I've owned Ford trucks and fast bikes since Christ was a cucumber.
we're talking classic Ford trucks here... Not what passes for trucks nowadays.
I can still get big heavy duty steel parts for my 69 3/4 for peanuts at AutoZone and many other places. Thus the charm. A do it yourself utilitarian vehicle that can do the business of being a truck.
I put new pads on my 89 4wd short bed a few years and maybe 20k ago. I recorded a vid for my helpless friends at the time showing how a brake job takes 6 minutes.
I screwed up. I was clueless that my calipers were phenolic.
I popped the pads in like nothing, not even looking at the pistons. No biggy. Done plenty of times on older trucks no problem.
I did notice a couple of of moments when my son and I went romping up the -7 degree snowy mountain switch-backs-ba Jan 2nd for ski day. I live in Phoenix.
Yesterday morning on the way home from night shift I enjoyed total brake failure in rush hour traffic.
Holy moly! Luckily the roads were wet enough that I was able to find a hole, enter an empty parking lot, and side slide to a stop. I might have tumbled on dry pavement. Called for a tow and had it dropped at the house. Apparently the phenolic aged poorly and a couple of freeze cycles was a bit much for something that doesn't belong in my idea of a FORD TRUCK. Flat out dilapidated pistons. Spit pads on driver side. Smashed, cracked, and shattered piston on one side... Both sides looked like they had been in a fire for a thousand years.
Steel may rust, but at least I understand that.