Tighten your caliper bracket bolts!

[white_shadow]

just read this thread, did not know this was that serious of a problem. i will be checking them tomorrow. and if they are loose they get lock tite. i need new pads, and possibly rotors.

 

[blueka]

Happened to me too...

Si

 

[bilzy7]

I just hand tightened mine but I did it really tight and added nothing to bolts, guess I shouldn't of but it got junked anyways. I'll remember this when I do my expo's brakes.

 

[GRNMACHINE]

Found this in Chilton's:

6. On dual piston calipers, and if removed, position the anchor plate to the steering knuckle and install the two retaining bolts. Use a threadlocking compound on the old bolts or install new bolts and tighten them to 73-97 ft. lbs. (98-132 Nm)

10. Position the hose/bolt to the caliper then tighten the bolt to 22-29 ft. lbs. (30-40 Nm)

 

[wingman98]

I just bought a 98 explorer and thought the clunking was ball joints. I looked on here and found this thread. To my surprise they were not loose, they were completely gone! I replaced them and the clunk is gone. Thanks for the post, probably saved my life if not my truck.

 

[1998MM]

Fixed, but BROKEN now.

My calipers were loose also. Tightened them up and no clunking.
HOWEVER!!!! Someone had replaced the (REAR) Caliper bolts with the wrong size. When I tightened them down one broke off in the hole.

Where can I buy the REAR Bolts for a 1998 Mountaineer?

 

[white_shadow]

My calipers were loose also. Tightened them up and no clunking.
HOWEVER!!!! Someone had replaced the (REAR) Caliper bolts with the wrong size. When I tightened them down one broke off in the hole.

Where can I buy the REAR Bolts for a 1998 Mountaineer?

i would guess ford, but try a parts house first

 

[1998MM]

I had been experiencing some strange issues. My ABS would kick in and shutter when coming to a stop on dry pavement. Then the ABS light would come on and it would kick off my ABS.

Often when going over a speed bump, my front end would then clunk. I thought my bearing was going out or something.

I found this forum, took off all 4 wheels, tightened up all my bolts which were loose, replaced the 2 rear rotors and breaks.

So far, no clunking, and no ABS issues.

 

[theluke19]

Completed a brake job earlier this weekend.. and learned this valuable lesson today!

Long story short - an all day trail run about an hour outside of town got cut short (or I thought) by my front left wheel locking up shortly prior to even reaching the trail head. Luckily - we were on a dirt road, and going about 20 so my tire just skid to a stop.

Turns out, both caliper bolts came out while on the bumpy part of the dirt road. Luckily, nothing catastrophic, such as a wheel blowout occurred. Told the rest of the group to go on ahead. A short (could have been long) walk to find the bolts (with some extra eyes from a police office in the area), some dirty work, and a little bit later we were able to take another trail up to catch our group at the end of their first trail, and make it through the rest of the day... Ridiculous turn of events.

Tighten your caliper bolts!!!!!!!

 

[morgfarm1]

Noooowww I read about this. HAI! First post, but I've been following these forums since I got an '01 Exploder Sport (Since traded for a 99 Explorer Limited).

the upper caliper bolt backed out on me going down I-5 down the Sexton pass (100 miles into a 400 mile trip). I at first thought it be my sway bar bolt (which lost the bushings shortly before the trip). The second time I stopped to check, I discovered my right front calipers loose (After changing the front rotors, coincidence? According to past posts, I guess not really)

I got lucky enough to be towed to a local walmart where I bought a new jack, Lug wrench and got the wheel off. I was very lucky that at 6pm on a friday night, There was an O'Reily around the corner from walmart. Within an hour of discovering my problem (and having tools) i was back on the road. I just got my Limited 6 days ago so I'll be sure to check those next chance I get to make sure the same thing that happened to the poor Ranger on page 1 doesnt happen to mine.

If anyone sees these threads in the future and sees this response. Seriously. Check the bolts. or you'll end up like rwenzing's friend on page one. (Lord knows that wheel wasn't cheap)

 

[swshawaii]

Threadlocker is a good idea - new factory bolts come with it already applied o the threads. However, it is not a substitute for tightening them to 85 lb-ft with a torque wrench. Undertorqued caliper anchor bolts still come loose, threadlocker or not.

