I was sure. I went and got a new caliper and was done in an hour. That's right, I am done.
As a matter of fact, when i went to the other side and changed it out, the pads and rotor were no where near in the horrible condition that the other was. I believe that the caliper had failed and caused the damage to the rotor and the unbalanced wear.
Thanks for everyone's help. I learned a lot from this experience and am confident that I can do the brakes next time with no issues.

thanks,
brian

 

Yes I agree, from that description it sounds like the caliper was frozen in place, keeping too much pressure on the pads.

 

You sound a bit off on the Torx nomenclature...Torx are not rated in mm, they have their own sizing: T-1 to whatever, I'm not sure how big they go. I believe the Torx bolt you are referring to is a T-45.

 

Thanks for posting that link. That is the first time I have ever seen that done that way. Pretty nice setup really. I personally just replace with some cross drilled ones when I do a break job. But thats just me..

I find its best to constantly upgrade everything. Because you know Ford did it as cheep as they could when they build the damn thing.

 

No, what I was actually referring to is a 9mm hex, which is what is on there. I continued to use the term torx because the person I responded to used the term torx. He was already frustrated enough without me jumping over every single tid bit of his terminology. A lesson you appear to have yet to learn!

 

Well I tackeled my rotors and pads on my 2003 Expy. I live in Wisconsin and have had this since fall 2002 when they came out with the '03s and the salts of Wisconsin winters. I changed the oiginal front rotors and pads. The main issue I had was one stuck slide pin so I had to order a set from Ford. For the rotors, I tried the trick of 1/2 ATF and 1/2 acetone. I squirtted it between the studs and around the hub last weekend and let it soak for a week. I used the bolts in the caliper bracket holes trick and after a few turns on each bolt, the rotor popped off. I found there was a thin layer of oil around the hub. This home mixture worked very well! I pulled the caliper bracket with the stuck pin and wrenched it out with a pair of vice grips. With the rotors coming off so easy, this was a relatively simple job. I highly recommend the home brew. One thing, you have to shake it before every use as the two will come out of solution but it worked like a champ.

 

The first one I used a puller and applied some pressure, then I put some heat. This took about 15 min once I got the tools together. The second I only used a puller. After applying a moderate amount of pressure I walked away to get a drink of water and heard a metal pop, the rotor was off, this one took 5 min. I guess one could use a large hammer but I just don't like pounding on my car.

 

harbor freight has them for $20. northern tool for $25. they are cheap.

I've had the piston score the walls of the caliper on the way out. (usually happens when the piston is over extended) new caliper time!