Hello All,

I've got a '93 F150 XLT. Whenever I brake (both gradually and quickly), the brake pedal pulsates and the steering wheel shakes a bit. From doing some Searches in the forums, I'm guessing I need to replace the rotors and pads and possibly lube the sliding pins. Would people agree with this assessment??

Also, I'm a bit of newbie when it comes to this sort of thing. I'm certainly enjoying the aspects of learning how to maintain and fix issues as the arise, but I'm a little bit intimidated at the idea of replacing my front brakes. I purchased a Chiltons manual...but it seems rather useless in some senses. So, some questions...

1. In general, is this a tough job to pull off?

2. Will I need to remove the hubs? From what I've gathered so far, it doesn't seem like I would have to. Any useful advice/tips for such a job?

3. What would be a good replacement brand?

4. I need a better manual than the Chiltons. Any tips there??

Thank you all in advance for any help you can lend!!

 

It sounds like warp brake rotors if your brake pedal is pulsating.

1) It's not a very tough job, shouldn't take you more than 2-3 hours on a first time job, a bit less had you done it before.

2) You WILL need to remove the hubs in order to get the rotors off, there are nuts inside of the hubs that are holding the rotor and outer wheel bearing onto the spindle. Do you have manual or automatic hubs?

3) Raybestos makes good brake parts. I used Raybestos rotors and Motorcraft pads and I'm pretty happy with the results. I am positive there are other trusted brake parts brands but I have no had personal experience with them so I can't speak of them.

4) Chiltons and Haynes are about as good as you can get if you don't want to spend upwards of $150-200 for a Ford repair manual, which is a relatively exhaustive source for repairs. You might want to invest in a Haynes manual. While neither one of the two is better than the other, they do cover different topics with different details so sometimes what 1 manual leaves out is included in the other. Also, AutoZone's website has a pretty good repair manual section for these trucks, check that out too:

http://www.autozone.com/shopping/repairGuide.htm

 

Being that it pulsates while braking, is a sign of warped rotors. Depending how much metal that needs to be machined off, you may be able to just have them turned (machined). Some auto parts stores have a machine shop to do this. Since you will have the rotors off, you will need to replace the wheel bearing seals and then you will need to inspect bearings and repack the bearings with grease. It is a messy by easy job.

 

Thanks a bunch for the help, guys!! Much appreciated.

I have manual hubs.

 

Yeah I have the same problem on my Grand Marquis and it's due to the fact that if you lock or go extremely hard on your brakes, they'll warp because your holding a rotating part at an excessive speed. I almost hit a Soccer mom on the highway and she slammed on her brakes for a cat (ARRRGH!!!!) I haven't replaced my rotors because they aren't pulling to one side yet. They vibrate but minimally now because I swapped the brake pads out. That also seems to help. I replaced the brakes on my 1996 F-150 which wasn't bad but as far as replacing the rotors, I haven't had a need to do so. If you are replacing brake pads on your truck, it's easy to do it with a 20" and a 14" plumber's wrench, a ratchet set, and some elbow grease. If your truck is metric like mine, you'll need a 13mm socket for the caliper bolts, Imperial, I'm not too quick with that conversion (5/8, 3/4, or 9/16, in there somewhere). put the 20 inch plumber's wrench on the piston with the sliding head on the outside of the caliper, snugging it up. Take the 14" wrench and start tightening the large wrench already on the piston. MAKE SURE YOU TAKE THE BRAKE PADS OFF FIRST!!! Tip: you can use the outer brake pad and plip it around and put it up against the piston so you don't damage the head of said piston. When the piston is fully depressed, go ahaead and take all the tools off and put the pads on and replace the assembly into the original position, tightenm, and go! DON'T TIGHTEN TOO MUCH OR YOU'LL RETHREAD THE HOLE, THEN YOU'LL HAVE TO USE A TAP TO RETHREAD CORRECTLY OR BUY A NEW CV JOINT!!! Good luck with this project but as to the rotor, I was told by a few people that you had to take it to the shop if you have manual hubs. look into it because I haven't!

 

ford service manuals are on ebay at decent prices.

way lower than $150-200.

 

Okay I don't want to hurt anyone's feelings but most of StuckWithFords advice is pretty bad... Hahaha. Let me correct a few things.

First, on a 93 you are not going to have caliper bolts, you will sliding pins instead (which it appears you already know from your original post).

Second, new brake pads alone are not going to fix this problem, don't get confused here; you have warped rotors!

