Couple of Brake questions.
 

Got a bit of a brake problem, apparently. I didn't notice it until Sunday night, but I assume that it has been this way and just progressively gotten worse over the last few days.

The passenger side rear pad is dragging on the rotor, not exactly sure WTF is going on, but it looks really odd. Only one portion of the pad seems to really be cutting into the rotor.. Any idea what could cause this? The drivers side pad seems fine, does this look to be a caliper issue? Maybe the emergency brake isn't totally dis-engaging? I only noticed this when turning right, especially hard right, but it is dragging slightly when the car is simply moving forward or backwards as well..

I've already picked up new front and rear pads, as well as new rear rotors.. I figure if I'm going to replace one I may as well do both.

I'm kind of stumped by this one.

Sorry for the crappy pics, it's dark out.

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l2...g/CIMG4534.jpg

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l2...g/CIMG4535.jpg

hmmm...I never noticed that when I owned it. shit I never even took notice as to whether the ebrake was the drum style...as in the rear disc hat acts as a drum for inner brake shoes just for the ebrake.

if its that style, which it probably is, then its not an ebrake issue.

dragging or sticking caliper maybe.

The last times I did anything to the brakes were... a vacuum flush less than a year ago, and then a year before that another brake flush, then before that I put on the cobra front's and SS lines and did a brake flush.

BTW...its a DOT4 syatem now, never use anything less than DOT4 for brake fluid on that car...the manual will tell you DOT3.

Sounds like a sticking caliper. Our cars don't use a drum ebrake, they just have a lever that pushes the back againt the rotors when you pull the ebrake. Most likely need to pull that caliper apart and clean and lube it back up. Its most likely a good idea to do this to all the calipers and does not take much extra time to do so.

my left rear is doing the same i put the car in gear while it was on jack stands and without gas being hit the left rear didnt move at all. plus the damn thing didnt want to go back on either...

when i pulled the brakes apart left rear had 0% pad left right side had about 70%...something is up with my rear brakes. i have ordered a line lock so i am not putting anymore stress on my rear calipers and i will be picking up new stock replacements when i get back to arizona. im not going to deal with tearing them down and lubing them only to find out they are still jacked up. i work MX in the air force and more often than not its always better to go new as opposed to just refurbish the faulty parts.

Yeah, I think I'll just replace the caliper while I'm at it.. They're only $40 at auto zone, so being that cheap it would be easier and probably better just to replace the thing.

DON"T DO THAT! NEVER buy anything as important as brake calipers from Autozone. This is not something you want to cheap out on. Do the simple fixes first:
-Relube the slides.
-Readjust the ebrake (at the caliper and at the lever).
-Make sure the axles don't move in and out excessively.
If that doesn't work, go to your dealer and get new calipers. Or, order the Ford Racing ones (Cobra/Bullitt/Mach 1) since they are the same calipers, but come w/ the thinner Cobra pads. Plus, the FRPP ones can be cheaper than going to the dealer.

i'd say its a sticking caliper as well, my rods had no grease in them and they stuck constantly, i think im still having the issue so when i have to change the brakes and rotors next im just gonna order new calipers, brakes, and rotors all around. hopefully i get a surprise check in the mail to afford this:)

I may try to fix the stock caliper, but honestly I worked @ auto zone as a sales manager for about a year.. One of the least returned items we had were calipers, they're just reman. units, exactly the same as what Ford sells, but at a fraction of the cost.

I just called Ford and they quoted me $139 + 50 core for the damn thing, and it is a reman. unit too. Sorry, I won't be paying 3-5 times more for the same product.

Do the front or rear caliper pistons require the caliper compression tool, or can you just use a large C clamp?

never did the rears... they could be compression style or screw in style...i dunno. The fronts I know are just push in..a c-clamp will work fine there.

The v-6 has screw in rears, but I don't know about the 8. I would imagine that they don't, but who knows. If they are screw-ins, you can use a pair of needle nose pliers if you don't have a caliper tool. They screw in clockwise.

Check to see if the slide pins are frozen. If you can't get them out just get a new rear caliper, lube the slide pins even if they are already lubed. The rear caliper pistons screw in. Harbor Freight sales a kit with the tool that makes it really easy, I just use a big C-clamp and pliers.

Yeah, that's probably what I'm going to do.

As far as the tool goes, I'll just "rent" it from Auto Zone.. :D

You don't need any special tool for the rear as its a screw in style. Just take a pair of needle nose pliers and there are two slots on the piston, put the points of the needle nose pliers on there and push in and turn, very easy to do and no special tool needed.

i had to use the caliper tool because my left rear was maxed out and it was a PITD to do with the needle nose pliers...i just couldnt get enough bite on the caliper with them. luckily for me a friend of mine had the caliper tool kit. the right side was easy and i did use the needle noses for that side it was just the left one that was a PITD.

If you need one you can always do the rent-a-tool program at autozone or advance auto.

So, after further inspection it appears that it could be an axle bearing.. Replaced the caliper, pads and rotors last night & it's still making a lot of noise, none while in forward motion, but quite a bit when making hard right turns. uggh.

damn dude.. Race track wear perhaps? I wasnt having any issues like that with it the whole time I owned it.

I'm not really sure, honestly.. I have to assume that it's just from 8 years of wear & tear, because I didn't notice this until about 2 days after the last time it was on the track. Thankfully while trying to get the X pipe on I met a guy at one of the local shops that is willing to help me out.

He said something about possibly needing "repair" bearings if the axle is slightly tweaked or something? Anyone know anything about that? What kind of bearings should I be looking for (brand name)? Also, What kind of cost should I be preparing for (labor only) to get this fixed? He told me something like $2-300, does that sound right? And one more thing, if I'm having the passenger side replaced, should we do the drivers side at the same time, or does it matter?

Looking for the parts, seems like you can't go wrong with FRPP, so what do you think about this? I kind of assumed that they would be more expensive than this, but I certainly won't complain if they aren't.

http://www.fordracingparts.com/parts...tKeyField=6006

Do both sides at the same time. I'm no expert, but I'm fairly sure you need to open the rear dif to get to the C clips and pull the axles in order to change out that bearing. So it would be cost effective to have any other work needed on the rear end done at the same time, since if the other goes bad soon you'll have to open it back up and replace all the fluids again.

christ, easy for you to say. the act of pushing in the rear caliper is easier said than done. it kicked my ass, but i got it done though.

Bump for opinions on the FRPP bearings/ Seals.

Can't go wrong w/ OEM parts. If not Timken/Torrington are the way to go.

I agree with Bassman. Any "car guy" will tell you that as far as domestics go, ford has always had the best factory rear ends. Otherwise Torrington and the red or green bearing greese.

You have to pack the bearings with grease?? I thought that they just used the gear oil, or am I way off base??

pack with grease Id assume.. most bearings like that are, well...like that.

axle walk??

I'm not just saying it I have done it on a few cars its not hard :D

Ford stopped using Timken bearings in the rear ends in the late 90's. Went to KOYO ones. They are worthless and are usually wearing the axles by 30,000 miles. I used to average 4 ring and pinion installs a week. Around half of the '98 and newer cars needed bearings. In 2007, my friend working in the county police maintenance garage told me about five of the newest Crown Vics being taken to a local test track for some "spirited" driver training. When the cars were inspected afterwards, every one of them needed bearings in the rearend. And no you don't have to pack them with grease either. But if you buy OEM bearings it couldn't hurt. They need all the help they can get.