I need to get some brakes. Yesterday I started hearing a grinding sound and today it got LOUD. So tomorrow I am going to get brakes.

Anything special I need to know about these breaks? I've never done them on this truck. I'm debating getting rotors... I'm thinking Orileys for parts, yes?

 

The brakes are pretty straight forward on these trucks. You may want to pick up new slide pins. They can be rusted and they will cause issues if not in good shape. They are pretty affordable and better to have once it is apart if you don't have access to a spare vehicle.

 

I've actually got a set sitting in the garage.

 

Not sure about your truck, but mine was eating a set of brakes about every 6 mths (warped rotors). I had gotten a spare set of rotors from oreillys to have on hand ready to go instead of having to remove them and use another vehicle to get em turned. It was never that the pads were worn or anything other than the rotors were warped. Last time it only took 2 wks for the rotors to warp again, but left alone until it got bad enough that i had to do something. Just last weekend i put on a set of the cryo rotors and hawk pads folks were talking about. Its only been a week, but so far so good.

But the brakes are pretty straight forward, not a difficult job at all. Take wheel off, and then if i recall its a 21mm on the caliper bracket in order to get the rotors off. Then put new rotors on and reattache the caliper bracket. THEN remove the calipers with a 17mm, i think, and put new pads on with the little spring clips. Then reinstall the the calipers. Its much easier this way. You would think that as often as i did this job i did it the hard way for so long.

 

The grinding would pulsate if I was only on the brakes a little, indicating warpage.

Hopefully this wont be too expensive.

 

Heres the "how to" from Bob

Welcome to guzzle's Powerslot/Hawk pads brake Maintenance Web Page

 

If your rotors have never been turned and you don't tow much, you might just save a little money for now by getting them turned before installing the new pads. I've done that once on my truck and have had no issues at all. The thing that is important is that if you install new pads, you really need to either replace the rotors or have them turned to get a new surface so that the new pads will "bed in" correctly... then make sure that you use the appropriate "bed in" procedure so the break pads immediately after install (different brands of pads have slightly different bedding in procedures). Otherwise, you will NOT get all the stopping power available from your system.

 

What he said

JMO but the motorcraft pads are hard to beat in my book & the price is real close to the who knows where they come from at the parts stores.

Mine was doing the pulsating deal when I did mine, it was metal to metal on the inner rear pads so I put new NAPA rotors on

 

So what is "turning" is that just resurfacing?

 

Yep, I always ask them to just take enough off to true them up

 

I have run two sets of Napa pads, and am now on my first set of Hawk Lt's on the front of my truck. I am duely impressed with the Hawks. If you go with Hawk's, you'll have to order them ebcause they are not available locally. My oldest son is also running some EBC Green Stuff pads and is inclined to switch over to the Hawks whenever it's time for a change. O-Reilly's can get the the Green stuff pads, but they're generally special order items for our trucks.

I also now have a pad squeal which has developed and only shows up when I'm in a lot of perpetually slow stop and go traffic. Not sure if it's from the Napa's in the rear or the Hawks up front. I've heard that the Hawks can be a little squeally. I need to pull all four corners, though, because I'm also getting a feeling that I might have a slide pin dragging a little. I always replace my slide pins whenever I do pads, and the calipers were also repalced in the rear with lifetime warranty Napa's last summer. I just don't want to have to end up repalcing another rotor with a dragging pad, so I have to get into it pretty quick to make sure everything's OK.

 

It is called "turning" because the rotors are installed on a lathe which turns (rotates) the rotor and has an adjustable cutting tool which shaves small increments of surface metal from the rotor. The rotors end up being slightly thinner after being turned, and some folks who do a lot of heavy towing never turn the rotors because when they are thinner, they are more likely to warp, and the extra heavy use when towing can easily warp rotors which have been turned once or twice. Like I said, I have not seen that problem using my truck as a daily driver, but I do not tow anything and am also not hard on brakes anyway.

 

On a truck this heavy don't bother with turning the rotors,just replace them,just don't go with the ones from napa,I did and they started to pulsate after about a year,don't go cheap on brakes...

 

...but before you go and buy everything for a brake job,check your hubs,I had a sudden grinding that I was sure was brakes,but it turned out to be the passenger side hub...

 

I like the Motorcraft Super Duty pads. They are designed for extreme duty such as ambulances etc.
Front BRSD756
Rear BRSD757

If your rotors are warped, then replace them. OEM is good but I've also used NAPA's premium brand and they last a long time as well. I never turn my rotors, I just replace the pads and lube the slide pins. My front rotors are the premium NAPA brand and have about 225k on them....never been turned. My rear rotors are OEM still, 290k and never been turned. I measured the thickness of my rotors a few weeks ago and they are finally starting to approach the min thickness so they will be replaced during my next pad change.

Almost everyone that I've talked to that had their rotors turned has experienced warping a short time later. The Ford tech that I spoke to said that Ford does not recommend turning the rotors. If they are warped or grooved then it's usually best just to replace them and not worry about warping down the road. As least this has been my experience so far...

My wife's truck has Power Slot rotors and Hawk pads. They work great and are a nice upgrade over OEM if you have the funds.

BTW...during my last inspection, I noticed my caliper dust seals were heavily torn so I ordered a rebuild kit. I haven't installed it yet but I will post a write up when completed. The part number for the rebuild kit is F81Z2120AA(front x2) and F81Z2120BA (rear x2).