Hello,
First post. I have an 01 Ranger 4x4 with 113,000 and have had it for around 2 years. After I bought it I noticed a grinding sound that appeared to come from the front wheels during braking. On my old 97 Ranger I noticed the same sound and had to replace both rotors because the pads had worn to the rivets! So I pulled the front wheels and found I had about 1/2 inch of pad left and the rotors were shiny on both sides. I recently checked them again and a little less pad but the rotors are still shiny. The pads haven't worn far enough to get to the squealer bars yet.
The sound is like the metal on metal sound some have described during all phases of driving but this only occurs intermittently while braking. It doesn't matter if its light braking or heavy it sounds the same when it does it. I do think I may have a warped rotor on at least one side as the truck shakes some when I apply the brakes, especially at higher speed. I have not checked my front bearings visually but there doesn't appear to be much play if any doing a wheel shake test. Any ideas as to what it could be and could it be related to a warped rotor?

 

There's only a couple things it could be. I'd start by replacing the old rotors, and get some quality ceramic pads. Then, since you're almost there, see what the bearings actually look like.
One thing that has happened to me in the past, is getting a small stone wedged between the rotor and dust shield, makes quite the noise. I don't think that's your problem, just threw that in there for future reference. Geez, I hate that phrase, future reference. Sounds pretty smart azz, eh?

 

Oh I bet that does make quite the noise!!
OK great, that's the route I was thinking to go anyway, just wanted to make sure I wasn't missing anything obvious.

I forgot to mention I notice it more when the weather is rainy or really humid. I had the thought that the rotors may be flash rusting and the sound I was hearing was the rust being ground away. But it'll do it when its been dry or after I've been driving a while so the rust (if any was present to start with) should've ground away already.

 

Check the caliper glides to make sure one isn't binding causing caliper to not fully release. Clean them and lubricate with ford spec grease. Depending on how old the rotors are you could potentially have them turned at a machine shop and reinstall with new pads.

 

I've had similar issues with some metallic brake pads in the past. What johnday suggested about running ceramic pads is a good idea - I'm running ceramic pads on my Ranger and they not only work very well, but they are quiet.

 

Thanks Terry. I used Wagner ThermoQuiet pads, when the cheap chineese junk,[pun intended], went south on me with very low mileage.
A plus with ceramics, is that brake dust is very minimal compared to standard pads. Nice if you have custom wheels.

 

Ford will do a premium brake job that's good for the life of your truck.

Never pay for a brake job again. And it's Ford, enough said.

 

Does Ford provide a lifetime warranty with their brake service? Considering how long I keep a vehicle that wouldn't be a bad deal at all.

 

Most "lifetime brake guarantees" are nothing more than a promise to replace worn pads/shoes. That's it. Everything else, including rotors, drums, E-brake hardware, etc. and any associated labor, is charged to the customer. I'm not sure if Ford's current policy is any different...?

 

sounds like wheel bearings....

 

I'm betting wheel bearings too. That was my problem.

Hopefully by now you got it figured out

 

In my experience, most "lifetime brake guarantees" are due to the extremely hard brake pads used. Then you need to stand on the brakes to get any power.