Hey guys.

Well, today I put my tags on the back of my truck and went for a spin. Man, did it run great for a 25 year old straight six.

Even when I tested her out at 75 mph, she ran beautifully.


However, when I went to go and load up my lawnmower, gas can, and weed eaters, driving down the road, my truck started to shake violently.

It took forever to get up to speed, and she was shaking like crazy.

Note: I've got a C4 transmission. Not the normal, truck C6.

EDIT:

And it's not the transmission I found out.


I was driving down the road, and I started smelling something (Later found out is was my brakes burning)

I stopped on the side of the road, and my front brakes were locked up. (I don't know if it was both, but the front was locked up)

After sitting for about an hour, I tried to drive again, and I drove off like nothing happened.


Getting home, I took off my front tires and noticed that my brake pads were low, but there was still a little bit of pad on it. No metal to metal.

What would make it do that? You know, have them lock up.

My parking brake was off, but, could it have slipped even if the step wasn't on?

 

I thought your vin Decoded out to a C5?

 

What do you mean by the truck shakes? Does it shake when its at idle or when your trying to drive? Are you pulling a trailer?

 

Well, it was first equipped with a C6 transmission.

When it went, someone threw in a junkyard C4.

And it's not the transmission I found out.


I was driving down the road, and I started smelling something (Later found out is was my brakes burning)

I stopped on the side of the road, and my front brakes were locked up. (I don't know if it was both, but the front was locked up)

After sitting for about an hour, I tried to drive again, and I drove off like nothing happened.


Getting home, I took off my front tires and noticed that my brake pads were low, but there was still a little bit of pad on it. No metal to metal.

What would make it do that? You know, have them lock up.

My parking brake was off, but, could it have slipped even if the step wasn't on?

 

Man I certainly wouldn't put the lawnmower or weedeaters back there anymore, lol. Your parking brake goes to the rear brakes, not the front. If the pads are getting low, I would just do a brake job and turn or replace those front rotors. Get everything lubed properly and go from there. This is a safety issue, and needs to be fixed. I've read a lot of your posts, but don't remember any dealing with brakes outside of brake lights, and you went 75MPH?

 

The brakes worked fine the entire time while I had the truck on the road until I loaded it with the stuff...

 

Well, I'm pretty sure that's just a coincidence, a couple hundred pounds in the bed isn't going to make your front brakes stick.

 

I mean, what do I do?

Should I just replace them and hope for the best?

 

throw some new pads on, lube up the pins and go from there.

 

I'd be very wary as to whether the front caliper pistons are stuck.

 

First thing to come to mind is a sticking (or seized) caliper. Did it pull to one side
or the other while driving? After you smelled the burning and stopped, were the
components of one side significantly hotter than those of the other side? Was
there smoke billowing from only one wheel well?

Before you remove the calipers, use a big C clamp or giant Channellocks to try
and compress the inner brake pad (and, thereby, the piston) and see how
things feel. A stuck caliper generally won't allow you to compress the piston
back into the caliper (this action should force fluid back up intothe master
cylinder).

Could also be the pads are sticking in the caliper, I'm betting this problem has
always existed but you didn't discover it until driving at high speed and
thereby heating up the brakes. In any event, take stuff apart and look at it,
report back (pix are very helpful).

Rebuilt calipers are fairly inexpensive and you might have a choice with your
rotors... Replacement rotors from auto parts stores can also be somewhat
inexpensive but they're the el-Cheapo Chinese-made variants that warp
easily. However, just about ALL rotors manufactured these days fit that
description, finding decent rotors can be expensive. My personal suggestion
would be to go to rockauto.com and see if you can get Motorcraft variants,
they may have ones that have been sitting in warehouses for 20 years and
were made in the USA before the foreign-made influx began.

You might also be able to get your existing rotors cut/shaved but they can be
cut only so thin. There's a Big O tire store near me that'll cut 'em for sumthin'
like $10-$15 each.

That's assuming yours aren't warped by now and are still usable.

 

Yes, it was pulling to one side or the other while driving. Yes, one side was hotter than the other.

As for smoke? I didn't see any.


I was trying to get it off of the road before it completely stopped...

Wasn't really worrying about looking for smoke...

More like cars on a highway coming towards me..

 

I'm going to the auto part store tomorrow morning and getting new brake pads. I'll put them on and see what happens.

If you have any other suggestions that I can do that will make my truck drivable by noon tomorrow, please tell me!

 

Probably a good idea to get new pads. I feel you don't need to buy rotors unless they are warped or rusted bad, which means they are probably fine. It does sound like a stuck caliper, which happens when something sits. As mentioned before compressing the piston sometimes knocks it loose and might be good after that. I believe it should have pins that hold the caliper on in which case it is a good idea to derust them and put anti-seize on them.

Also if you heated up your brakes I would think now would be a good time to regrease your front bearings and make sure they are not scored or burned. repacking bearings never hurts anything, unless you pack them with mud

I just did the front brakes on a guys truck and it me just over an hour to redo everything and repack the inner and outer bearings.

 

My '85 E150 had plastic pistons in the stock calipers. One stuck, along with a spun wheel bearing to give the near lockup condition on the RF. You could have baked bread next to that wheel.

Research as per prior posts, and replace the calipers if need be.