My 2001 Ranger Edge 4x4 Supercab

[96eb96]

Today I did the brakes again, they were pulsating for quite some time. These have less than a year, and only 6,001 miles on them.
I switched to the Wearever Semi Metallic ones labeled "gold" because I got the Wearever ceramic labeled "platinum" the last two times and I am not impressed with them.

View attachment 342241

The ones that came off looked horrible, just like the last time. Heat spots in the rotors and the pads are all cracked up.
I am hoping that the different pads I installed this time will solve this problem. If not I will be switching brands and probably ordering off the internet instead of buying local.
In this picture below you can see the hot spots in the rotors and cracks in the pads on the right. There are cracks in the pads on the left too, they just did not show up in the picture. I am hard on my brakes and I have 31 inch tires on this truck, but I have never had this happen to my old 1998 Four door Explorer even when it had 315,000 miles on it. I might even look into swapping the rear 10 inch drum brakes to a disk setup in the future.
View attachment 342242

I got Advance's Most Expensive Semi-met last time(platnium).
Also got a gift card for like $40, I think maybe less than $10 difference to the gold. Very happy with it. Pedal seems a lot firmer, but I also did an ABS bleed with a scan tool.

 

[4pointslow]

Since September when I had a heater hose blow out and overheated the engine, I have had a faint smell of coolant and a few spots on my driveway. I changed the oil yesterday after work and found the water pump leaking again. This one was an aftermarket one.
When an engine gets overheated, things can go bad just like the water pump seals. They are not made to be run at such high temperatures over normal engine temps. I have killed two water pumps at least on this Ranger, and the last one was a Motorcraft so I am not blaming the aftermarket pump. I replaced the water pump with a Motorcraft one, and also replaced the lower hose while I was in there.
Luckily today was 48 degree's so my garage was not that cold, glad I got it done before the cold winter weather gets here!

 

[4pointslow]

Mileage update:

 

[4pointslow]

A couple of days ago I heard the front brake pad sensor squealing. Also having some slight pulsations. I ordered Motorcraft pads off EBay.
Today I ordered Brake rotors from Advance Auto Again. Once everything gets here I will replace them.
I just replaced them on 9-6-2021 (at 298895 miles) so they only lasted 5 months.

These things are wearing out way too fast, the pedal feels fine though and it stops straight.
I do have 31x10.50 15 tires on this thing but I feel they should not wear out this fast.
I used to get over 2 years and tons of miles out of my 1998 four door Explorer.

I am driving in stop and go conditions now and not doing the highway miles that I used to, but still, only 5 months?
If the motorcraft pads last a lot longer I will order a bunch to keep in stock for this thing.
Edit: Here is the mileage.

 

[EddieMoney]

Interesting. I had similar issues with brakes on my 99 ranger. I couldnt tell if I was getting cheap rotors or pads or both. If I remember right the last time I had the brakes done I insisted on motor craft. Cant remember for sure but I think they were ceramic pads. It went from 4 to 3 to almost 2 to back 3+ years before I sold it.

I tried to buy the rotors in pairs thinking they should wear even but I had gone to midas 2 times and i think they just turn your rotors till they are under and make you buy new ones even if you just bought new ones last time. I'm certain if you do brakes before they grind you shouldnt need new rotors. Should get a couple turns before they need replaced. Lol

 

[CDW6212R]

The pads should be the issue or a sticking caliper if they only lasted five months. I use a severe duty Ford pad available for the 2nd gen's, I wonder if they make one for that Ranger. I have loved these pads, if I had an issue with the later cousin trucks, I'd swap the calipers for the 95-01 version. They are a direct swap for the 2001+ Sport and Sport Trac, I don't know for sure about the Ranger.

$44.36; https://www.amazon.com/Motorcraft-BRSD652-Front-Severe-Duty/dp/B000EQ8XIG
One link suggested they had a two year unlimited warranty, I've never heard of that for Ford pads.

