Well, as the title says I need suggestion on brakes.

2000 F350 CCLB DRW.

When I first purchased the truck it was sitting for 2-3 years and only driven 20-30 miles a year due to previous owners health. Well when I started driving it more the rust ridge in the caliper caused a warped rotor. So I replaced all calipers, pads, and rotors. The rear wheel seal was the worst part because there are two different ones and kept getting the wrong ones from ford.

Since replacing all the brakes, within the first 5k miles the right front seal started to leak. It was warrantied. Then another 3k miles the new one locked up. So I replaced both sides front calipers, pads. Lucky it happened close to home so I didn’t damage the rotors.

Fast forward a year roughly 4k miles the left front locked up… at this point I am sick of the bumper to bumper parts. I replaced with Napa rotors and o-Reilly calipers. Pads looked new yet so I scuffed on a flat block and reused.

I then started my engine build and oil pan reseal and the truck sat for a year and a half while doing so. I have 300 miles on the truck since getting it back together and the rear caliper locked up and cracked the piston. I am assuming this has been dragging for some time because I always check my hubs after hauling or long drives because OF the front issues I have had. It always seemed to be the same temperature so I assumed it was good. These are still the original bumper to bumper calipers, pads and rotors. With about 12.5k miles I have had 3 of the four calipers fail me. When I purchased originally I got the phenolic pistons because that’s what everyone suggested. Done with that..

That being said I now have to pull the rear hubs off, clean and reseal them to put new rotors on.

Where are you guys going for parts, pads, rotors, brakes.
Napa
O’reilly
Autozone
Rockauto
??

I love this truck to death but I am so sick of doing brakes.. just to have them feel like they can hardly stop my truck empty.

 

I'm not brand loyal. But you've had a bad run for sure.

 

Note for those brakes the biggest way to save is clean and lubricate them annually so the calipers don't stick on you and cook the brakes early.

 

If I'm buying locally, I prefer O'Reilly. No NAPAs near me or in a good location to get to.

If I've got time to wait, I'm going with RockAuto to save where I can. The down side to RA is that returns are more difficult if you get a bum part. No idea how lifetime warrant stuff works with them, where with local you can carry it back into the store.

Either way, the components used are more important than the palce bought. I will not run the house brand brake component from any of them if I can help it. For me Wagner ThermoQuiet pads are bare minimum for acceptabily. Rotors and drums I'm a little more leanient on, but still want to select a recognized national brand if possible. Same for calipers and other components, new over reman.

If I got into a position where I needed to replace the calipers on my F-250, it would most likely be in conjunction with a full brake job. Since I'd be replacing rotors, calipers, and pads, I'd be very tempted to look into an aftermarket BBK, IIRC Wilwood makes one.

 

Wagner is part of the white box program. So you can find them for an exceptional deal. May be under a different name. But peel the sticker. WAGNER. Just fine to buy cheap. Just make sure it's a solid supplier.

 

My F550 made it 90k on the original brakes. I couldn't think of any good reason to go with anything other than Motorcraft.

 

I went with NAPA years back based on an FTE member’s recommendation.

Lifetime warranty, no questions asked, when I purchased them.

Last year an idiot pulled out in front of me at 55mph on a 7% grade with 8500lbs on the back. I literally stood on the brake pedal to avoid a wreck. Warped the front rotors.

Took them back for replacement and walked out with a new set. Not sure on their warranty program in the US but between the original purchase and replacement NAPA has discontinued the lifetime warranty. At least here in Canada.

 

Yes. The Motorcraft Superduty (aka severe duty) pads have done quite well for me.

 

I used to buy parts from RockAuto all the time...spent thousands over the years. I bought a plastic part that was broken 'in box' ....not from shipping, but broken 'in box', and I was never able to get anyone to answer my calls or emails. I had to fill out a stupid form and it automatically responded with "shippers fault, contact them". The box was pristine. Needless to say, I disputed it with my credit card company...now RA wont allow me to purchase from them anymore. LOL They chose not to refund me or warranty a $30 part....and have lost thousands on future sales on parts out of spite I guess. I have also found that RA is not always the cheapest in price anymore....for Motorcraft stuff anyway. I still use them for part number research.

+1 for Motorcraft brakes...but I like PowerStop too

 

I ended up finding out you can’t get steel piston rear calipers. The early 99 you can but nobody locally even shows it as an option for the left and the right.

Went with Napa’s elite one calipers and fleet service pads. They didn’t have the rotors so I went with o’reillys. $575 in brakes later I figured I might as well buy the warn premium front hubs while the truck is down.

I hope the Napa calipers hold up as nice as they look. Much more appealing then the O’reilly calipers I looked at.

The Napa has a nice thick coating on all the parts
the oreilly could scratch easily.

The piston in the Napa was a nice steel looking piston (almost like it was pressed over the piston and seal) vs the oreilly having a clip to cover the piston.

In regards to the pads, the last time I did the fronts I called about motorcraft parts and the calipers were “out of stock indefinitely” and the pads were twice the price and were back ordered several days/weeks. Little time crunch this time so these will have to do. Honestly haven’t looked at them again.

 

Only thing I can add on brake pads is that some mfg's rely on glue only, and some use both glue and mechanical adhesion. The oem's spec to have both mechanical and glue. And it's hard to know which will be what.

 

Did you replace caliper hoses and MC?
Did you gap the MC with a tool?

If you did not then brakes can drag and make your calipers fail fast.

 

I had an intermittent brake failure (front left seized) that would only present itself when I was towing the camper and in stop and go traffic. We were 4+ hours from home when I finally figured out the conditions the brake would fail and as we pulled into the campground I took an IR temperature reading of 806° on the rotor. Luckily we were visiting my brother in TN and I was able to replace enough parts to get it back on the road and traveling safely until I could completely rework the brakes. I went with the following.
.

• New Motorcraft lines from Rock Auto
• New phenolic calipers from AutoZone
• New pads by HAWK SD
• New rotors by StopTech
• Fluid flush for all 4 corners

Brakes have performed great since then at a GCVW of 18,000 - 20,000 lbs depending on how much crap we are toting around the country. Last January we were traveling in and through FL seeing different places that are on our bucket list and we were headed east to west just north of Orlando. Traffic came to a very abrupt stop and I had an "off the seat with both feet on the pedals (clutch and brake) while trying to not turn the truck in front of me into a can of sardines. The brakes and steering did well as I maintained control of the truck and trailer while veering to the right onto the shoulder in order to keep everyone and everything safe.

Many people really like the EBC YellowStuff pads, but I found them too aggressive in another vehicle application. I ended up removing them and installing Bosch Quiet Cast brakes on that vehicle and have been pleased with their performance.

 

What do we think about wagner oex pads?

 

MC is still original.

Hoses were replace with all stainless steel braided lines.

I honestly attribute the bad calipers to be from Bumper to Bumper. I had an issue on my every day vehicle with their calipers and switch to Napa and haven’t had an issue.