 

[Glen4X4]

I figure this thread should be bumped for any newbies....I ran into this issue....I haven't messed with the brakes on my truck for a long while, and heard some clunking but couldn't figure it out and didn't give the brakes a thought so I went on to wheeling over the weekend and noticed it was louder. I "Searched" the forum and didn't think the brake caliper bracket was a problem but was worth a check and sure enough that was the issue, over time they worked lose...

 

[bilzy7]

Yeah, I just recently installed pretty much everything in the front. Hubs, rotors/pads, inner/out tie rods, lower ball joints, UCA's, and shocks.
It's been about a month, I am going to be checking as I randomly hear a clunk recently. I believe it to be the lower shock bolts as they always seem to work themselves loose. I am about to lock tight them... I probably did them this time around 60-80 ft/lbs. I do not want to snap them... They worked loose on my old ranger and ended up ruining the bushing...

 

[eazuaje]

This happenned to me yesterday, thank God I wasn't doing any highway or freeway. I started to hear the rattle, got worried, stopped and checked, I was just about 10 miles from home; front passanger side bolts were gone. I got home as slow as I could, took the wheel of and found the rim almost wasted, took down the caliper bracket and I'm off now to find the right bolts for it.
I'll keep you posted!

Eiber.

 

[diesel_s]

This happenned to me yesterday, thank God I wasn't doing any highway or freeway. I started to hear the rattle, got worried, stopped and checked, I was just about 10 miles from home; front passanger side bolts were gone. I got home as slow as I could, took the wheel of and found the rim almost wasted, took down the caliper bracket and I'm off now to find the right bolts for it.
I'll keep you posted!

Eiber.

Thank God is right!!! I was at highway speed in my 2001 Sport when this happened. Thank God I didnt crash but that was one frightening time when attempting to slow down.

 

[Spartan]

I was reading through this thread, and saw that someone "hand tightened" the caliper bolts.

Wow. Just Wow.

 

[masospaghetti]

My calipers were loose also. Tightened them up and no clunking.
HOWEVER!!!! Someone had replaced the (REAR) Caliper bolts with the wrong size. When I tightened them down one broke off in the hole.

Where can I buy the REAR Bolts for a 1998 Mountaineer?

Which bolt are you talking about? Front or rear of the car? and front or rear caliper bolt, or bracket bolt? I believe they are all metric bolts, M6, M8, or M10.

I've had luck with McMaster (www.Mcmaster.com) for hard to find items, ACE hardware has a lot of metric hardware as well. Even NAPA tends to have more metric stuff than a typical big box store.

In other news - I put new brake pads in my explorer today and the driver's side bracket bolts were loose. Glad my pads decided to squeal when they did!

 

[SoNic67]

Unless there is real evidence of contamination of any brake caliper slider pin/bolt, do not loosen it or remove it. Leave it tight, and simply remove the caliper bracket bolts.

How would you see that contamination if you don't remove those bolts?
I think that avoiding maintenance because of that reason is dangerous. I always remove those bolts to lubricate the sliding pins, put them back tight and, in 20 years, never had one backing out. Never used blue locktite either. Probably most of the people that complained used either lubricant or anti-seize on those bolts.

On the other hand I saw pins that didn't get serviced in 10 years and the baked grease was caused pads to drag and overheat the whole caliper... leading eventually to leaks at the cylinder gasket.

 

[mike60510]

WOW, I had no idea that so many people had this issue. Happen to me yesterday, the car would not go in reverse. I though it was a locked hub or something, I pulled the wheel off and there it was, the anchor bracket missing the top bolt. The caliper would jam back into the wheel and locking it up.

I guess its my fault. when I did the brakes the bolt was nearly impossible to get off. So I though I'd use a little anti-seize. I will NEVER use that again on something like that.

Advanced Auto had the part Dorman - Help 13898

 

[jpoprock]

I learned that the sleeve that these bolts screw into is stripped. Its the piece that has the rubber boot on it (dunno what it's called, but I need a new one, and matching bolt).