Does anybody else have this problem with their truck? I know when your brakes are wet from rain etc. your brakes don't work very well until you heat them up and they dry off but mine basically don't work at all when wet. I've almost been in 2 accidents because I couldn't stop when it was raining, I always keep my distance from other cars because I'm aware of this problem but I hardly have any brakes at all when they get a little wet. I would think it is a design thing but I wanted to check with everyone else before I go to the dealership with it.

------------------
98' F-150, Off Road, Short Box, Blue, 4.6, K&N, Auto, Captain Chairs, Dual Exhaust
Alpine CD Player, (2) 10" Rockford Fosgate Subwoofers and a big ol' Arctic Cat
sticker on the rear sliding window!!!!! Soon to be chipped!!!

 

Have you changed your pad material to full or semi-metallic?

Have you done anything which would account for a greater-than-normal clearance between your pads and the rotor?

Is there anything special about your air-dam or other appurtenance that is directing road spray to your brakes?

Are your wheel-bearings loose (allows for greater-than-normal lateral runout of the rotor -- pushes back the pads -- allowing more clearance than 'normal').

If you jack up your vehicle and spin the tires, do you feel a significant brake drag (do they spin too freely)?



------------------
Y2K™

XLT SC SB 5.4L 3.73LS

 

If that were the case, then I wouldn't be able to stop after coming out of a carwash or after I washed my own truck. I get the brakes totally wet. I even get Simple Green all over the brakes.

I've been through flooded roads and haven't lost my brakes.

Something is wrong with your truck. What you're describing is something that happens with all drum brake systems. Disc brakes have pretty much eliminated this problem. Since you have a '98, you have rear drums. If they're wet, your stopping distance will be increased, but not so much that it's dangerous. Your front disc brakes handles most of the stopping anyway, especially with no load in the box.

This leads me to wonder if you have a problem with your front discs. If they aren't performing as they should and the rear drums get wet, that would be one reason for your problem.

 

Not, it's those crappy Goodyear AP's. Put some real tires on it and it will brake noticably better.

------------------
2000 F-250 Super Duty, SuperCab XLT, Oxford white with medium grey cloth captains chairs, 5.4L Triton V8 (260 HP version!), 4R100 4 Speed Automatic Transmission, 4 wheel ABS, Deluxe Aluminum Wheels, Trailer Towing Package, Class IV Hitch, Reece load distribution system, Escort Sensor II Electronic Brake controller, K&N filter, Sure Stop towing skirt, "Westin" black powder coated step bars, "White-White" head lamps, Herculiner bed liner, ISSPRO Tranny Temp Guage, Excursion center console.

 

I have a feeling it's something with the front disc brakes. It's that "seat of your pants" feeling but I'll have it checked out, it definitely isn't right, I'll let you know. Thanks for all your input. -cphilip, I agree with you on the tires, JUNK!!!

 

Since you didn't answer even one of my questions, I guess you don't need any help.

Good luck.

 

Y2K 7700 4x4, Sorry about not answering your questions. Basically no to all your questions. I would not think my wheel bearings are loose but it's something I'll mention to Ford. This weekend when I get time I'll jack it up and spin the tires, I'll let you know. Again, sorry for not responding to you, thanks for your input!

 

Those questions are not meant as suggestions, but are necessary to diagnose brake complaints.

It will be important for any service technician to know the answers.

Some reasons and possibilities:

Excessive pad-to-rotor clearances can prevent the normal 'squegee' action -- and can allow pads to take on more water than they would if they were constantly wiping the rotor.

The complaint of uneaven braking is often the result of one side's caliper preventing the normal squeege action -- and even shows up on dry brakes due to the uneven heat of the left-vs-right at the time of first brake application.

On some vehicles, the tightness (actually the looseness) of the wheel bearing adjustment is used to allow for an amount of lateral movement to back-off the pads from the rotors -- this can help reduce over-tight pads -- which is often a condition caused by sticky caliper pistons and/or poorly-operating piston seals (the reason that disc brakes don't need adjustment is due to the fact that the caliper's piston doesn't move back after a brake application -- due to the hysteresis of the piston's seal (o-ring).

It is curious that your brakes don't work when wet -- suggesting that there have been some changes to your truck which have altered the normal 'splash' pattern designed into the brake system package.

If you'd care to be more explicit, you can probably expect better suggestions from those on the board.

