Brakes and rotors

[keeprollling]

This morning on the way to work my brakes started to grind. I am suspecting the same problem I had around December and October last year.

I am looking at kragen and autozone online and checking pricing and availability for parts. How hard is it to replace the hub from the rotor? I am seeing the rotors are a lot cheaper with out the hubs. Also does it make a difference to purchase the premium rotors then the OE?

Has anyone used the carbon pads? I see they are much more expensive then the semi-metallic budget version which is what I have used the last three times I have changed my brakes in a years time.

Does any one have drilled or slotted rotors on their trucks?

 

[dsgb9840]

as anyone with a 6k lb truck knows they love to eat breaks. and for some reason new breaks last soooo much longer than turned rotors and diff. pads. no idea y it is just so i promise. its this way with ANY car. id recommend u call OEM and get rotors and pads it will be cheaper in the long run. my bronco used to go through a set of pads in 9months to a year..i lifted my bronco 6" and looks like pads will last a good 18-20 months.

 

[RBuffordTJ]

This morning on the way to work my brakes started to grind. I am suspecting the same problem I had around December and October last year.
I am looking at kragen and autozone online and checking pricing and availability for parts. How hard is it to replace the hub from the rotor? I am seeing the rotors are a lot cheaper with out the hubs. Also does it make a difference to purchase the premium rotors then the OE?

Has anyone used the carbon pads? I see they are much more expensive then the semi-metallic budget version which is what I have used the last three times I have changed my brakes in a years time.

Does any one have drilled or slotted rotors on their trucks?

The carbon pads are rougher on the rotors but give you better stopping capability, thats why they are more expensive. I have not had to change mine yet so I'm not sure about the hub issue though.

Rick in Orlando

 

[keeprollling]

as anyone with a 6k lb truck knows they love to eat breaks. and for some reason new breaks last soooo much longer than turned rotors and diff. pads. no idea y it is just so i promise. its this way with ANY car. id recommend u call OEM and get rotors and pads it will be cheaper in the long run. my bronco used to go through a set of pads in 9months to a year..i lifted my bronco 6" and looks like pads will last a good 18-20 months.

After lifting, did you stay with the OEM?

Hey was that you on the Pinks episode where you raced your brother?

 

[BroncoJoe19]

Dispite the fact that my Crown Vic weighs 82% of my full size bronco, I get approximatley 50,000 - 60,000 miles to a set of brakes.

Driving styles, and the location where one drives has a lot to do with how many miles a set of brakes will last. Those who accellerate to the stop light and then stand on the brakes will be on the replacement path much sooner than one who starts to coast a block away.

Our bronco went through a set of pads too soon for the number of miles on them (in my opinion) and thanks to the explanation by members Blade262US, or Shift1515, of how calipers retract when one releases the brake pedal, I examined the calipers and replaced them this last time we did our brakes. I am sure they will last longer than the last set.

Briefly the calipers have a rubber seal that pulls the caliper piston back into place when one releases the brake. If that seal is broken, get a new caliper. They are surprisingly inexpensive.

Also make sure that the slides or pins that the cailpers slide on are greased with high temp caliper grease. If the calipers are not releasing as they should when one releases pressure from the brake pedal, one will certainly get premature wear of the brake pads.

 

[keeprollling]

Briefly the calipers have a rubber seal that pulls the caliper piston back into place when one releases the brake. If that seal is broken, get a new caliper. They are surprisingly inexpensive.
Also make sure that the slides or pins that the cailpers slide on are greased with high temp caliper grease. If the calipers are not releasing as they should when one releases pressure from the brake pedal, one will certainly get premature wear of the brake pads.

I did change both calipers in October, then I changed the passenger side again in December (when the pad slipped out of place and in between the far end of the caliper and rotor). The piston had popped out of place when the pad left its designated position, and the pad and piston bit down on the rubber seal around it.

The pins did seem like they were a little tight when I installed it the last time.

These are the ones right?



For some time when braking hard or going down hill I would get the burning brakes smell. Could that have something to do with the clips not being greased? Or could the rotor be crooked?

 

[BroncoJoe19]

That is the type of slides that I have on my '90 bronco, I think the '96 has a different mechanism, that looks more like a plunger, but that'd need to be greased as well.

I was speaking in generalities.

I don't know why you are getting a burning smell. IF they don't release they might smell.

How long it takes to come to a hard stop or how long and how steep a hill you are braking on could casue the brakes to heat up... give off a smell ? maybe. Personally if I am on a long downhill grade, I take my truck out of overdrive, and if needed, put her in 2nd gear. Then apply brakes as needed. Riding the brakes all the way down a long hill is not a good idea. I am not saying that is what you are doing. If one's brake fliud is contaminated and has accumulated water in it (by the way it is very hydrophillic... it loves water) the water may boil from exessive heat from a long application of the brakes, and cause the braking to fail. Steam is highly compressible, whereas a hydrolic system depends upon a noncompressible liquid.

