front brakes

[Xeek]

i looked at the diagrams and they say theyre pins, kinda like slides i guess. the bottom one on my passenger side is sticking out a lot more then the rest.
the top one is how the other three look.

what do i do about it? can i just hammer it back in? or do i have to take the tire off and hammer it all the way out and then put it back?


i noticed some noise as i drove, more frequent with faster speed. think this would be doing that?

 

[Roadrunner777]

Knock it back home. I don't see this as making any noise.

 

[Xeek]

back in. arent they supposed to stop? they have notches in them. i put it in a little to far and had to goto the front and push it back out til it matched the other 3.

i guess ill know if it was my noise maker or not on a test drive.

 

[Roadrunner777]

Yes, there are bump-stops on either side of the pin, but the rubber core allows it to compress a little bit, so as you see, it can be knocked past the stop, which is what you must do to change the pads.

 

[cogs]

no, i don't think it's what is making the noise. when you do the front brakes, replace the slide pins, noting which way the pointed arch made from the ends of the pins goes. don't hammer them too hard, as it'll slip and chip the caliper metal. probably the reason they're slipping out is that the slide stops are worn down, or that they didn't put the arch in the right direction (up or down).

 

[Roadrunner777]

They look to me like they are in the right way. But, they are grimey and the caliper action could be walking them out. Next time you do brakes, buy the hardware kit with new slides/pegs/whatever they are.

 

[cogs]

xeek, i have a post on brakes that i never found an answer for. it was about vibration, even after changing all the parts. possible answers for your noise, is the tires (of course), or, as i'm going to find out whenever i get them changed, is the tie rod ends. http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=187888

 

[Anime]

It's not too unusual for the slide pins to be sticking out more in one direction than the other, especially if they are well lubed. The bottom one looks like it's out a little far, but it'd be hard to tell for sure without having seen how far in it was on the other side. As long as both stops are outside the caliper/mount, it's safe.

You should definitely get new slide pins as suggested if any of the stops are compromised, or if they were pounded in backwards and the stops were deformed.

But otherwise, you can safely pound them through (usually pounded from outside to inside), clean the caliper/mount surface and the pin, use some caliper slide pin grease (just a little bit), and pound them back in. Keeping them greased up lets the calipers slide back and forth as needed. When they get stuck and no longer move freely, you get funny brake pad wear and even poor brake performance.

 

[Xeek]

maybe they are just lubricated well if they slide out. i had the fronts changed last august i think.
the noise isnt the tires, tires just got changed today and the noise is still there.

maybe its a ball joint? its like driving on the interstate, the rhythm of the bumps as you drive.

 

[Anime]

A ball joint would make noise during front suspension travel or cornering and braking, probably not a constant noise during straight driving.

If you're sure tires/wheels are okay, you might want to check out the brakes all around, sometimes the rear drums can have issues with the parking brake cable rusting in it's sheath, or components rusting and breaking.

I'd say a drivetrain noise is likely to be something to do with the driveshaft or hub/bearings, though. Anything from a dry/old driveshaft U-joint to a bearing that needed regreasing hundreds of miles ago. Even an out of balance driveshaft that just has a lot of surface rust throwing it off can cause enough vibration for noise.

 

[Xeek]

i dont have drums. 2nd gen axle is back there now.

i think i figured out the noise. my parking brake cables shifted and are rubbing on the inside of the tire. i can see the metal inside there now, the rubber is gone. those needed to be replaced anyway as the guy cut them when i got my 2nd gen axle. im gonna tie em so i know they arent in the way and see if the noise continues

 

[Anime]

There should be little wire coil springs holding the parking brake cables to the frame to keep that from happening, might have been lost in the axle swap.

You'll probably need the cables from whatever model year the axle is out of for the rear part, then rig it up to the middle cable, hopefully it all fits together nicely without need for fabbing up an adapter.

 

[Xeek]

yea i have all that, but due to needing new cables i just tucked these out of the way for now. it mustve jiggled loose cause it wasnt doing it before. ill just tie em back up and see if it stops.
fixing the parking brake is a job for later