About 2 weeks ago I noticed a vibration on the pedel when braking, checked it out and sure enough I needed pads. The passenger side wasn't too bad, little more than halfway worn out, but the driver side pad closest to the engine was worn all the way down, even starting to grind into the rotor a tiny bit. I went ahead and changed the pads anyways, and a one of my dad's friends thats a mechanic told me I shouldn't need new rotors this time because the pad should wear itself in and sorta correct the problem with the rotor...Well after I replaced the pads everything felt a lot better but I noticed a rubbing sound, sometimes even when I wasn't braking. Was told that the pads just needed to wear in and that'd go away...but now its been a few weeks and its still there driving me crazy. Question is, do I need new rotors?

Was looking at these on ebay...

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Ford-...Q5fAccessories

or

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Ford-...Q5fAccessories

 

if your gonna replace the rotors replace the pads as well, always change brakes in sets, the slotted rotors are really nice i wish i had gotten them when i replaced mine. the vibration is probably because the rotors are warped. they need t be replaced, when i installed my new pads on my other trucks i never had that grinding noise...i dont know where he got that idea from

 

if the pad started to grind into the rotor (i assume you mean the backing plate since you said it was worn all the way down) you are going to need rotors. the pad will not "wear in" to the surface of the rotor after it has been ground down, and even if it did, that's not the kind of wear you want on your new pads.

also, since you said that one side was worn all the way down to nothing and the other side still had 50% left, i'd look into bad slide pins or bad caliper on the side that wore all the way down. you should get even wear from side to side. if not, there is a problem. that could also be part of the noise you're hearing.

 

MUD DIGGER, I think i might've confused you. The vibration came from the pad it self being so worn down. I'm pretty sure the rotors aren't warped, just worn out. But none the less, I'm guessing i need to change them. Are the advantages that much more with drilled/slotted? B/c i can get a set of regular rotors with brand new pads for about the same price of those i posted.

sfam198, yes I meant the pad had worn into the backing plate. I didn't even think of one side being bad though. Couldn't it be the opposite though? As in the side that wore down is fine, just working harder to compensate for the other? And what exactly are the slide pens?

Something else, I did notice when changing the pads that the side with the pad that wore to the backing plate had the pads switched around. As in, the pad with the squeak clip thing was switched with the one without (before I bought the truck the previous owner said he had just had all the brakes done, so this was the first time I've changed the brakes).

 

well i guess anything is possible, but usually when a caliper goes bad, the piston does not retract when you release the brakes. when you press the brake pedal, the piston inside the caliper pushes the pads against the rotor. this is what stops the truck. when you release the brake pedal, the piston retracts back to where it was. when a caliper "freezes" which is the most common caliper failure that i've seen, the piston does not retract so it is constantly applying force on the pads. this is what wears down the pads so fast.

do you happen to notice a ton of brake dust on the wheel on the side where the pad was worn down compared to the opposite side? and do you notice any pulling to one direction, either when braking or cruising?

 

another thing if they wore unevenly its got to be your caliper, i would replace all the brake parts on the front end, the calipers the pads the rotors ect, also if the regular rotors are about the same...WITH out A Dought i would go with the slotted rotors they help to preserve the life of them and they perform better as well definitly go with the slotted

 

I wouldn't get either rotors you listed, cross drilling is for lightweight racecars, not heavy DD trucks. Slotted maybe if you can find a decent priced good set. When changing pads, I make it a rule to if nothing else have the parts house cut my old ones and measure thickness/ straightness. Otherwise I get new ones. I don't understand what you mean from rubbing sound. Could have a stuck caliper if both pads inner and outer didn't wear evenly, usually they're close. If the other caliper or pads are good, leave the caliper. The caliper bracket should have clips to install included with the pads, fold the little tabs so they don't walk into the rotor. Anti-seize the parts where the clips (the one on the caliper itself too, butterfly looking one that fits inside. Good luck, hopefully you can figure it out, get a Haynes manual too, pics are good in there.

Another good clue the caliper is crap is when you compress the piston back to install new pads, using a c-clamp, it should go in fairly easy, like able to turn clamp with 3 fingers and not reefing on it.

 

From what you guys have said, I think maybe the caliper on the drivers side might be having trouble compressing back in. This would have caused that inside pad on that side to wear like it did, and would explain the rubbing sound I hear sometimes with the new pads. If I remember correctly too, when I compressed the calipers to change the pads, that side was a bit harder to get to go in than the passenger side. I'm gonna look into getting new calipers and I might just go and get the set of the regular rotors that come with some no name pads, or use the ones I have on there if they're not too bad. I'll be sure to keep you guys updated.

EDIT: sfam198, just saw your second post. that pretty much confirms it, because my truck has been pulling to the left a bit more than usual. I thought maybe my alignment was off. Thanks for the help!

Any reccomendations on rotors that won't break the bank? Not looking for anything special, just something that'll get the job done and won't warp.

 

Found these, come with new pads too just in case. Says up to OE specs...

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Ford-...Q5fAccessories

 

2 front rotors and a set of pads for $80 seems really cheap to me. i don't remember exactly but when i did front brakes last summer i spent $60 or so on ONE rotor.

i have a feeling those cheap rotors will be pulsating before too long, especially with ceramic pads which will heat up the rotors more than semi-metallics.

 

I'm a mechanic too and personally if I see one side wore considerably more than the other I replace calipers (or caliper). Since you went metal to metal I would also replace rotors too. I dont know how long you went metal to metal, but your talking about creating a lot of heat which ruins rotors quickly. Definately wouldn't buy cross drilled, like the one guy said thats for race cars. Slotted for sure, it helps disapate heat, which for the under sized rotors they put on F150's is very needed. Besides slotted helps to prevent squeeking which to me, and it seems like you is very important.

 

Yup, replace calipers, rotors but since your pads are newish, you should be ok there unless they were cheap enough to replace again. This should hopefully cure it.

 

Found a set of "Pro Stop" slotted rotors on ebay for a good price. Did a little research and it looks like the Pro Stop name is made by Power Slot, so I'm assuming they'll be a decent set. Now I just have to find a set of calipers.

 

I've heard slotted rotors wear out pads faster, is this true?

 

Stop shopping on EBAY... I just bought a new set of rotors and pads all the way around, slotted and dimpled, NOT drilled. And it was the best purchase I have done for this truck. The "how to" section has a brake change post and I bought my rotors and pads from the same company www.brakeperformance.com Fronts alone with pads cost just over 200 bucks.