Hi guys

I have a 2005 f150 that recently started to drag on the front rigt. It shakes when going over 40 and if you go slow and open the window you can hear an intermittent noise as the wheel turns, you can even feel it trying to stop the truck. The rotor was scored and i found a lot of brake dust on the wheel

I went ahead and replaced the caliper, pads and rotor, was going to change the brake hose but there wasn't any available on my advance auto store so i skip it. after i finished the job i took the truck for a test drive and found the exact same behavior, it even scored my new rotor!!!

So at this point I was sure that the problem had to be the brake hose so i ordered one online, it came on the mail today and i replaced it, however after this I'm still seeing the same behavior.

At this point I'm out of ideas on what could be causing this. Do you think that there is another component up the brake line that would be making only the front passenger side to have issues?

 

Just as additional info, today i went under the truck and found out that the front left rotor is also scored! But just on the inside so i didn't noticed before.

So the problem seems to be more pronounced on the right but also present at a lesser extent on the left. Based on this seems to me that the problem is something common to both sides and i cannot think on anything besides a bad master cylinder...

Any other ideas before i go and replace the master cylinder?

 

Could also be the ABS unit is holding pressure, or the caliper slides are too tight and the caliper doesn't slide easily.

 

Ditto. If the caliper slides are hanging up, most of the braking will be done by the “inside” pad.

Also (is this 4x4 or 4x2?) double check the wheel bearings. If they are too loose it will allow the rotor to tilt a few degrees and will wear one end of the pad more than the other end.

 

Also make sure you don't have the inboard and outboard pads reversed. Not that I ever did such a thing.....
As per the above post, check the wheel bearings.

 

Slides are new and were replaced along with the new caliper, pads were also replaced and installed correctly.

Today i installed a new master cylinder and just for the sake of ruling out anything else i also replaced the left caliper and hydraulic hose.

Anyway the behavior is the same, still have the brakes dragging. At this point i have replaced most of the system. I guess the only thing i have pending is the ABS hydraulic unit which is almost 1,000 new and around 90 for a used one on ebay.

I guess im going for the used one and give it a shot, i dont see any other options...

 

When the brake drags, can you jack it up and rotate the wheel, or is it locked up tight?

If locked up, crack open the bleeder valve to relieve any hydraulic pressure. If that frees up the brake, the caliper is not the issue and the hydraulics are the problem. If cracking the bleeder valve does not free it up, the issue is prolly in the caliper.

 

How absolutely certain are you that the pads aren't backwards? You've thrown a LOT of parts at it, to no avail.

 

If i jack it up i still can rotate them by hand but with force. Its weird because they are not completely holding the wheel, just enough to let it rotate with some drag, enough to cause vibration at speed, score the rotor and drag the truck from speed but not enough to produce excesiva stopping or smoke as i have seen in other cases of brake drag

 

You mean backwards like the part of the pad that goes against the rotor being facing the caliper? or backwards like the pad on the back of the caliper installed on the front and viceversa?

I looked at the pads and all of them seem the same, meaning that i couldn't tell if one is specifically designed to be installed on the back of the caliper and other in the front....

 

Yes, there is an inboard vs. outboard pad. The difference is subtle but if you get them reversed, one of them (outboard I think) will bind on the rotor at the top and cause considerable drag.

 

So, when you cracked the bleeder valve did the drag go away?

 

I have been looking to buy a 2012 3.5l ecoboost, and it seems to be having the same issue. It has been to the Ford dealer 3 times in the last 8 months for front brake issues. The owner took it back to Ford after I was test driving it and the right front brakes started smoking. They just replaced (on both front left and right) the rotors, brakes, calipers and brake lines inside the wheel well (not all the way back to abs) with OEM parts. I took it to a mechanic. On the lift, the tire was able to be rotated with force, but stopped after about 1/4-1/2 turn after I let them go. Mechanic bled the brake line some, and the tire free spun. Brakes were pressed 3 times, and the tire is back to only spinning 1/4-1/2 turn after released. Any idea if this normal not to free spin. Ford said they are working as they should, but this is the 3rd time they have said it. After the 2nd time, the brakes were billowing smoke. It seems to me there is still an issue with the hydraulic pressure in the brake lines.

 

Did you ever figure this issue out? Was it the ABS?

 

My guess ... was a hose.

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