Boys, it's fall and winter will soon be upon us. With the weather cooling down, it's the perfect time to perform any preventative maintenance or anything you've been putting off.

The reason I brought this up is because I learned a hard and somewhat expensive lesson yesterday...

Starting around thursday evening, I noticed that my braking power wasn't quite what it used to be and I started hearing a grinding noise from the right rear tire. Not sure of the carnage, I took it easy on the brakes until Sunday when I would have a chance to check things out...

Sunday: Since I couldn't remember the last time I did the rear brakes, I decided it was high time to do them and pray that I didn't destroy anything....my prayers went unawnswered.

After removing the right rear disc, I found the source of the grinding...the inner pad had worn completely down and had been grinding on the rotor (even as I was driving) and destroyed the back portion of it...

Off to O'Reilly to get some new rotors with a lifetime warranty ($160)...from here it should be a breeze and I'll be done in time to catch some football! Wrong again!

I shove the rotor on and use two lug nuts to keep it in place and hit a fork in the road...the caliper won't go back on! I made sure and compressed both pistons completely and it still won't go on...so I yank the whole thing off and notice something: the caliper slide pins are frozen and aren't moving...

Another trip to O'reilly....

Me: Please lie to me and tell me you have the Rear Caliper Bracket for a 2001 Ford Excursion
Chick: (smiles then says): I'll have to order it unless you want to go to our warehouse downtown and get it...oh tomorrow since it's almost closing.

After doing some research, no auto parts store had the caliper bracket...

Fast forward to today...

I ended up ordering the bracket in and picking it up, but found that they didn't have the brake hardware kit: Duralast/Brake Disc Hardware Kit - Rear (H5929) | Brake Disc Hardware Kit - Rear | 2001 Ford Excursion 4WD 8 Cylinders F 7.3L Turbo Diesel | AutoZone.com or Caliper pins. Another day lost...

I ended up ordering the parts I needed for pickup from an Autozone closer to work, so my truck should be back together after work tomorrow...

The lesson here: This could've easily been avoided if I 1) hadn't put this off and 2)would've inspected the rear brakes and/or done them at the same time that I did the front. The worst part was that it wasn't going to cost my anything but my time and maybe a few cans of brake cleaner....

My advice to you guys: If you know your truck needs something and you've been putting it off, stop putting it off and get it done before it costs you more time, money, or both.

 

Every time I hear stories like yours, I am thankful that I have a brother who is a mechanic at the local Ford dealer and a brother-in-law who works at another Ford dealership. Now if I could just use the shop whenever I wanted.......

 

You got that right, what ever you put off only comes back to bite you three fold, and if your gonna do it, do it right the first time.

 

yep i plan to look mine over when i do my snow tire change over. gives me a chance to look things over every 6 months bascily. since this Ex is new to me i should prolly change the anti-freeze and diffs/tranny also. also pack a emergancy pack to keep in the back.

goodluck with the brakes! next time im sure you wont put it off so long? haha

 

Had the same problem on my '01 EX, but on the front. Was lucky to be able to just clean the corrosion and lubed.

 

I have 7 cars and there is always something one needs. My Ex needs an oil change and fuel filters, the dealer has a couple of parts to install too so I need to get it to them.

 

I had the same thing on my Ex last year.....front and rear! Went to do my fronts and found the slider pins were froze. The drivers side I was able to work loose and clean and lube them. I wasnt so lucky on the pass. side. I ended up breaking off the pin in the bracket, but I was unable to find the caliper bracket, called every parts store in town and they all said I had to buy the whole caliper to get the bracket! Couldnt believe it, but I had no time to waist as we were leaving on vacation in 2 days, so i sucked it up and bought the whole caliper just to get the bracket! The rears were froze too, but those worked loose and I lubed them up. Now I make sure I lube them once a year!

 

My fronts froze on my 05 but I didn't break them off. I heated mine up with a torch worked them loses, cleaned the pins up on a bench grinder with a wire wheel relubed and reinstalled. A little heat goes a long way and saves a hell of a lot of money.

 

Yeah, I used heat also, but that one was too far gone. I replaced my other pins that were foze. Heat worked good on the other ones

 

I didn't have the luxury of heat since I was out of propane and the hardware stores were closed; so I had to man-up and spend the money on the parts needed. Still have the old caliper bracket though, lesson learned...

 

So true! I did the front brakes in the first month I owned my 2000 Ex, and had to replace the brackets because the one pin in each was frozen solid. I decided the rear brakes were lower down on the priority list for a number of reasons, but last week when I found that I had an open morning, decided to yank the wheels off and look at them. Whew! So glad I did. The inner pads on each side were wearing at an angle because...you guessed it...the slide pins weren't moving.

Thankfully I could get them out. They were corroded about half way down the shaft. I was able to buff them up, grease them, and use them over. (I did buy new slide pin boots...figuring the old ones leaked and caused the corrosion.) However, I make it a habit to get under the Ex at least once a month to look

One other thing to remember. When you put on new brake pads & rotors, make sure you take the time for 'bedding your brakes' so you don't end up with a pulsating feel. This article explained the how & why if you're interested.

 

I had some spare time yesterday took my EX to our firehall since it has a big compressor and air guns .Pull all the wheels,inspected all the brakes. Everything looked good,but my sway bar bushings are starting to go. Also need to change fluids in both diff's.

 

Maintenance is always cheaper than repair. Well, not ALWAYS, but often enough to make it true.

I hate when I don't follow my own advice...

 

It is that time indeed. Bummer to hear about your misfortunes.

After a call from BP thanking me for letting them know they weren't the only ones who make mistakes, when I dumped 3 gallons of $50/gal delvac 1 5w-40 oil on the ground through a mishap with the oil plug last spring, I had to replace it with delvac 1 15w-40. Noticable difference, the truck definitely likes the 5w-40 better. So I'm going to dump the 15w-40 after only 5k, and order in some new 5w-40. Also going to do a trans flush and blow the crap out of there, and coolant.

 

Didn't have time last week so here are the post carnage pics...

New Caliper bracket on passenger side
New pads on both sides
New rotors on both sides
New brake hardware on both sides
New boots on both sides
Tons of brake grease...again, each side

The parking brake shoes are nearing their end, so I plan on having brake check do those since I don't want to fool with it as my neighbor would say...

The next big project I definitely have to save some cash for: Singles http://www.dp-tuner.com/ford-powerst...injectors.html