Hey 01vert, a common problem with disc brakes is when the slide pin for the caliper sticks, causing uneven pressure, which in turn causes one pad to wear faster, usually the inner pad. Our mechanic here at the mountain see this with all of our F250 trucks. Putting some grease on the pin solves the problem.

 

Yes the pins do get all bunged up, but that shows wear in the outer pad. Just think about it, if the caliper doesnt "float" back its the outer side that is still rubbing. When the inner pad is worn off first, its the piston not retracting all the way in. Either way I hope your problem free. But I would keep an eye out, you wouldnt want to loose those new rotors.

 

P.S., nice truck, I had the same one. Traded it for an 04.....kinda wish I didnt, I have a really crappy color now.

 

Thanks, I'm just going by our resident FORD mechanic here. I plan on keeping an eye on them. I would have had an 04 also, but the salesman wanted to buy a new boat with his cut of the price he quoted me on an 04, and "employee pricing" wasn't around then. So I settled for a nice 02 Supercrew, and I love it. Thanks for all the reply's guys.

 

I got the drilled and slotted rotors from R1 Concepts too. They are a great company and ship quickly. I put them on my 97 Mountaineer. Want to someday put them on the F150. But when I bought it a little over a month ago they replaced the rotors for me. Great looking rotors tho. I can't wait see the calibers painted.

 

Rockafella:

I own a 1997 F150 Extended Cab 4 X 4, this truck has been great for myself and my wife. I have had to do maintaince on this truck because of original parts finally going out. I have been wanting to upgrade the rotors and the calipers for better braking and better parts. I have replaced the rotors twice in the past two years, I honestly feel its because of cheaper parts. My wife drives the truck more than me, she drives the truck very well and is not hard at all on the brakes. The truck is driven in town 90 percent of the time. I know that the rotors and brakes are at probably very warm most of the time. At this time I dont have the budget to upgrade the entire brake system. I have looked at online Baer, Stop Tech, brembo and many others. All of them just to replace the front is quite a bit of money. Can I just replace the rotors with cross drilled and slotted for better cooling and braking and replace the pads with ceramic. I understand the ceramic are a little more money but give you a overall better life, braking, and can handle the heat better.

Do you have any suggestions for me, in the future I will be towing a light weight fifth wheel RV trailier with the truck.

Thanks

97F150Driver

 

I also wanted to go with BAER eradi-speed plus 1, but they don't list the kit for my F150 and it's $$$$ for the kit. But I had to upgrade the stock system due to my 22 inch rims/tires, so I went with new cross drilled/slotted rotors and Pro ceramic pads. So far with almost 1000 miles on the new set-up, they work great! The rotors are supposed to run 200 degrs. cooler with the drilled holes and the slots keep the pads clean. Kevlar pads are prob. the best. But the farther away from organic you get, the better. If your going to upgrade to rotors like mine, spend the extra money on Ceramic or Kevlar pads, they will provide more stopping power as well as longer life. Not to mention almost no dust!!!!! I put the new rotors/pads on myself and everything together was just over $400. done. Great deal for the money, I think anyway.

 

Those look great, keep us posted on the wear \ performance.


By the way this company does cary Zinc Plating stuff as well as caliper paint and everything else.


http://www.eastwood.com/

Check it out.

What parts were needed besides Rotors and Pads for your brake job, did you get everything from Schucks?

Here's a link to a Zinc Plating kit http://www.eastwood.com/jump.jsp?ite...erID=49&KICKER

 

Besides the hand tools needed for the job:

rotors
pads
can of brakleen
C clamp or brake caliper spreader

That's pretty much all I got from Schuck's except the rotors (R1 Concepts)
Disc brakes are fairly easy to swap out/change. I used a C - Clamp to open the caliper for the new pads, that way you don't have to bleed them after. You just have to go slow and take a little time. I have about 2 1/2 hrs in the whole deal.

Yeah, I get EASTWOOD's cat. Here's a link to some killer caliper covers for those whole don't want to paint. I might get the carbon fiber ones for mine!

http://www.lagunaspeed.com/index.cfm...uct&id_prd=632

 

I was looking at schucks it's checker auto in Denver web site, Which specific pads did you get? Manufacturer and part number so I can grab them as well.


Also did you have to replace any pins or other small parts?, I remember reading a post that metioned other parts needed for a brake job.


Thanks for the help

 

The manufacturer of the Ceramic pads I bought is PRO CERAMIC, a black box with a car on the front. I don't remember the part # and I didn't find them on the web site anyway. I just asked over the phone for the best they had "in stock" and the girl said she had some "Pro-ceramic" pads and that I would be very happy with them, but they were "$$$$" compared to stock replacement. I didn't replace any parts other than the pads/rotors. But I did use the whole can of BRAKLEEN to get rid of the gunk.