Has anyone put together a good 'how to' on pad/rotor replacement? I believe I'm just about due.

RP

 

I haven't seen anyone post anything specific to doing a "good" brake job. I have a basic list of steps that I use when doing fronts both on my own vehicles and when doing it for a living.
( removing front wheels and having the truck well supported is a no brainer) these steps assume that you will turn the front rotors.

1) remove caliper mounting bolts ( larger bolts holding whole assy to front hub) they are lock tighted into place and will take considerable force to loosen. use an old wire hanger to hang the calipers from ( do not let them hang from the brake hoses!!!!)

2)remove dust cap from hub( there is a tool for this but you can also work them off with channel locks or a screw driver)

3) remove cotter key( straighten and retain unless you have a replacement) remove nut cap and spindle nut.

4) remove outer bearing and washer.

5) replace spindle nut about 3-4 turns, bring rotor forward with a quick pull, catching rear bearing on nut and pulling it and grease seal out of the back of the rotor.

6) turn rotor

7) clean bearings and repack w/ bearing grease

8) replace rear bearing into rotor and put grease seal into place. you can tap it back into place carefully w/ approprate tool or use something flat, larger than the seal diameter, lay it over the seal and hit it in the middle.

9) put rotor back onto spindle( don't forget to remove the spind;e nut first) insert the outer bearing into the rotor and put the washer over it

10) replace the spindle nut and tighten finger tight. use channel lock pliers and while spinning the rotor slightly tighten and then loosen the nut several times. you want to have the rotor spin free but have no end play. The spindle nut is not tourqued on tight but fits snug.

11) replace retainer washer( looks like a crown) making sure that the grove in the washer lines up with the hole in the spindle.

12) replace the cotter pin and bend to lock in place. put dust cap back on with a light tap ( the cap will dent if you hit it too hard so use light taps and work it slowly)

13) replace the caliper with bolts ( use locktite

14) remove caliper slide bolts and remove caliper. ( don't let them hang from hoses!!)

15) compress caliper piston with large c clamp or very large channel lock pliers ( do not open bleeder!!)

16) remove sliders from the caliper bridge , clean them with a rag and relubricate them with high temp grease( bearing grease will work) you don't need too much. check rubber for tears and replace sliders.

17) lube the points inside the bridge where the pads rest with just a little grease( the end of the pads where they go into the clips in the bridge) Don't get grease on pads( or rotors) just the smallest dab is all it takes

18) I always use a light smear of orange anti squeek compound ( optional )

19) Put pads into bridge. replace caliper ( make sure that the hose is not twisted around the wrong way) reinstall bolts( these are dry)

after you do both sides and before you start the truck step on the brake pedal several times until you get the pedal back. start the truck and step on it a couple of times more before you put it in gear. If you don't turn the rotors you can skip down to step #14 ( I put 220,000 on my '99 and never turned rotors.... mostly highway miles but I still put 4 sets of fronts on it) hope this is the info you were looking for. most manuals can tell you the basics but lubing the sliders and the pad mounting points will give you superior results with a better chance of not having noisey brakes and more even pad wear.

Have fun!!!!!

These steps are for a 2WD. 4WD has slide off rotors. Unless you have been topping off your brake fluid you do not need to remove fluid.

 

Brakes are pretty easy to do on our trucks. I bought a Hanes manual expecting some funny little trick that had to be done, but their isn't any.
Basically,
1) remove most of the brake fluid from the brake fluid reservoir

2) take the bolts off that hold the caliper on

3) Pop the pads off of the caliper

4) use a C clamp to compress the caliper pistons

5) clip new pads to caliper

6) bolt the caliper back on

7) fill reservoir to 'full' mark

8) put reservoir cap back on and pump brake pedal

9) check reservoir level again and fill if necesary

10) make several low speed stops to 'break in' the new brakes

11) road test at high speed on a curvacous road

Obviously I skipped the part about jacking vehicle up (USE SAFETY STANDS WHILE WORKING ON THE VEHICLE) and removing wheels and putting the wheels back on, turning rotors if necesary, etc...

The rotors slide unto the hub with holes for the lugs to come through them. My front rotors were acting like little b!tches and didn't want to come off. After several useless smacks with a rubber mallet, I got out the old rock hammer (4lb Eastwing mini-sledge) and they came right off

 

O.K. we are missing some real important stuff here.

