I've been told by several people that my truck has the same parts as a '96, so I'll try asking this here.

I'm trying to do front brakes on my truck and am a little confused. My buddy and I started the job and discovered my rotors were in pretty bad shape. We went to NAPA and bought rotors which the NAPA guy said would fit my truck (NAPA part #4886789). Neither of us had done front brakes on a 4x4 before so we got a little intimidated once we got into the hub. Had to stop and will be going back in to finish the job soon.

My friend believes NAPA has given me the wrong rotors. He believes I have a one piece hub/rotor and the one we have is just the rotor. I have an AllData DIY subscription for this truck and it says I need Ford Part # BRR4 for my rotors. I've only found one picture on the internet by searching this part number and it shows a one piece hub/rotor assembly. After reading some in the 87-96 forum, it seems sometimes a two piece assembly looks like one piece.

Is mine a one piece assembly or two piece?Do I have the right rotors? If it is two piece, can I press the studs through myself, or should I have a machine shop do it? Will I warp the new rotors by doing it myself?

I'd appreciate any advice...even though it's a '97.

 

You're in the right forum, no need to worry about that.

Your truck has a two piece rotor/hub assembly. If you punch the lug studs out from behind, the two will seperate. You can punch them back in, but way more often than not you'll warp the rotor doing it and you'll need to have it turned. You don't need a press to do it, just a good sized hammer and punch. I usually suggest people buy the pre-assembled rotor/hub, it just makes everything 100 times easier.

 

Thanks Andy!

Is BRR4 the correct part number for the pre-assembled rotor/hub assembly? If so, will NAPA carry it? It comes up on their website showing only the rotor (like I have already) in the picture. I'd hate for it to be a "dealer-only" part and I'd rather go the pre-assembled route as you suggest.

Any tricky spots we should watch out for getting to the rotor removal? I've been reading a little on the DIY All Data manual and it seems as if we'll need a special spanner wrench to get one of the nuts off.

I love my truck, because it's the best kind...paid off. Sometimes though, it's a real pain to find the right parts since it's an "old school" 97. It's got 74,000 miles on it now and I know I'll be doing much more fixn' on it in the future. In your opinon, will I always be able to go with 96 parts and have them fit my needs?

Thanks again
Bill...

 

I got a 97 HD 250 4WD "old style" myself, mine was made real late in 97 and wasn't actually put into service until 3/98. I've found that some parts are not what the book says they should be. I had to get something on the front end replaced (can't remember what it was - brakes? ball joints?) and my mechanic said he had to make three trips to the parts store and finally the parts that fit were listed as for a 350 only. So I think they used some leftover parts when they put mine together! It's been a good heavy truck, but not the most reliable one I've had. I've replaced the usual stuff - exhaust, brakes, etc., but also weird stuff I've never had to replace on a truck before like exhaust manifolds, rusted out differnetial cover, the transfer case shifter snapped right off, and so on. Just cracking 100K with mine now...

 

Mine has been pretty sound mechanically, but rust has been an issue for me too. I always thought it was from the chemical de-icer sprayed on the road where I used to live, but now I'm beginning to think differently. Do you have the 460 with 4:10 gears? I do, it'll pass anything except a gas station.

 

No, I've got a 351 with 4:10's - but the gas mileage is still pretty pathetic. But it'll pull over a house and it plows great. You're right about the rust too, when I say I had to replace the exhaust manifolds? It was because they rusted away. I've never seen anything like that in my life. I bought it used with 23K in it and I figured the previous owner must have parked in it the ocean or something. Interesting that you seem to have the same rust issues though.