 

[4pointslow]

3,893 miles is definitely not enough for front brakes.
Keep in mind that I did not pull the wheels yet so maybe it's not the sensor scraping and making the noise.
Maybe it's the thin metal backings out of place or something. I doubt it though.

Also, I replaced the front hoses, calipers and brackets with slides, rotors, pads, rear drums, shoes, spring kit, wheel cylinders, parking brake cables and bled the brakes of course. Things I didn't replace include the rear brake hose (maybe that's bad), Master cylinder, Hydraulic control unit, and vacuum booster. The brakes feel good though, they do stop well. The pedal is high and firm and doesn't sink. It also doesn't feel like they are dragging.

Today my rotors arrived and tomorrow my Motorcraft front brake pads should arrive. It's also warm here for some lucky reason so I hope to install the parts tomorrow after work if possible. I will take pictures of course.

 

[CDW6212R]

Best luck there, hopefully the squealer tangs are just too far out. I bend those back to under 1/8" of pad, and I place that on the inside which wears out faster on mine. I also noticed the leading edge wears more, so I make sure the tang is located there, so it will touch before any of the rest of the pad wears out. That took some time to think of, doing brakes so much, that's my best tip to get the most out of pads.

 

[4pointslow]

Check this out.
And just for the record, the caliper slides can be moved very easily with one finger, and the caliper pistons went back in without a fight.
The brake pads do not bind in the caliper bracket. Again, brake hoses and calipers were replaced recently and posted in this thread.
After installing the new parts and putting the wheels back on I left it on the jack stands. Then I started it, pushed hard on the brake pedal a few times, and then with it still running I got out and spun the wheels and they moved freely. I road tested it and it stops straight and the pedal feels firm and doesn't sink or anything like that. I installed Ford OEM pads this time.
The brake pads are placed as they came off. The worn one is the driver side inner pad.

 

[CDW6212R]

That's too much wear of one pad, but the rest look almost new. I haven't had to change many calipers, mainly from lack of driving a car for years. But the times the rebuilt calipers had some sticking pistons was a high percentage, maybe 25% out of about 8 or so.

Unless you could see something wrong to fix with that left caliper, I'd replace it again. My black 98 wore out the rear pads in about nine months after the first brake job. The inner pads wore out and the outers were about half gone. I installed rebuilt calipers, and over a year later one side was still wearing a little too fast. I had that replaced under warranty, and it functioned fine after that.

Re-manufactured parts have a slight risk to them versus new or the original parts. I learned about 15 years ago to avoid rebuilt steering racks for Fox Mustangs, the cores are in large part, all worn too much.

 

[4pointslow]

 

[CDW6212R]

You drive too much.

 

[4pointslow]

Heater hose blew out today on my way to work.

I think I have blown out every hose on this at least once now, LOL.
I bought the replacement hose when the other heater hose blew out and I installed that blue one.
Being that this hose has a T and a smaller hose coming off of it I figured I better have one in stock. It sure did come in handy today.
Of course, I had to get towed home because I could not see what was leaking this morning because it was dark out.
The part was in my garage anyway. AAA to the rescue, I just renewed my subscription Saturday. I installed the hose, topped of the fluid and then used the truck to take a load of metal to the scrap yard nearby.

The replacement hose part number is...

 

[4pointslow]

I am very lucky that heater hose on this Ranger blew out last Tuesday.
Today I changed the oil and when I was backing off the ramps my driver rear brake line blew out.
If that had happened on Tuesday It would not have been good.
I did have a new piece of brake line in the garage, so I got right to fixing it. After I was done I took it to McDonalds. LOL.
Mileage 303,242

 

[96eb96]

Yeah, I changed my brake line ages ago..in like 2008 I think :lol:. It practically crumbled. I replaced all of them with a coated line. There is a part near one of the nuts that looks a bit rusty.

 

[4pointslow]

Mileage on 5-5-2022
Edit: Whoops! This is from my 2000 Explorer not this Ranger. I have to stop sniffing glue! LOL.

 

[4pointslow]

Current mileage on my 2001 Ranger. Only driving it about once a week at the moment.