Rotors,pads,calipers,bearings.ujoints, fluid changes this weekend your thoughts

[Bored_2wd]

Hi Everyone,
Time to do a little work on the front end of the truck this weekend-rotors,pads,calipers, and bearings, plus the ujoints(rear driveshaft) are plinking and need to be done- and looking for some feedback. Front end in question is a dana35 from an explorer. Last time I did rotors and pads I just went to track auto and got the normal stuff they sell. They're no longer around, How is the stuff at autozone? Should I go to the dealer for genuine parts for anything? Anything I should know before I buy them? Last time I did a brake job on the truck was during the conversion from 2 to 4wd, which was 70,000 miles ago. I think I had just the pads done at some point. Yes, it's in dire need of work. Here's what I'm wondering:
1) Rotors - Are Autozone's best quality ones as good as the ford ones? I don't need slotted, etc. Just don't want to put the el-cheapo's on.
2) Pads - I want the good ones. Whatever ones don't leave as much dust on the wheels. Is that the semi-metallic ones?
3) Calipers - I know I need 'em, should I go with the rebuild ones or the new ones? I've heard good things about the rebuilt ones, any thoughts?
4) Bearings - I'd prefer Timken but don't know if they are carried by autozone. Anybody have any thoughts on this?
5) U-Joints - I'm wanting the good ones, don't need the greasable ones since they're weaker. With a locker in the back I'd rather have the strongest one available.
6) Brake Master Cylinder - Going with the explorer one, replacing the ranger one. Everyone says that with the explorer rear end that I've got the explorer master cylinder is a big improvement. Anybody have thoughts on new vs. rebuilt?

Thanks for any input! Hopefully i can find the wheel lock, and all the other stuff. I'm praying I don't need ball joints - I replaced them a few years ago but went with ones from autozone because they were cheaper. Praying I don't need them again.
--Bob

 

[Ford_Racing_Guy]

i buy a lot of stuff From Advanced Auto and it seem to be priced fairly decent and i haven't had any problems with their pads.
Rotors that i bought i got from Napa and they are working out great.
Calipers rebuilt will work just fine, unless you wanna pay a pretty penny for new ones.

U-joints and balljoints, Moog has been the brand for me.

 

[Eric P]

The Carbon metalic pads IMO are the best way to go. They seem to last 2-3 times as long as semi-metalic, and put out very little brake dust. Get them from autozone so you never have to buy pads again, just swap out the old ones before they hit the metal. Their rotors are ok, just dont buy valucraft for anything. be sure you lube the glide points on the calipers. Use the silicone lube that AZ will try to sell you. Always replace the guide pins and spring clips on the pads. ( I used to work for AZ and there is some stuff from them I wouldnt buy) Their Brute Force U-joints seem to be good quality Ive used them for a long time. the same with the rebuilt calipers from AZ .

 

[Bored_2wd]

Cool, thanks guys. That's some good advice that I'll definitely take.
--Bob

 

[Rhett]

I am pretty sure that AutoZone does NOT carry Timken bearings. In fact I have had trouble finding Timkens from anywhere.

I like the Performance Friction carbon metallic pads that AZ carries, but in my opinion they leave quite a lot of brake dust. That doesn't make them a bad pad however, they stop very very well.

 

[Creager]

I am pretty sure that AutoZone does NOT carry Timken bearings. In fact I have had trouble finding Timkens from anywhere.

For me Autozone is the only place in town that sells Timken bearings. So i guess you have to check around. I too am parcial to Timken bearings. BCA/National bearings also are of good quality. Actually it would probably be smarter to go with BCA/National bearing seals, their seals are two steps above timken or any other oil seal. They actually come with a nice ring of Silcone built into it, and the seal is also built with the consumer in mind, they tested their parts and made sure it fits right the first time. Their seals are MUCH beefier too, they dont bend or rip.

I am parcial to Bendix pads (Advanced). Ive used Durlast (AutoZone) and they seemed to work fine.

I bought Calipers from Autozone, they were the cheapest, but also one was screwed up and wouldnt hold pressure.

I bought Rotors from Autozone and the lug studs came unpressed from the rotor first time i went to put my wheels on, just a pain.

U-joints: Spricer if you can find them. Spicer, Spicer, Spicer. It's what came OEM and are the only ones that i have found that hold up for longer then 3k miles. I used BRUTE FORCE from Advanced, took them three thousand miles until they started clunking and humming. Will be replacing them with Spicer soon.

