I have an '01 XLT 4x4 and while it was just in the shop getting a new E-brake cable, the mechanic mentioned that the rear pads and rotors are shot. Being somewhat mechanically inclined, it irks me to have to pay someone to do something as simple as brakes. However, if I understand it correctly, the E-brake has its own set of pads in the rear, seperate from the regular brakes. Is this correct? I've only done front disk brakes before. If that is correct, is it difficult to change the E-brake pads? Basically, if I do it myself, I'm going to be laying outside in the driveway in the cold. If a simple brake job goes haywire in the cold, I'm not going to be a happy camper. I'm hoping someone can give me some insight into what I might be getting myself into.

Now, to make matters worse, I have a rear axle seal that leaks. If I'm already taking the brakes apart, I guess I would be stupid to not to do the axle seal at the same time. How difficult is it to change the seal? I realize I have to pull the axle out. Do I need a press to do that, because that could be a problem? Are there any other special tools I might need?

I appreciate any insight. The alternative is to pay my (good) mechanic $600. I hate to do that . . .

 

Moved to BRAKES...

 

I'm not real sure about the brakes. However, I am pretty sure that the seal is in between the wheel bearing and the axle flange on the axle, and to change the seal, you must be able to press the bearing off and back on. The brakes could possibly be bad because of the seal leaking gear lube onto them.

 

First off, you are correct that the e-brake uses seperate pads from the rear disk. The rear rotor has a small drum in the center of it that the e-brake acts against. If you have a rear axle seal leaking, your rear brakes are shot. Gear oil will saturate the brakes and no amount of cleaning will get the pads clean. I had to replace a rear axle seal at about 60,000 on my '01 4x2 Screw due to a leak. The procedure appears to be the same if you have a 8.8" or 9.75" rear end. Doing the rear brakes or the rear axle seal is not that difficult as long as you have the right tools. Get a good manual for the truck. I prefer the Ford service CD. It has step by step instructions and pictures for those of us that only look at the pictures and don't read the articles!!!

1. Jack up truck and secure using jack stands.
2. Remove wheels and differential cover and drain.
3. Remove the brake calipers and disk.
3. With truck in neutral, rotate diff until the retaining bolt for the diff pinion gear shaft is accessible and remove.
4. Remove diff pinion gear shaft.
5. Push one axle in towards center of truck to expose C-Clip and remove being careful not to damage the o-ring on the end of the axle.
6. Repeat for other axle.
7. Slide axles out and set out of the way being careful not to scratch the axle as your bearings must ride directly on the shaft!

This is where it gets tricky. They say you are supposed to remove the bearing which will drive the seal out. Since the seal is butted against the bearing it is difficult to get a grip on it. There is a tool listed in the Ford Service CD that connects to the end of a slide hammer for driving the bearing out, but I never found anybody that had it. I removed the guts of the bearing so that I only had the pressed in outer race and used a regular 3-jaw slide hammer.

8. Get a Big F#$king Slide Hammer and secure against inside of bearing and beat the hell out of it until it comes out. I felt like my arms were about to fall off, but everything finally came out. If you rent the slide hammer from you local store make sure it has good teeth on the jaws. The one I got was well loved/abused and the rounded jaws kept poping off the bearing about every 5th hit.
9. Once you get the bearing and the seal out, clean the bearing and seal area and press in a new bearing and seal. Make sure you lubricate the bearing with new clean diff fluid and lubricate the seal with a good grease.

Repeat for the other side, since if you are going to go to this much effort you might as well replace the other side as a preventative measure.

10. Reinsert axles and secure with C-Clips. Pull axles outward to seat the C-Clips.

11. Insert center diff pin and reinsert a NEW retaining bolt. If a new one is not available, clean it very well as well as the threaded hole it is going into and apply lock tight to the threads.

12. Clean all of your brake parts really well, and reinstall turned rotors or new rotors with new pads.

13. Also check the vent line for the differential and make sure it is not plugged. If it is plugged it can cause the diff to get overpressurized when it gets hot and start the real axle seals to start leaking.

14. Reassemble diff cover and fill to the appropriate level with 75-140 synthetic gear lube. I prefer Royal Purple as it already has the friction modifier if you have the limited slip rear axle.

15. Check for leaks, put the tires back on and go have a beer!

I was able to finish up both sides in one weekend, but I'm also not the fastest mechanic!

