Hello everyone,
I have a 2002 F150 Supercrew 4x4 5.4L v8 with over 180k on it. I have recently replaced the rear rotors and pads (wagner ceramic) and they overheat and smell when I have to make a hard stop. Every two out of three stops the truck pulses to a stop unless I press harder on the brake the pulsing seems to lessen. When I replaced the rear rotors and pads the calipers pushed in easily. I've had to replace the front driver side caliper because it hung up. I'm lost on this one... thank you in advance for you time and advice...

 

Change the front flex hoses, they have a tendency to close up inside.

 

Will this cause a pulsing stop and over heating rear brakes? I don't feel any vibration in the steering.

 

Perhaps you have some air in the system, or a pad is dragging on the rotor for some reason. If the pads are dragging, they will overheat easily. Then when the fluid boils under a hard stop you have to give it more pedal.

Might be worth taking to a pro to bleed the air out, or getting one of those vacuum tools to make sure the system has no air.

 

I will have the system bled. How do you know if the front lines need to be replaced? Money is tight.

 

You replaced the front caliper because it hung up. Why? The main cause for the hang up is not the caliper itself but the hoses.You have 180,000 on these. They are pretty resonable on rock auto.com around 6 bucks each

 

srdf44,
Yes, I replaced the front drivers caliper because it froze up. I'll look up the flex lines and get a set for the front. Why does replacing the caliper remove the problem of a caliper hanging if the line is bad (closing up on the inside)?
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Today I had the crazy notion to check and see which rotors were getting hot under normal driving conditions. I jumped out after getting to work and flicked a drop of liquid on each to see if the liquid would sizzle. The only one out of the four that didn't sizzle and evaporate the liquid away in a second was the driver side rotor (the one with the new caliper). Wondering if I should change the other three calipers and flex lines? I'm going to start with the flex lines and go from there. Thanks everyone for the advice given thus far. Will post updates as soon as the work is done.

 

Something is making the old brakes drag.

Another posibility is the pins that the calipers slide on. Especially since your truck is a 4x4 and might be seeing some offroad use with lots of grit and grime.

The pins could have grooves worn in them or they are dry and sticky. Whatever the cause, they might be keeping things from sliding around.

Worth checking out, and might be cheaper and easier to replace than the lines.

 

I replace the pins every pad change and I coat them with antisieze. think there about 5 bucks at auto zone.

 

I Just ordered the brake lines and the fluid. Going to get a clear piece of tubbing to bleed them afterwards. When I did the breaks I did clean and lube the slides and pins (on the rear) A shop did the front. I don't think that they lubed the front. I'll pull it apart to check when I do the work.

 

I apologize for the delays with posting updates. I was finally able to get the front flex brake lines replaced and the system bled. while I had the front end torn apart to replace the front half axles i took a look at the pads and noticed that the inboard pad (closest to the piston in the caliper) was worn down more than the outboard pad. Is this a sign of the caliper hanging and not fully disengaging?
I will let everyone know how it goes once I road test it.

 

yes - clean and grease your sliders and it should fix the problem.

 

I apologize for the gap in time. A friend of mine (old school) mechanic noticed that the pads were tough to move. He had to use a screw driver and a hammer to persuade them to move. He laughed at me went and sat down and gave me a piece of sandpaper and grinder. He told me to clean up the mounts where the slides rest and re-lube them after I checked to see if the pads would slide nice and easy. After an hour I had it put back together and she stopped on a dime with very little effort! problem resolved. The rust had built up on them until they caused the pads to not be able to move freely. Michigan winters! Now on to that intermittent ABS light!

 

Eyezaiah, you said earlier you changed the rear rotors and pads.
Have you changed the front rotors and pads? I just changed both of mine (front and rear rotors/pads) and the truck stops so much smoother... you could visibly see the warp on the front pads/rotors...

As far as I remember braking is usually Rear-20% Front-80%...

 

newer trucks don't follow that trend.

Older trucks used mechanical methods of adjusting rear brake pressure (i.e. proportioning valves). This limited the rear braking pressure for all stops.

Newer trucks rely on ABS to prevent rear wheel lock up. So most of the time the rear wheels do an equal amount of braking. In extreme conditions the rears use ABS to prevent lock-up and therefore do less braking.