OK, maybe I am stupid, at least I am feeling that way. I went to O'Reilys website to look for front rotors and pads for front and rear. I found the front pads as I am getting Wagner Thermoquiets. They mention 11th vin digit as K which is what I have. Now, I am looking at the O'Reily brand rotors and there are a bunch of them and none of them mention the difference same with the O'Reily brand pads. I don't want to order the wrong thing. I need to stay under $100 per rotor and as cheap as possible for pads if anyone has another recommendation. I know the line about not skimping on brakes but I have to do what I can afford at this time. Please help if you can. Thanks a million.

 

Not everyone at one time. Nevermind, I will figure it out on my own. I guess no one else has done their own brakes. Thanks anyway.

 

Sorry I don't own a 2004

 

welcome to the club, I'm surfing for another place to share technicals. This is a great group but when it comes to 2004 and up real tech information sharing , crikets chirping
nothing but repeat complaints.
There seems to be more 97- 03 motorheads here.

Thanks for sharing your info, I am glad to hear o'riellys has these parts so I dont have to go to the dealer. MY right front wheel bearing 2wd has become loose somehow.. and this crush sleeve non reusable retainer nut for the wheel bearing CRAP and 295 ft lbs on a wheel bearing nut is very unusual for me,. Im thinking I just need to replace the whole deal, something has to be broke in there, no grinding or roaring noises though, just the caliper hitting the rotor on turns.
I guess I could just put new pads on to get the thickness back, even though the ones on there now are still only half gone. That would put the caliper away from the rotor more.

 

my Oreilly's guy says he cringes everytime someone asks about F150 rotors, so it is par for the course, They had the right one for mine, I got the cheapest one which was identical to the opposite,,,?? yep and I gave them the price I got at autozone for the same rotor 65 bucks... they beat it. I had to get the nut from ford dealer though , it was 16 bucks. Very easy to put on. This is a wierd set up, it appears you can replace just the bearing but what about the crush sleeve? it is better to just get the whole rotor anytime there are issues in that area I believe.
There is no seal, so if you get fine sand sediment back behind the rotor it will eventually start findig it's way into the bearing.
I feel pretty good I got outta this one for less than 100 bucks, the pads were fine.

 

My best recommendation, go to the physical store itself or one like it and talk to a human about the differences. They might even have the different ones on hand to show you. Online this and that often leads people to get all confused, when they can pick up a phone or drop in some place and get exactly what they need, if not next day. This to me is like buying oil and filters online. I can't be bothered, unless it's aftermarket accessories or something, then I'll order online. As far as doing the brakes themselves, they really aren't different then 97-03 brakes which is easy (to me) but hard to learn via the internet.

Nine times out of ten in rotors, you pay more for thickness and warranties, get a good rotor. Pads? Semi-metallics again, with a warranty if you can against noise, excessive dust and wear.

 

Nice response, sensable. I have to disagree with you on the difference in 04 and up > 97-03
These are actually easier to replace, but just strangely built. In my recent situation, the rotor was in great shape, the pads too, but the bearing made it's way loose and was about to create a serious problem. The only way to treat it was replace the whole rotor/bearing/crush sleeve/ non reusable spindle nut. There is no external seal.
NOTE the spindle itself is only about four inches long.
The bearing is held in by a snap ring, but on the other side there is a crush sleeve.
I think there may have been some 97-03 similar to this on some production runs, maybe 250 light dutys or something. They made a lot of different set ups for some reason.