Hope this helps,



------------------
Y2K™

XLT SC SB 5.4L 3.73LS

 

Thanks Y2K! I checked everything out this weekend and everything seems to be normal. Wheels spin freely, pads are in good shape, I'm not sure about the bearings being too loose but I have never messed with anything that would change braking. The extent of what I have done under there is rotate the tires. It is still under warranty so I'm going to bring it in this week. Thanks for all of your input, I can suggest some of these things to the tech that works on it. Thanks, -ZR

 

Z - I have the same problem - started happening at about 30,000 miles and doesn't happen often, but especially when I back my boat in the water and it happenned last week when my truck was just sitting outside in the rain - I got in it and the first time I hit the brakes there was almost nothing. I now have 40,000 miles and I know that my rotors are warped and my rear drums are starting to leak - need $350 bucks according to Midas to fix everything - I'm going to shop around town for a better deal. Anyway - if you haven't already met with your tech at the dealership, at least you can tell him you have a friend who has had the same complaints - good luck!

------------------
1998 Ford F-250 LD XLT, 5.4 4X4, Midnight Blue/Grey 2-tone, Line-X, Leather, Kenwood Excelon, Rockford 600a5, JL Audio 10", 285/75/R16's, Flowmaster 40 series cat-back with 3" pipe, Chrome tip, Superchip, K&N Filter, Clear turn signal lenses, Superwhite bulbs from Fred@Sportbikes.net(awesome bulbs for $40), Rancho RSX Shocks.

Coming Soon: factory fog lights.

 

Thanks jtray! From what it sounds like we have the identical problem. I'll definitely use this info when I talk to the service guy. It's going in tomorrow, I have 34,000 on mine so hopefully it will be covered under warranty. I'll let ya know what they say. Thanks for the info. -ZR

------------------
98' F-150, Off Road, Short Box, Blue, 4.6, K&N, Auto, Captain Chairs, Dual Exhaust
Alpine CD Player, (2) 10" Rockford Fosgate Subwoofers and a big ol' Arctic Cat
sticker on the rear sliding window!!!!! Soon to be chipped!!!

 

OK, with every post, you mention just one more bit information.

We're zeroing in now.

From what you've reported, the wheels spin freely and nothing else is abnormal.

Remember that my other posts were probatory, not prescriptive.

Here's my first postulatory post:

Wheels that turn easily imply little or no wiping of the pads on the rotor. From a mileage standpoint, this is good. From the point of keeping the pads dry, this is not good.

Of all of the 'normal' front wheel friction that I've observed over the years, a one-handed pull on the tire would result in less than 2 turns of the tire before the pads stop the wheel.

If yours rolls easier than that several things (already outlined by me above) come to mind -- but now my money is on the loose-pad theory as a first choice.

If so, the easiest way to address it is to ensure that the rotors are true (no lateral runout) and the sides are parallel to each other. Correct wheel bearing adjustment (already mentioned) is also important.

Sticky pistons and caliper slides that dont are the backup suspects.

There's no 'magic' to disc brakes, but there is a learned diagnostic 'finesse' to ensuring operational 'science'.

------------------
Y2K™

XLT SC SB 5.4L E4x4 AW-Disc, 3.73LS, Skid, 7700# HD Towing, Chrome LT-245, Steps, Captain's, 6CD, Tonneau, keyless, Toreador Red, called "Nick"

 

Thanks for your input Y2K. When you say space between the Rotors and the Brake Pads, how much space are you talking about? When I looked at them they seemed "normal". Is the space something that you would need a feeler gauge to tell or is it big enough that you can clearly tell if it's too much?

 

Normally you would never see any space. They're always supposed to be rubbing the rotor.

The test is the drag on the brake/wheel. You can tell if it's causing drag on the disc/wheel -- if it's not dragging, then the pads won't heat/dry.

There is a case for 'too much' drag, but the fact that your brakes don't hold after driving and suddenly applying the brake indicates that the pads are free enough so that the water is not being squeegee'd off and the pads are not kept at a moderate temperature.

The report that after you apply the brakes (and dry them out) they continue to work is the key clue.

Now the key here is to figure out why they get wet -- if they're close (very close) to the rotor, they don't get or stay wet -- so the conclusion is that they're not sufficiently rubbing the rotor -- for the reasons already posed.

If your brakes 'pulse' when you stop, try turning (machining) your rotors (remember, lateral runout can decrease the drag of the pads on the disc), adjust the wheel bearings if they're at all loose (same reason), and I bet your problem goes away.

Or, we can talk about it until your next reline -- which will undoubtedly fix the problem for all of the reasons already mentioned.