which calipers did you end up going with? There are so many mixed reviews from other threads I'm not sure which one to go with. The only one that seemed to have consistent good reviews were the ssbc? I think that was it, but of course they are like $1,100 . Is it true that you should go with steel pistons for our trucks? Mixed reveiws on that also lol

 

I use lifetime warranty calipers from local autoparts.

If they are sticky/hard to compress or any deterioration of boots/seals, I change them at pad change.

Also using 3yr warranty rotors and will swap them if any sign of warping or heat stress at pad changes.

None of these parts last forever. You can spend more on ‘fancy’ stuff that doesn’t perform any better and has no warranty - or less from some online retailer that makes it difficult to use ‘warranty’.

Ive had my dually since 2003. I paid for calipers all the way around (1) time.

 

I can get motorcraft rotors at a deep discount with a 2-3 year warranty or napa for the same price with a lifetime warranty. Decisions Decisions

 

Ol' Dan there swapped out his entire axle and many other bits and pieces.

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...read-done.html

Yup, the SSBCs are great. That said, I would not pay full price for them and got a NIB set off eBay for about 60% of retail price. They're the only "big brake" kit that fits inside factory wheels too.

 

Further to FTNoobs suggestion on the pistons seizing: my rear brakes have been a pain in the rear. I recently replaced everything back there, including a total flush of fluid. I did a post mortem on the calipers and noticed a small ring of rust in the bore where the piston lives. Since there is no force to pull the pistons back upon release of the pedal, the only thing pushing them back is the rolled up square oring and whatever dynamic establishes itself with the rotating disk. In other words - jack squat. Likely not enough to overcome whatever resistance a ring of rust presents. The end result is that the piston never fully pulls back.

And that ring of rust? I believe that is from water being absorbed in the brake fluid - BF loves it some moisture. The spec for these old dogs is DOT3 fluid. DOT4 has better hydroscopic properties than 3 and doesn't take up as much water. It is an acceptable replacement.

Keeping the same calipers and switching to DOT4 will not reverse the problem, but I am of the belief it will minimize it moving forward - once new components are installed. I guess this would also be a plug for changing out the BF early and often, as I intend to do. I am on my 2nd set of rears in 6 yrs and 25k miles. This includes new hoses also.

 

couldn't find any ssbc on ebay so I guess I'll have to go with the cheapies. Does anyone know if I got the motorcraft calipers , if they have the upgraded slide pins ??

 

Just buy ‘bracketed’ calipers and get new slide pins, boots, etc.

Replace the lube they come with with dielectric grease.

 

Actually that is inaccurate. There is a "spirng" to decompress the calipers. It's a joke of a design. It's that paperclip sized wishbone shaped spring that goes from pad to pad. Replace those with the new ones (or reuse previous if they feel stronger than new one that come with pads) during every pad change

 

The square cut oring is by design meant to act as a spring. Below is a link to a quick read write-up on them in a disc brake app. Sure that wish-bony spring is supposed to help retract the pads, but I haven't experienced them to be effective at all. They certainly don't have the umpha to overcome the resistance caused by minor rusting.

O-Rings

 

im going to be bleeding my brakes soon and would like to use this gravity method on all 4 wheels, was just wondering if i need to pump the brakes while doing it this way or not? Also would i need a helper to fill the resevoir or does the fluid drain out slowly enough to do it by myself?

 

The majority of my brake problems have been with the pins stuck from rust. With that said I have since found this stuff and have not had a problem again.


as for gravity bleeding, it is difficult to gravity bleed the rears, especially rear passenger side. You will likely find you need to bleed them as usual with 2 people. Just my 2 cents man.

 

Thanks ridedan, do you know approximetly how many quarts of dot3 i will need to do a complete flush?

 

Out of memory, I’m pretty sure I used 2 quarts when I replaced all my brake lines and bleed them. It may be worth just getting 3 quarts, and if the third is not needed, you will have it on the shelf for another day. I think there about 8 bucks a quart at NAPA an probably a few bucks less at Walmart- I’ve had no problems with Walmart fluids.

 

Gravity bleed is slow, no helper needed. All 4 corners will bleed this way. Do NOT pump the pedal. You’ll need a helper for conventional 2-man bleeding method.

1 quart is probably adequate to replace all of the fluid if you start by slurping all of the fluid from reservoir.

 

I was always lead to believe the little bit of run out in the rotors is what keeps the pads/pistons pushed away from the rotors.