WARNING, DO NOT ROTATE THE DIFF ONCE YOU HAVE REMOVED THE CENTER PIN UNLESS YOU WANT TO TEACH YOURSELF HOW TO PUT THE SPIDER GEARS AND LIMITED SLIP CLUTCH PACKS BACK TOGETHER!!!! NOT FUN!!!!

Go for it. I was plesently surprised on how non-technical it was, just a good workout for your upper body working the slide hammer!

 

Cross, thanks a lot for your detailed reply. That's a big help. It sounds manageable, although I'm concerned about pressing in the new bearings since I don't have a press. It seems like they fit pretty tight judging by the amount of effort required to get the old ones out. Could I use the hammer and socket trick to get them in or will it require more than that?

 

I actually had this exact same issue over the summer. I felt comfortable doing the brakes, but I didn't want to touch the axle. Luckily I worked at a tire store (Les Schwab) and had a guy there do it for me after work. It took him about 45min to do the axle seal, but he does this all day long. It would have been an all day thing for me to do. Being as how you mentioned you don't have a garage, I'd probably pay someone to replace both axle seals and bearings and do the brakes myself. This is an operation I personally would NOT want to perform in a driveway. In any case, best of kuck to you. Just out of curiosity, how many miles are on your truck. My axle seal went at 45k which seemed a little strange to me.

-Craig

 

I did not have any special tools to get the bearing in. I just used a block of wood and a hammer. Using a socket to sink it the last little bit is an expensive for a bearing this size. You would need a 3" or so socket!!! For these larger sizes that I don't have a socket to fit, I look for a cast iron plumbing fitting that is close to the size. I just did this with the outer wheel bearing on the front rotors and found a 1" pipe cap for $0.98 is just about perfect and much cheaper than the $14 socket I was fixing to buy! Shaved a little off the outside on a bench grinder and it worked like a champ. For the rear wheel bearing I just used the old bearing to seat it the last bit.

I did mine in my driveway, but it was in the summer at the time and I live in Houston so weather is usually decent in the winter. You will have to be the judge of the weather and how many usable hours you can get out of a day to do it. If you can get a full day of work in you should be able to knock out the axle in a day and finish up the brakes the following morning. It isn't tough as long as you have a good slide hammer with flat teeth for hooking the race, not the rounded off worn out piece of junk rental I had. That is what cost me so much time.

I'm always willing to try to repair something I've never done before. That is the only way most of learn. As long as your willing to bite the bullet and pay for a tow, if you really get into a mess, I say go for it.

On another note, at around 105k I noticed a much more pronounced whine coming from the rear end. Checked the plug and it was totally full of metal shavings. Not good!!! Had it towed to a rear end shop and $950 later I had all new guts in my rear end. They said that the 9.75" rear ends have a bearing that goes out and when it does the gears chew themselves to pieces. I change the fluid every 30k using Royal Purple, I don't tow anything and rarely carry anything heavy. I do have a bit of a lead foot, but I was really surprised to only get 100K out of a rear end.

 

FYI... that 100K rear end is very typical. Have seen and heard of many that wear out about then.

 

Good thinking. As soon as I started pulling things apart, I would have realized that I don't have a socket that big. I'm glad to hear that you didn't have too much trouble getting the new bearing in. It sounds like if I find a good slide hammer, I can save a lot of time as compared to your repair. I think I am going to try it myself, although I'll probably wait for warmer weather. I'm kinda curious and it seems like it would be a good learnig experience. Fortunately I have another vehicle and I only drive 10 miles to work anway, so I really don't have to put too many miles on it. I figure the brakes and the seal are already shot and can't get any worse, so as long as I make sure there is enough oil in the rear, I should be able to make it to warmer weather, or at least find a Saturday when its going to be in the 50s. Even if it takes me 2 weekends, its no big deal with another car. I'm going to looking into getting the repair manual CD as well. I'll check ebay unless someone else knows where I can get one.

Theantiriced, I have 35K miles on the truck. I kinda thought the seal should last longer, but hopefully its just a fluke. I thought about doing the brakes myself and having someone else do the seal, but the mechanic is going to have to pull the brakes off anyway, so I'm not really saving that much. Granted its only one side, but still. While I'm doing one side, I may go ahead and do the seal and the bearing on the other side as well.