Problem installing front Brake pads

[Bored_2wd]

Hi all,
So I'm doing a brake job on the 2004 sport trac that has lived it's whole life in chicago area. My truck has never seen the inside of a garage except maybe a small handful of times. This means that it's solid rust everywhere. The pads I got are identical to the ones that are on there. Had to seriously hammer and pry to get them off. I have the new rotor on, and installed new clips. Couldn't get the pads on no matter what I did. All the videos show that the pads just go in without too much challenge. I finally got the one side in, but it took a LOT of encouragement and tapping with a small hammer while prying, etc. I'm thinking that the old pads were in so tight they really couldn't move much if at all. I'm wondering if that's part of the problem on this old truck for the bad gas mileage. I'd like to solve this issue if pssible when I do the pads.
So my thought is this: Maybe theres a significant amount of corrosion on the mounting bracket (underneath the clips) causing this. If so, this is something that I could file down a bit and the new pads would actually be able to pop on without too much effort. This would make everything fit better, and the pads could slide a bit easier, right? Does anyone do this or has done this? I'm I totally off base? I am very sure the pads are identical to the ones that were on there. The old pads were worn to the nub on the inside, but the outside pad had a bit of life left in them. Rotor had lots of rust across the face, only about 1/4 of the rotor seems to be shiny due to contact. All this points towards pads that can't slide in the slide groove. They are supposed to be able to move a bit, right?
thanks for your help!
--Bob

 

[koda2000]

Replace the calipers with reman or new calipers. If you old ones are as rusty as you say and the inside & outside pads are not wearing evenly your old calipers are junk. Replacement calipers should come with new mounting bolts, which need to be greased with high-temp synthetic grease to allow the caliper to center on the rotor. Also, use blue loctite on the bolt threads and torque to spec.

 

[CDW6212R]

Hi all,
So I'm doing a brake job on the 2004 sport trac that has lived it's whole life in chicago area. My truck has never seen the inside of a garage except maybe a small handful of times. This means that it's solid rust everywhere. The pads I got are identical to the ones that are on there. Had to seriously hammer and pry to get them off. I have the new rotor on, and installed new clips. Couldn't get the pads on no matter what I did. All the videos show that the pads just go in without too much challenge. I finally got the one side in, but it took a LOT of encouragement and tapping with a small hammer while prying, etc. I'm thinking that the old pads were in so tight they really couldn't move much if at all. I'm wondering if that's part of the problem on this old truck for the bad gas mileage. I'd like to solve this issue if pssible when I do the pads.
So my thought is this: Maybe theres a significant amount of corrosion on the mounting bracket (underneath the clips) causing this. If so, this is something that I could file down a bit and the new pads would actually be able to pop on without too much effort. This would make everything fit better, and the pads could slide a bit easier, right? Does anyone do this or has done this? I'm I totally off base? I am very sure the pads are identical to the ones that were on there. The old pads were worn to the nub on the inside, but the outside pad had a bit of life left in them. Rotor had lots of rust across the face, only about 1/4 of the rotor seems to be shiny due to contact. All this points towards pads that can't slide in the slide groove. They are supposed to be able to move a bit, right?
thanks for your help!
--Bob

You are correct, there will be corrosion built up on the caliper that is making it very hard for the pads to go in. That is very common to happen with other calipers that use SS hardware to keep the pads from wearing out the caliper. The corrosion builds up and eventually it has to be removed.

I agree with koda that you should replace the calipers. It's very easy to buy rebuilt calipers, and it's a PITA to do it yourself.

Just be fully ready to swap the calipers one at a time, don't let much fluid drain out of the lines. Have the new caliper bolted on before swapping the brake hose to it, and be sure the bleeder screw is at the top, not the bottom side. I like to use a golf tee to plug the hose or line if needed at all.

If the brake hoses are pretty good, keep them, it may be trouble to loosen them from the frame steel line. If that strips you might end up having to replace or repair a line, that's big trouble.

 

[Bored_2wd]

Actually I meant the caliper mounting bracket, which holds the pads themselves at each end. The pads had to be pried out they were pretty much frozen in place. Yesterday it was the passenger side, which I got back together. The rotor picture attached is of yesterdays passenger side effort.

This morning I've got the drivers side apart now, the two pics of the pads and caliper brackets are of this side. Not quite as bad as the passenger side. Both sides of this roter are shiny and smooth. I'm going to wire wheel the mounting brackets and file the slots that the pads sit in a bit, and see if it goes together easier. Then I need to take the passenger side back apart and do the same thing.
What do you think? Wire wheel and a small file ok to use?
Calipers seem ok. Rusty on the outside, but piston area seems ok.
--Bob

 

[CDW6212R]

Yes, the corrosion is behind those SS hardware pieces, and you can wire brush them any way you need to. Just avoid removing any real metal from the areas the pads contact. A file can be used carefully to remove the build up etc.

If the piston area(the seals) are still fine with no corrosion building up at the seal seems, those can be okay too. Those caliper brackets are very tough parts, yours just need some extra care. Be sure to clean the sliding bolts and holes well, plus use the right grease for their boots. The boots and hardware should be available as a kit from parts stores, if needed. Normally doing brakes on these is as simple as removing the two large bracket bolts, not the small caliper bolts, and swapping pads. Use red loctite(one drop) on those large bolts, those are known to become loose if not made very tight(lugnut tight). Regards,

 

[Mbrooks420]

I’ve had issues where the pad holding notches were nice and clean, and the pads still wouldn’t fit. Checking the new pads VS the old the ears on the pads were smaller on the ones that came out. I had to dress them with a file to make them fit right.

Looking at your pics the abutment clips (the stamped things the pads ride on) look kinda mangled. I’d replace those after cleaning the rust that’s under them.

 

[koda2000]

Red loctite is considered "permanent". That's not say the bolts can't be loosened in the future, but you will probably need to heat them up a little before removing them. Ford loves red loctite and uses it on many important bolts (caliper bracket mounting bolts, body mounts bolts, hub assembly bolts and suspension parts ect). I recommend red loctite on the mounting bracket bolts, but blue on the caliper pin bolts. Without looking up the torque specs, I guess 80-100 ft lbs for the mounting bracket bolts and around 30-35 ft lbs for the caliper pins.

 

[CDW6212R]

Oh yes, Ford loves red loctite for lots of permanent bolts. Look at any of the rear driveshaft bolts you get out of a pinion flange, they are covered in the red substance, which is why they can be hell to remove. I have a few times got more than a drop of red on a caliper bracket bolt, and cleaned it off with brake cleaner to do it again.



An automotive products side story; I went to Lowe's yesterday for a water drain plumbing issue. I needed about three pieces to adapt a pipe and drain, project, and one component wasn't a tight fit. So I asked about adhesives, and they went over the kinds, and I said I only needed it for this one small project. The cheapest was close to $7, too much for a one time use. I said no thanks, I have plenty of automotive RTV at home. I used about $0.75 worth of Ultra Black to attach the parts, and they won't come apart unless it's forced to. Wisdom is figuring out what you need, and what you have to get it done.

 

[Craigerz]

Did you compress the calipers before trying to put on the new pads?

 

[Mbrooks420]

Did you compress the calipers before trying to put on the new pads?

It’s the caliper bracket that’s the issue, not the caliper.