I brought a off lease 99' f-150 trident 5.7 4x4 originally in Durango Colorado. Had burned thru 2 sets of front pads in less than 5000 miles. Completely rebuilt the rotors new pads etc. lasted 10K miles with lots of down shifting. Now rebuilt with new rotors and ceramic pads that the mechanic recommended. 25K time to redo the brakes again!
Has anyone had this problem with a light duty truck?
Thanks
Bruce

 

One thing to check is if the rear brakes are being used. After driving awhile, stop and carefully touch the rotors, very carefully, they are hot . If you have cold rear brakes you are using only the front ones and could cause the symptoms you mention. I had the same thing happen. The first set of rotors warped at 12000 mi. the second at 18000 mi. and then at 25000 mi. when they were replaced. My problem was my rear drums were not self adjusting themselves and no one found out till about 36000 mi. I assume you have rear discs so I don't know if all this applies to you but
it's worth a try. Good Luck

 

Thats a good thought. I do have rear drum brakes, would that make a difference?
Thanks
Bruce

 

Yes....The fact that I have rear drums was my whole problem. I'll tell you the whole story maby some of this might help ....after 36000mi when I finally took the rear drums off myself just to check them there was a broken self adjusting cable on one side. There was also no wear on the shoes. Since my Ford dealer had been working on it all this time he replaced the broken cable. I thought everything was OK .... but at 50,000 mi. I needed to have the rotors turned again..I started carrying a manuel adjusting wrench with me and I adjusted it myself every once in a while . At 80,000mi , and after another rotor turn I replaced the rotors for the second time. This time I had another van in my garage and when I pulled the drums off it and both of mine...total 4 drums ... 1 of the self adjusting cams attached to the upper end of the cable was in backward. The dealer had put it in wrong. I reinstalled it like the other 3 drums and everything has worked fine with no problems up to 115,000 mi. where I am now.
You may not have this cable problem but the self adjusting mechanism is tempermental , make sure it is working correctly by pulling on the adjusting cable, with the drum off, the ratchet , should click the star wheel one click at a time . If it is dirty it would be wise to take the whole thing apart , clean it, lube the star wheel threads. Another thing...make sure your rubber plug is in place on the inside of the wheel. It's the place you would manually adjust the brakes on the axel side of the wheel. I've fixed brakes when this has been missing and there was a lot of rust and crud in the brakes on the side of the missing plug . I now pull off my drum once a year and check everything. I drive in a lot of salty sand also. Good Luck

 

Thanks John for the help!! I'll check it out.