 

[stusainte]

I have a 95 I had the same problem and when I changed the front rotor and hubs I went with the slotted ones cools the brakes much better and also I bought the semi pads and oem shoes from auto zone and got the lifetime waranty little bit more on cost but with the Bronco its worth it as many times you have to change brakes Hopfully next year Im going with a rear disk swap Good luck

 

[keeprollling]

Hopfully next year Im going with a rear disk swap Good luck

Yea, once i get this thing straighten out I will look into the rear disk conversion from Bronco Graveyard.

Was it a hassle to remove the hubs from the rotor? Where did you get your rotors from?

Personally if I am on a long downhill grade, I take my truck out of overdrive, and if needed, put her in 2nd gear. Then apply brakes as needed. Riding the brakes all the way down a long hill is not a good idea

I sometimes do, since I lost brake function the last time they went out while I was driving I am more cautious and try to slow down earlier in case my truck will fail to stop when I get to an intersection or the next car ahead of me.

 

[crazyhorse85]

I'm sure it's the same hub setup as my 85....to change the rotor place the rotor on a good flat surface like a workbench...here's the scary part using a hammer tip the lugs back through the rotor they will drop out the backside..put your new rotor on make sure it's seated completely and your holes are lined up and tap them back through till they are seated against the back of the hub...i know i was kinda leery at doing this for the first time...just go slow and use steady blows and it's easier than you think.....hope this helps.... B)

 

[BroncoJoe19]

You'll want to buy new lugs, at least that is what is recommeneded. IF you plan to reuse them, then put your lugnuts on them before you start hitting them, so they can protect/straighten out the threads on the way back off.

 

[BroncoJoe19]

Here is a thread that has a lot of good information in it regarding brakes calipers and rotors.

Blade262US even made a couple of videos of removing the studs. see post 15

http://broncozone.com/forums/index.php?s=&...ost&p=74569

 

[miesk5]

yo,

I didn't see the following Ford SD pads in the Brake Catalog for the 92, but for later years (at least in 94-96)

consider Motorcraft as dsgb.. wrote; especially -

Super Duty Brake Pads (This is the Ford BRAND name, it is not just for the F series SD trucks)

Engineered specifically for vehicles that are frequently exposed to high-heat and wear conditions, the new Super Duty brake pads from Motorcraft

 

[keeprollling]

Finally got them done. Bought two rotors for 30 each, and Raybestos Professional Grade. Although it seemed a little intimidating to begin with, it went well. I had to purchase a tool from AutoZone to remove some nuts inside the hub. I took off the rear drums off and cleaned everything up, gave the drum surface a little sanding and adjusted them. I have only drove it for about 10 miles so far, it has never felt the way it does now. Way happy, Thanks Guys for the info.

By the way Miesk, I could not find those motorcraft pads anywhere, the places I called, had no idea, but each one had a different opinion on their view of the best brake pad to use for this application. We will see how these work out.

 

[BroncoJoe19]

Ooooppps!

I guess we should have included a discussion of how to pull the front hubs!

I recall them being quite challenging the first time we pulled ours.

Glad you got it done. Gives one a feeling of accomplishment when things work out properly.

 

[robstin1]

some bronco models have rotors that are a whole assembly. these are more expensive. that is what type i have and i know one of them needs to be changed. i priced them and they are a little over 200. i'm not sure how hard they are, but i usually use a tech manual when i'm doing some jobs.

 

[BroncoJoe19]

I'm thinking that the last time that we did our front rotors, they gave us an option of just the rotor, or like you said the whole assembly which would include the hub, I think bearings and seals.

In the video above Blades shows us how to press the hub out with a hammer.

In reality (as I understand it) it is just the studs that are pressed in and out, and it can be done with a hammer.

 

[keeprollling]

I'm thinking that the last time that we did our front rotors, they gave us an option of just the rotor, or like you said the whole assembly which would include the hub, I think bearings and seals.
In the video above Blades shows us how to press the hub out with a hammer.

In reality (as I understand it) it is just the studs that are pressed in and out, and it can be done with a hammer.

Its funny you mention the videos, I was reading the posts after that where you were laughing because he looked as if he hit the rotor. Well It happened to me, unfortunatly not when removing them but when banging the new ones on, I hit the rotor twice, good thing I was able to control the hit and guided the hammer to only skim the inner edge of it.

After pressing the new one on the drivers side, the hub seemed to have a very slight wiggle on two lugs. I added some washers and tighten the lug nuts which seemed to have helped.