Only do one side at a time. if you take both calipers off and then compress one of them the other will shoot its pistons out!

never ever compress these twin piston calipers OFF the rotor. instead while everything is still attached put a big c-clamp on the caliper while it still sits on the rotor and compress it SLOWLY. this way the pads and rotor will ensure a very even compression. and yes the caliper will compress fully

now take the caliper off and hang as noted above.

if you have a 4x4 and have never had the rotors removed it might be hard to get them off. use only a ball pien (sp?) hammer or a dead blow hammer and ONLY hit the rotor TOWARDS the truck!! I cannot stress this enough. if you hit it from the back (even once) it will scew and never come off. do a search here and you will see how many people have had to cut them off and every one of them stated they first hit it with a hammer from behind!! it doesn't work!!

once off carefully clean/sand the mounting surface as the slightest amount of rust can again scew the rotors. then coat very liberally with anti-seize.

if you turn the rotors make sure the are very very clean before putting them back on because if there are any metal shavings left over they can ruin the pads AND get stuck on the magnetic ABS pick up on the hub. in addition if you have them turned make sure the shop finishes them with an non-directional finish if they do not know what that means take them somewhere else.

if you want to buy new ones I highly reccomend the $44.00 brembo OEM replacements from www.tirerack.com

if you have 4 wheel abs you should have your brake fluid flushed every two years.

the rest of the advice stated above is very good.

 

Thanks guys. I really appreciate it...

This will be my first brake job on my truck but, I've got a buddy that has done multiple brake jobs on F-150s and he's going to come over and give me a hand.

I appreciate all the suggestions and all of the help!!!!


RP

 

I took the caliper off the rotor, but I left the pad on, and used a C-clamp. One side against the back of the rotor, and the other against the pad.

Uh, wow - I missed this recomendation when I did my brakes. I must've got lucky. I tapped them outwards w/ the Eastwing. Maybe that was the difference - tapped them to break the rust loose, not beat the ***** out of them trying to knock them off.

I put new Powerslot rotors on the front, and hawk performance pads all the way around. She does not experience brake fade like she use to, but I belive their is more brake dust than from the original ceramic pads. If I had to do it again, I probably would have got the Hawk HD pads. I went w/ the HP instead of the HD because I saw several places say the HP gave off little brake dust.

 

Hey 36fan, how long have you had the Powerslots on and where did you get the best price. My original rotors have been warped for the last 25K miles due to frequent mountain road travel, is my guess. Anyway, they are still within inspection limits but I've had enough of the violent pumping action. I really can't complain much about the OEM pads since there really isn't much dust and the past posts of others.
Later.
Chiz

 

I put them on around the beginning of July - I'll have to go back and look where I got them from. I searched the net and ordered where I found the best price. I know I go the pads from tirerack.com, but I found a better price on the rotors (and S&H was free).
I spent the extra money on the Powerslots because I got tired of the warped rotors, and I hope the rotors being slotted will help prevent warping in the future. If you don't want to spend that much, Powerslots are just Brembos that have been slotted.

 

I got my PowerSlot rotors from 'All OEM Parts, Inc.'
The pair cost $184.10 - for my 2000 F150XLT 4x4 ORP and I've had them on since the middle of June.

their website is: www.aftermarketperformanceparts.com.

 

I don't agree with the do not open bleeder statement. If you don't open the bleeder, or at least bleed the brakes, you will push very dirty brake fluid into you ABS pump (if equiped) and actuator (not good, very expensive parts). Most of my wrench friends recommend opening the bleeder. I do all my cars this way and have never had a problem.

 

Wonder where all that dirty fluid came from in your system. If you open the bleeder and then do not bleed the brakes when you finish then you are asking for trouble. The system is designed for fluid flow in both directions. fluid goes backwards every time you let your foot off the pedal.

 

Dirty fluid? It comes from heat breaking down the fluid and from parts moving in the caliper and ABS pump. I'm sure gravity also has some effect as the larger particulate settles in the lowest point in the system (the calipers). Even on cars/trucks which aren't beat, the fluid at the caliper is typically dirty in comparison to what is at the master cylinder.

You can open a bleeder without bleeding the brakes, and you will not have any problems unless you push and release the brake pedal. If you open the bleeder and push the piston/s in where does the fluid go? It follows the path of least resistance (out the bleeder). While I agree there is a slight amount backwards flow when you release the brakes, there is little movement of fluid in either direction a disc brake system per brake application. Fluid does move down the system as the brake pads wear and the fluid fills the caliper.

I have two friends who own/operate small auto repair shops. They both use this technique to do brakes. It is good practice. Most of the time you won't have problems if you don't get the old fluid out, but the ABS parts are expensive and to open the bleeder only takes a second.

 

If you don't bleed the brakes after you open the system ( no matter what type of a wrench you are or how careful) then you are asking for trouble. If you and your bud's prefer that method then great, just don't recommend it to people asking for help doing their own thing. I have seen too many mistakes ( yes even from people who "own their own shops" ) and the brakes are the one system in every vehicle that has to work every time. If you are worried about dirty fulid then do the system flush. As for being good practice.....I can find a garage full of ASE certified master techs that would have a little different view of that.

 

Thanks for all the followups and friendly debates guys... my brakes are fixed (even though I didn't end up doing the work).

It seems I had a caliper that was sticking on the passenger side and it all was covered under warranty. Life is good.

RP