Probably because you have the lightest of all the trucks, SWB, V6, manual tranny.

 

When I was out west on my trip, especially in Wyoming and Montana, RAM trucks on the road outnumbered all other brands by a bunch. Perhaps many of those had the Cummins diesel? All of the gas pumps out there had a diesel hose along with a gasoline hose.

 

I changed the oil in my 02 F150 today. It had been sitting for two days and when I checked the level before draining it, it was a little bit over full. Like I said previously, it uses a qt in 5k miles and that is when I change it. During the trip, I added 1 1/2 qts. So, I have to retract my first statement. I don't think it used any more oil than usual because it went 6,125 miles with 1 1/2 qts added and it ended up slightly a little over full. So, it didn't use any more or perhaps only a tiny bit more than usual. Not bad for a 160k mile engine.

 

Your long trip probably helped flush out some deposits that might have stayed otherwise in regular driving. It is reassuring that taking it on a long trip was no worse for it & most likely did more good then harm.

Do you have your emergency brakes yet? Just hashing over your rear brakes issue. Wondering if the proportion valve is weak or the antilock brake module is modulating harshly??

 

I think it's just poorly designed rotors by Ford. My 2000 Scab4x4 warped the rotors by about 40k miles. The Advance rotors warped in about 1k miles. I tolerated them until 80k when I replaced the front rotors and pads when I had the OE rotors that I had saved resurfaced and put back on. they didn't warp until sometime after I sold it at 105k miles. I know they did eventually warp because I sold it to a friend that I saw again 4 years later and they were warped at that time. He ignored the rear bouncing when braking.

I replaced the rear rotors on my current 02 truck about a year ago with Autozone "high carbon" rotors and they warped immediately. Just before the trip I replaced those with Wagner "severe duty" rotors and they warped immediately. I don't think it has anything to do with the parking brake. I checked that out a while back and replaced part of the cable that probably didn't need replacing. I plan to get the Autozone and the Wagner rotors resurfaced and see how long they last the second time around. For several years nobody around here would resurface rotors. Now, O'Reillys came to town and they will.

the front brakes are worn out and the ACDelco front rotors and pads I ordered are supposed to arrive today. The front rotors don't tend to warp though. The ones on the truck are the original and the pads were replaced just before I bought the truck 10 years ago at 69k miles.

All vehicles tend to have some design issues and the rear brake rotors is one of the issues with this vintage truck it appears, along with the 4 threads on the spark plug holes and the spare tire cable that breaks and drops your spare tire. But overall, I think it is one of the best trucks ever built.

 

Just to note, all the 1/2 ton fords, suv, ranger, f150 all have ridiculously undersized brakes.

 

Yeah, unfortunately it's a tradition with Ford and has been for many decades to put crappy brakes on their vehicles.

 

While I was waiting for my new front rotors and pads to arrive today, I took the previously removed Autozone "high carbon" rear rotors to O'Reillys and had them resurfaced. I was told one was not warped at all and the other was warped only a little and they only took off about 0.003". I wonder if the one was warped a tad when I received it. I plan to put them on the rear and see what happens.

 

You can't mount your front rotors on the rear...

 

Nah, read Roadie's post again, he took the carbons off the rear, had them trued up and will try them again on the rear.

 

The latest episode is that I replaced the front rotors and pads. The passenger side front caliper had been sticking and the pads were down to metal on the edges and the rotor had scorch marks on it. I sorta knew this because of all the brake dust on the right front wheel, much more than the driver's side. So, I bought new calipers and replaced those too. The drivers side pads had 1/8" to 3/16" pad left. I imagine the caliper sticking had a lot to do with the right front tire starting to cup which prompted the rotation and balance in Wyoming. My son told me I should have gotten the brakes replaced too and he was right. The right front brake was dragging on the way out and back. But, all's well that ends well.

 

On My '04, I bought it in 2009 with 36k. Shortly after it was chewing through front brakes and I had 3 seized calipers over 3 years. Changed the rubber hoses and never had an issue since. The older gentleman who ordered my truck had the passenger side caliper replaced under warranty. I did it 2 or 3 times myself.

Also since running Roush 20's for 7 years and now '08 Harley 22's, never a warped rotor or brake issue again. Could be lines if you haven't checked those.

I also think the 17" wheels trap heat on my generation truck and people not using a torque wrench when tightening wheels can cause warping. Just what I've observed.

 

I replaced the hoses a while back but that doesn't mean they are still good. I replaced the calipers at about the same time, all four of them. I'll monitor the right front to see if it heats up. I bought one of those infrared thermometers a while back in order to monitor the exhaust pipes on my motorcycles and I love that tool.

 

After driving the truck about 15 miles today with several stops towards the end, I checked the rotors temps and the front two were 130 LF, 137 RF, 171 RR, 162 LR. I was a little surprised the rear rotors were hotter than the front. But, overall the temps look okay. The brakes were working smoothly front and rear.

 

'02 SCAB Only thing i can say on brakes is DO not use the ceramic pads on the front!!! I have tried 3 different brands on 2 different rotor sets ....within months they are toast and feels like breaking in a horse when you start stopping.. NOT warped!!!! but badly hot-spotted.

AMAZON is your friend when rock auto is not!
semi-metalic up front ceramics in the rear with VENTED (not drilled) rotors ....seems to work well