Third, I would not use a plumbers wrench to compress the piston on the caliper, you will not get an even compression and can possibly damage the piston. You can either use a caliper piston compression tool, or a C-clamp works quite well with a little muscle. Put the flat end of the C-clamp flat on the center of the piston and start cranking slowing. You also need to keep an eye on your brake fluid level (and most likely siphon some out) because compressing the cylinder is forcing more fluid back into the reservoir.

Fourth, you do not need to replace your seals as long as they are in good shape and you take care when removing them. I reused mine when I did the job.

Lastly, you do not need to take the truck to the shop to the hubs removed, it is a very simply procedure. You will, however, need one special tool called a spindle nut socket. These can be rented at autozone or purchased for around $15-25. It is a large socket (maybe 1.5" in diameter) with 4 evenly spaced teeth. This is used to remove the spindle nuts which hold the wheel bearings and rotors to the spindle.

 

Thanks a bunch for the replies, fellas. I really appreciate it.

So, I've been reading some manuals trying to get a good idea as to how to replace the rotors and pads. Please correct me if I'm wrong, but am I basically going to do the following?

1. Remove caliper using a C-clamp. Correct placement of C-clamp is key. I thought I read that I shouldn't put the flat end of the clamp directly on the piston itself. However, Skandocious says otherwise. I'll go with what Skandocious says. Also, when removing the two sliding pins, should I just use a hammer/punch combo and tap them inward?

2. Remove hub using the spindle nut socket. Is there just one spindle nut for each wheel? Which front end do I have ('93 F150 XLT, 5-speed, manual hubs). I'm guessing it's the Dana-44 with manual hubs. When the hub comes off, will the outer wheel bearing come out as well? Any special care needed there?

3. And the pad removal/replacement looks pretty straight-forward.

Sorry for all of the questions. I reckon I'll be a little more well-versed in the terms and parts when I finally get into it this weekend. Thanks again for all of your help, I really appreciate it.

 

When compressing the caliper, use the old brake pad so you can avoid putting the c-clamp directly against the piston of the caliper. You might not wreck anything without this, but you'll have the old pads handy and this step might save you some hassle.
And, like mentioned, check the level of brake fluid in the MC before you compress the pistons back into the calipers. There is a surprising amount of fluid in there. Discard any fluid you siphon out and replace with fresh. If you fluid is anything by clear, you should fluish the whole system.

 

You can use something like a pad between the piston and the c-clamp/compression tool if you want to be careful. I, too, would rather be safe than sorry, but when I did my brakes I put the end of the clamp right on the piston with no problems at all. Thats a minor detail.

2) You're configuration could be different then might, but if it's similar you should have two spindle nuts on each side along with perforated ring between the two. And you have a Dana-44 axle as you thought. And yes, the outer wheel bearing is on the spindle and is the last thing to come out before you remove the rotors (after you remove the spindle nuts). The inner wheel bearing is INSIDE your rotor and you'll need to use a pry tool to gently pry up the seal as evenly as possible (if you plan to reuse it) in order to get the bearing out to repack/replace it.

Good luck buddy.

 

Also do not forget to pump the brakes a couple of times when your done, before you take it out for a test drive. I got my factory service manuals off ebay for about 35 dollars for a whole set.

 

Great! Thanks for the kind words, Skandocious. And thanks to you others out there who gave me some great advice. I'm gonna go check out ebay right now for some service manuals.

I'll let y'all know how it comes out. I'm sure I'll probably have a question or six once I get into it this weekend...

 

Another quick question....sorry guys....

Is the spindle nuts(s) that Skandocious refers to the same as the "adjusting nut" in the diagram below? I'm looking for a second spindle nut, but I'm not seeing it.

THANKS AGAIN FOR YOUR HELP!!

 

The adjusting nut that you see in the diagram is the alternative setup that is usually seen with AUTO hubs. Like I said before, I'm not sure of your exact setup, and there are a few different ones for different hubs. I do believe that MOST manual hubs are going to use spindle nuts though, with the 4 cutouts on the sides. Here's a better exploded picture of the auto hub setup (with the adjusting nut that you see in the diagram above):
http://i170.-----------.com/albums/u269/Skandociouss/Truck%20Stuff/Misc/AutoHubExploded.png

Here is a picture of what you will PROBABLY encounter when you tear yours down:
http://quad4x4.com/images/qk4727.jpg

That is what the aforementioned spindles nuts and perforated center ring look like.

This is what the spindle nut socket is going to look like (roughly):

 

ah ha!! ok, i'm beginning to see how this all works. slowly but surely. skandocious, thanks again for the help!!

when i look at the hub cap assembly, will i see the same 3 screws that are on the automatic hub assembly? i'm trying to recall (i'm at work, truck is at home) if there are screws on the outside of the hub that will have to be removed before i get to the spindle nuts...