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Caliper play?

BeauJ

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This afternoon, I put new rear brake pads on. No biggie, done it twice before. Took about 30 mins. Well a few hours later I go to my gf's house, and we go get something to eat. A mile down the road, I smell the brakes. I look in the mirror and I've got smoke coming from the pass. side rear wheel. Let it cool off then take it back to her house. I start looking and the caliper had a lot of play in it. So I bleed the brakes, and they tighten up a little bit.

Is it normal for them to have a little play on the back calipers? Also, my front drivers side bleeder is stripped out so I couldn't bleed them all.
 



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I wonder if our Explorers are diagonal brake systems (meaning left front and right rear run together)? Anyway, a caliper with play? I've never heard of such - like the caliper should be somewhat hard to get on, shouldn't just "flop" into place and you tighten the bolts. The pads should be snuggly against the piston and the caliper. You may need a new caliper.

-Drew
 






what was causing the smoke? caliper play shouldnt cause smoke should it?
 






The calipers are supposed to "float" (slide) on the caliper pins. Either you put it back together wrong, or you have a sticking caliper because the pin or the caliper (or both) are seized and not allowing the caliper to float. You need to fix it right away.

I am assuming that by caliper play, you are saying that the pads have a gap between the pad surface and the rotor. This might happen if the caliper wasn't sliding on the pins - one pad is staying in contact with the rotor even when you release the pedal.

Be sure to lube the caliper pins when putting it back together, if you search you will find some threads which talk about the type of grease to use. I use the Ford grease, but other silicone types of grease (Sil Glide) should be okay as well.
 






By caliper play, I mean I can grab it by my hand and it wiggles. I just wasn't sure how much was normal. They just need to be bled again REALLY bad.

Beside flat grip vise grips, anyone else got an idea of how to get the bleeder off that is chewed up on my drivers front side? Where to get a replacement?
 






I have some vice grips which are made to grab a hex nut - they would probably work well for grabbing on to a bleeder screw. You should be able to find a replacement screw at Napa or other good auto parts store.
 






It is very common to use vice grips to remove stuck bleeder valves. I have the same tool (pic below) that dogfriend has and I must say it is awesome... It is able to grip the corners of a nut but very tightly and you can slip a pipe over the handle and torque it off without rounding it off.

18205Vice_grip_too_-med.jpg
 






Preciate the help guys. I've used every set except that one and hopefully it will work.
 






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