Last weekend we had temps in the 50's. Very unusual for New Hampshire but I wanted to take advantage of the mild temps to remove and replace my pads and rotors.

I bought OE replacement parts since the current ones have worked well for me.

In starting this thread i wanted to include some photos and specific tools for the job. I found torque specs and some other random information, but I did not find anything specific for my year truck in the North East.

The North East part of this is important because of salt and sand used on the roads during winter which can cause issues with bolts. Particularly, making them difficult to get off as well as the rotors!

Anyway the project stopped as fast as it started. I realized that I did not have a torque wrench in the range needed to re-torque the Front and Rear Caliper Anchor bolts.

Additionally it is preferable, at least to me, to jack the axle and place a jack stand under the vehicle. BUT the jacking point on the passenger side front does not allow for using a bottle jack and slipping a jack stand into the area recommended for jacking that side of the truck.

So if one of you experienced people have some pointers on getting Jack stands in i would appreciate it. I do not have a floor jack (any more) some one decided they needed it more than I did! I think it was family...not sure anyway, any help is appreciated!

Eric

 

Not sure how long it has been since you did the brakes, or if there are any symptoms prior to this other than just getting the meat back on the calipers, but a good penetrating spray is in going to be needed like PB Blaster , and once you get the caliper off, ensure your slides come out without any force, they should "slide" freely, if not you will need to use a torch to get them out, not fun, so to prevent this, make sure you remove your slides and clean and grease them accordingly. This is especially important because of the salts on the roads tends to sieze them up,When I did my brakes it was easier than on any vehicle I have ever done brakes on, and mine is a dually, just something about the heavy and large pieces makes the job easier. Good luck!

 

Yes to penetrating oil. Jackup and put on stands for all four corners leaving jack and stand on that left front near the pumpkin. Yes, you can get both in there it's tight. Remember this is a heavy truck so if your jack stands are not rated 2500 lb plus on the front you could have problem. Backs if empty 1000 would be fine. If just doing front remember to block the rears and have e brake on as well.

 

Good tips there! I have penetrating oil, That is on the list. The jack stands I have are 2.5 ton each (2 of them), so I am good there. Will be looking for a Torque Wrench from a friend in the range I need. 166 FT/LBS! Whew!

I have 1/2" drive handles but only a few select 1/2" drive sockets. I am going to buy at least a basic set, I will end up with duplicates but I am not worried about that. I happen to have $85 in Sears gift cards burning a hole in my pocket! May need to visit Sears.com for a nice set to accomodate my needs! (Break my heart!).

As I may have eluded to, this is the first time doing brakes on a truck this size. Not worried about doing it, just having everything that is needed prior to cracking the first bolt! (Kinda what I needed to do on the first go around! )

Once everything is ready to go, I will do the pictures etc to help the next person getting into this for the first time! I know it will help someone! I have gotten quite a bit of help from others that have done the same for different projects.

Eric

 

You won't have that hard a time. Bleeding is the biggest pain, make sure you have a buddy to do the bleeding, start with wheel furthest away and work to drivers and be sure tou have pressure before opening to bleed off each brake cylinder. I use a hose from the nipple into a jar. The other thing I like to do is syphon off as much of the old fluid before starting to bleed and replace with new, trying not to disturb the old stuff, using the syphon to suck up as much of the old as possible before starting bleed procedures. With our clear master cylinder reservoir, is goes pretty slick.

Good advice on here to make sure caliper pins are clean and well lubes, also make sure you have new rubber boots for them all while you are in there. This prevents them rusting and locking up. Once a pin seizes, it usuually ruins that rotor from heat buildup.

