Hello all owners of 1999 F-150's with lousy brakes. I am also one of them and don't want to sell my truck but will have to if I can't get this problem fixed. Before all offer there advice I have bled the brakes, changed rotors. pads, and at the advice of a brake mech. changed the brake booster. I have 4 wheel disc with abs so no adjusting is needed. I don't belive my hoses are bad because I have owned trucks that were 15 years old and no brake problems with the hoses. Someone in here changed there master cylinder from a light duty F-150 to a light duty F-250. This seems to make the most sense to me as the larger piston will displace less effort to push the pedal and result in better braking. So before I tackle this I want to know if any one else has done this and did it fix the problem. I think this is a problem that ford knows about but isn't willing to own up to it and just changing the master cylinder with the same kind won't solve the problem.

 

Define "lousy brakes." Soft pedal? Hard pedal? Doesn't stop well?

 

soft pedal and don't stop well

 

having owned a 1997 f150 extended cab 4x2 (lost in divorce) and now i own a f250 light duty 4x4 extended cab, there is a difference in stoping power like nught and day. the f250 stops on a dime and the f150 would scare me when i needed to stop. what ever you need to do, upgrade the f150 breaks.

 

yes i do not know how to spell

 

I have a 99 f150 4x4 scab with tow and my brakes are great.

the front calipers are double piston aluminum bosch.

the only problems I have had are they wear fast and if you let some one who says "I have been doing it that way for 25 years" put your rims on (Or do any work to your modern truck) they will warp.

the only thing I have done is go to the brembo rotors and I am the only one allowed to R&R my rims.

now I have used 3 different pads with the brembo rotors and they all stop well they just vary in wear, dust, and pedal feel.

 

The guys down at my 4 x 4 shop all say the same thing, Ford's brakes suck. The pads are too thin and the rotors are cheap. I upgraded my rotors and new calipers. I don't have any problems anymore, I wouldn't mess with the master cylinder!

 

I also have a 99' F250LD and the brakes are great. Hard petal and stops quick. Which helped when travel trailer brakes failed...Of course most brake parts are different from F150.....