The truck is a 1996 f250 4wd with a dana 50 front.
so a couple weeks ago, on way home from work the front right brake just started grinding, and i mean bad. So parked the truck til weekend, so i could pull apart. I pulled tire off and noticed the outer pad was down to rivets. Looked at the rotor and noticed it had a crack in it, right across the face of the rotor.
so i had already ordered a couple months prior to this a set of rotors and pads from powerstop. Got everything new on the truck, but noticed that the rotors seemed hard to turn by hand. Like the caliper was grabbing the rotor without the brakes being applied. I bought a bunch of brake fluid and changed out all the old fluid to new, just to see if that might help but it didnt. The truck doesnt pull to either side, but does make a slight brake noise when applying the brakes, the same sound that tells you your brakes might be needing changing. Lol... and yes i used the silicone on the metal surfaces when i did the brake job. Called powerstop, they said there brakes dont make noise, and thats basically all they said to me... so could this just be a that BOTH calipers are sticking? Or might something else be causing this? Thanks for any help...

 

Could be calipers pistons are crusty enough that once pushed all the way in for new pads they are hanging up. Could also be the rubber lines have deteriorated and have a "flapper" inside holding brake pressure?

If the rubber lines look old, I'd just replace both calipers and lines. Might as well.

 

Soft Lines do deteriorate from the inside and can give those symptoms. Second on changing the lines.

 

Lines to the calipers look great. Not brittle at all, no corrosion, no twists... just wierd to me, that both calipers would do same thing. My buddy whos a parts manager at Ford, asked a mechanic there aboit the rotor, and he said that it sounds like the rotor cracked because of way to much heat. Which would make sense i guess. I guess the linrs could be bad from inside out, but with 122000 miles on truck, i just wouldnt expect that. But anything is possible

 

Another possibility is the way the flex hose is oriented. It's possible, after removing the caliper and upon reinstalling it, to "flip" it in such a way that the hose is looped the wrong way. This can cause a restriction in the line that might keep the piston from backing off.

This is just an example, from an '85, but yours should be similar. Wrong way:


Right way:

 

I've had rubber lines that looked perfect, but were falling apart inside. You just can't tell from the exterior.

I would inspect the caliper piston and see if it moves easily. Might be corrosion holding it, as they are meant to suck back slightly after releasing pressure. If the pads were gone then the pistons were exposed to the elements and then once pushed back into the bore for new pads they are too tight.

Remove caliper and have someone gently press on the brake pedal just enough for you to see if it moves. Then see if it sucks back slightly after releasing pressure. If it doesn't, replace it.

 

Thanks for input guys, i just ordered a set of calipers from ford, will do lines and calipers to just be sure...