 

If he is just doing the brake pads and rotors he shouldn't need to bleed the brakes, make sure you use a wire hanger to support the caliper once off, don't let it hang by the line,but I almost forgot, you will need a good size c-clamp to push the piston back in, I don't recall I don't think theses trucks utilize the screw in type pistons that require the special tool to push them back into their bore, but once you get to that part open brake reservoir cap, then only push the piston in just enough to get it back on, a lot of times the piston has been out of its bore so long that when you push it back it it will seize up and the brakes will "stick" on. If this happens you will need to overhaul them or buy new ones. I had my truck slip off those 2.5 stands cause I was stupid and put it under the part of the frame in the front where it curves , be very careful on your placement it destroyed my stand when it came down and I was extremely lucky not to under it when it did, so pay very close attention to this placement, your life depends on it

 

Usually not much of a brand "snob" on something as mundane as penetrating oil but THIS VERY JOB sold me on PB Blaster and now I won't use anything else.... I literally watched the rust run off of the rotors in liquid form and this was my last resort (they were rusted on ) before I started drilling.

Let em soak a minute ..... Give em a tap with your BFH and they came right off !!!! I had been beating them like crazy for 2 hours previous.

If you wanna wrench on this truck buy a 1/2 " set and get another floor jack... You'll need it

 

it is amazing stuff, once i discovered it i have never had a bolt or part that would not come loose, when I did my oil cooler and had to remove exhaust parts on my truck i sprayed it with pb blaster they came off with ease, as well as the up-pipe bolts and we all know how stubborn those can be.

 

I just did pads this last weekend, and flushed the brake lines with new fluid.

Be careful with the torque specs. Make sure you are looking at specs for an '05 - '07. The brakes for an '04 and earlier are quite different.

Nothing special needed to push the caliper pistons back. Just a c-clamp. It is a dual piston caliper, so use something like an old pad to span them and push them both together. Watch the master cylinder resevoir, because you can push enough fluid back to overfill the resevoir. To prevent that, I only did one caliper at a time. You can also use a turkey baster to suck some old fluid out.

Put your jack stands under the axle, not the frame! For a driveway job, only do one axle at a time. Chock the tires on the other axle. If you lift both axles on stands at once, how will you keep the truck stable? Be safe!

If your old pad springs are really badly rusted, you might have trouble figuring out how to mount the retainer springs and the wear indicator springs. I shot a few pics of mine. I hope you don't mind if I share them here. We don't have enough documentation around FTE for the newer brake assemblies.

 

I usually place the jack right under the middle of the axle and then put the jack stand as close to the wheel as I can. That is where the owner's manual states to jack up the vehicle, but if you jack it there then obviously you can't place the stand there.

 

On the front axle, I put my floor jack under the radius arm bracket, and the jack stand as far outward as possible. On the rear axle, I put my floor jack under the shock mount bracket, and the floor jack as far outward as possible.

I just bought a second floor jack. Harbor Freight had their 3 ton full size on sale for $79 and I had a 20% off coupon. It is quite adequate.

 

And boy I am glad i had some one do it. What a nightmare I would have had on my hands.

My driverside rear caliper was sticking. the passenger side rear was frozen, siezed, toast (pins). Front rotors and pads weren't in bad shape and had life in them.

I had already known that the passenger side rear, according to a garage I had my yearly inspection done at, said I was going to need a couple of rotors, pads, for the rear.

I made the decision to do all four and base line the brakes. Not being able to get my hands on a torque wrench to borrow capable of 166 ft/lbs turned out to be a good thing. I would have not been a pleasant person to be around should I have run into the problems this mechanic did.

He held the parts for me and showed me what was wrong with them. I had no idea from the way the truck was braking that I had these issues at this level. essentially the front was doing the work.

Anyway, new rotors, all the way around, new pads all the way around, and I had the calipers replaced on the rear. Good to go!

Eric

 

Brake fluid is one of the MOST neglected fluids on a vehicle. Due to it's hydrophilic (water loving) nature, reduced braking performance can be improved simply by changing the brake fluid. Brake fluid absorbs water as it ages and under severe braking can boil causing reduced pressure at the cylinders and increased stopping distances. I change mine at least once between pad changes.

 

just flushed my brakes by myself and I'm 100% happy with results, my original fluid was black it looked like coca cola