 3 or so "panic stops" using as much braking power as possible. let the brakes cool plenty when you do this.

you should avoid coming to a complete stop during this process if at all possible. you could get a shudder in your new pads if you do, but dont worry if you have to stop, be safe.

of course you arent racing, but towing is very similar to racing. you have a lot of heat going into your brakes. even driving empty with an 8000lb truck is a lot of work

 

Your initial problem was most likely your slide pins hanging up (notorious on factory Ford calipers) probably because their not always treated properly.

Regardless, which ever caliper is replaced these need to be tended to. Use a quality high temp teflon grease. Your new installations can go to crap a season or two later especialy in winter salt areas.

 

thanks guys so i will take it back tomorrow to have them bleed the lines. Like i said the left break cooked the caliper, pads, and cracked rotor so basically killed the left side. So to keep things balanced i have new calipers, pads, etc so you would think all is well. Maybe the bleeding deal will solve the problem. i would think a reputable outfit would know this BUT you never know. Also they were working over last Friday evening to get it done so probably cut corners. I'll post back tomorrow on what they say.

 

Why do your brakes suck? Are they broken? Did your brakes break?

Sorry, couldn't resist.

 

Brakes stop the vehicle.

Breaks are broken things.

Sorry, couldn't resist either...

 

And another thing....why do some typed words give you a green spam link...virus?????

 

The site phrases (looks) for key works such as "breaks", etc in the forum text and then links an ad to them. It's a common thing in many forums.

If you are a supporter you won't have to deal with this and many other ads.