You cant go wrong with what NAPA sells usually (in my experince), but you will pay TOP dollar.

 

[Rhett]

How do you pack your bearings creag. I have always used my hands and get nice n dirty. I have never used one of those "bearing packers"...

I'm looking for Timkens locally. Still can't find. An O'Reillys opened here so I should go see if they can get them. Our AutoZones here are clueless when it comes to Timken bearings.

 

[Creager]

How do you pack your bearings creag. I have always used my hands and get nice n dirty. I have never used one of those "bearing packers"...

I'm looking for Timkens locally. Still can't find. An O'Reillys opened here so I should go see if they can get them. Our AutoZones here are clueless when it comes to Timken bearings.

Rhett, to be honest you might have to mail order them... what bearing are you looking for? If it’s a special bearing (pinion bearings for example) your probably not going to have much luck finding that at regular auto parts store.

I always nibbled grease in, until last time I did my bearings I got the grease bladder thing... TOTALLY recommend it. $20 at sears and it makes packing bearings a 30 second job. You still have to get nice -n- dirty but its just such a nice time saver. I love it, for any reason if I got my rotors off it’s a quick in and out and I can keep those bearings fresh with grease.

AutoZone seems to only carry Timken, but they still didn’t carry everything (Head pinion bearing for my 8.8 for instance). Wheel bearings they should have.

 

[Bored_2wd]

Well I was surprised, I found timken bearings at autozone, only 2 though. The guy went to another store and picked up 2 more, he's got them now. I'll pick them up first thing in the morning.
Tore it all apart, and the drivers side wheel rocked up and down. I'm feeling pain in the middle of my stomach at this development, until I take the wheel off and it's not the ball joints, it's the bearings. Long story short the bearing is bent up badly, so badly I had a little trouble getting it off the spindle. The spindle is slightly galled, can you buy replacements for those? It's not the spindle actually, it's what the bearing/rotor sit on. It bolts to the actual axle shaft.
Anyway, I've got new rotors, ceramic pads, but the brut force ujoints for the rear driveshaft. I may return those tomorrow. For tomorrow's run I need the both the bearing seals and the little hub seals, both are ripped. Hey the new rotors came with races for the bearings already pressed in, so I'm not going to use the timken outer race. Figure it's not that important they're both brand new, and it fits just fine/rolls just fine.
I love how you do work on the truck and it escalates. Noticed how bad the body mounts are getting. Noticed that there's probably 1/4 to 3/8 inch gap on one side of the swaybar mount. I've got hellwig, the bar ends are horizontal which means this spacing is all play until the bar touches one or the other side. EVERYTHING IS SOLID RUST under there. Man, I need to do something about that.
I'll post a picture of the bent bearing when I get a chance to tomorrow morning. Thanks for the help guys!
--Bob

 

[Bored_2wd]

Well, finished the job, enough at least for this weekend. I can't believe the number of trips to the parts store - argh!
almost done this morning, tried to get the pads and calipers on, and these weren't going on right. Turns out the pads were the wrong ones, I found out AFTER I put that horrible permatex sticky anti-chatter crud on there. Man that stuff sets up!
Bled the new calipers several times. Getting good braking power but still kinda pulls to the right when braking. Not nearly as bad as before, but I'll have to take another look at it next weekend when I retighten the wheel bearings. Also I'm holding off on the u-joints until then also. Thanks everyone for your help!
-
---Bob

 

[Bored_2wd]

I've got a good picture of the bad bearing, how do I post it? The FAQ says to use the browse button at the bottom of the post page, but I don't have one on this page.

I couldn't get it out of the rotor, but didn't try too hard being that I was replacing it.
--Bob

 

[Ford_Racing_Guy]

i had problems with my brakes hanging up the first time i did them, so i took out the slide pins that hold the caliper on, cleaned out the crevices that the pin rides in and then greased them, haven't had a problem since.

 

[Rhett]

That's a good idea to clean them out...I always clean the grooves where the slides go very well with brake parts cleaner...I get them clean enough to eat off of (almost).

 

[Bored_2wd]

I cleaned them out scrubbing hard with a soft brass brush and plenty of brake cleaner. Maybe that's not good enough? Comparing the new calipers to the old spindle, the calipers are very smooth, much smoother than the spindle grooves. Should I use a straight file and see if I can get the spindle grooves smoother? Oh, one of the 'remanufactured' calipers had a burr on the edge of the groove, I did file that down.