Disk Brake Pads With Heat Cracking

[Camper_Jeff___K]

Link Goes Direct To Video Segment Showing Brake Pad Wear.


I had my Truck Camper mounted on my F-250 for a couple months. I was in Arizona, Nevada, Oregon, Washington, and did drive a few steep hill grades between Seattle and Quartzsite and places between. I suddenly heard metal on metal sounds coming from my brakes. I went ahead and changed the front pads finding the inside front left pad material had sheared off the metal plate it was supposed to be attached to that goes in the caliper. These pads were only about a year old on the truck from when I made the same trip last year. It just seems a little quick to go through a set of pads.
I'm wondering, Has anybody else had experience with having their truck camper mounted on their truck for extended periods of time and had fast brake wear or pad failure like what I show?

[SidecarFlip]

Not all pads are created equal and not all calipers are either.

One thing to always keep in mind is that unlike drum brakes, where the retraction springs pull the shoes away from the drum, with all disc brakes, the only physical thing that provides clearance between the disc and the pad when you release pressure on the hydraulic system is the piston seal itself and the retraction clearance provided by the contraction of that seal is very minimal, much less than with drum/shoe brakes.

Consequently, it's imperative that the pads slide freely in the caliper bosses without any movement restriction and the pad ears, where they intersect the caliper boss are lubricated with a high temperature lubricant made specifically for disc brake application.

Having said that all pads are not created equal, I mean not the friction material but the stamping the material is mounted to. Stamped backing plates can be loose fitting or tight fitting and must always be checked and adjusted (filed or ground) for a slip fit.

That especially holds true for Ford trucks with twin piston Girling style calipers, because of the caliper / carrier design.

Being an EBC dealer, I run EBC HH Ceramic pads and Stop Tech drilled and slotted rotors but in reality most all are fine, I just don't like brake dust on my polished Alcoa wheels.

When an inner pad is shot but an outer is fine, that is a good indicator that the pads are not sliding in the caliper bosses and the inner pad will stay in contact with the rotor when the brakes are released. A lesser cause is the breakdown of the brake hose inner diameter and flakes of the material blocking the fluid flow. Keep in mind that when you apply pressure (to actuate the brakes), you apply a lot of hydraulic pressure. Upon release, the only pressure generated is the pressure from seal retraction and it's minimal.

My rule of thumb on flex brake hoses (chassis boss to caliper) is 10 years and change out. Besides at 10 years, the system should be flushed anyway. Brake fluid is hydroscopic, that is, it attracts moisture and that lowers the boiling pint and causes brake fade under high application pressure so 10 years is time for a flush, hoses and a refill (following your manufacturers recommended change / flush procedure).

Properly clearanced and operating pad sets don't wear uneven. There are underlying reasons for that uneven wear that need to be addressed. Just replacing pad sets does nothing for the root cause. just wears out another set of pads or eats up another rotor or both.

[Camper_Jeff___K]

Reality Check wrote:

Grit dog wrote:
That's just a defective brake pad. Can't say I've ever seen that happen before, but not related to hauling a camper I'm pretty certain. Good thing you caught it quick. Hard not to I spose!

Edit, after reading Reality checks post, did I read yours wrong Jeff? Brake pad lining just went MIA, right? Not wore out?

Grit dog's post made me rethink the question and answers here. I stand by my comments in general, and agree with many on here that other factors can come into play concerning wear. Buzzcut makes a great point about sticking calipers, which as pointed out by others, can cause 'riding the brakes' type of action and premature wear.

I did not watch the vid.. I'm ok with checking out a picture or 30 second video, but not a 60 min how to replace show.

So, there are failures, and if one pad sheared, could be a number of reasons. A quick check of the system should answer that.

I set the link to take you to the last couple minutes of the video. Specifically to the spot showing the box, brand, type, of new pads, then show the old pads. Only a couple specific minutes. Don't wish to waste your time either.

[Grit_dog]

What other conditions would cause a brake lining to go missing besides a defective bond between the pad and plate ?
I sure haven’t seen it all, but have driven, managed and repaired all types of vehicles and equipment including countless light trucks that I’m certain seen more abuse than a (seemingly) knowledgeable and responsible person would impose on their truck.
Read Jeff’s other posts, he’s mechanically inclined.
I cannot believe it’s anything other than a bad brake pad and the likely hood of it happening again is somewhere close to getting attacked by a polar bear and a regular bear at the same time!

[Reality_Check]

Grit dog wrote:
That's just a defective brake pad. Can't say I've ever seen that happen before, but not related to hauling a camper I'm pretty certain. Good thing you caught it quick. Hard not to I spose!

Edit, after reading Reality checks post, did I read yours wrong Jeff? Brake pad lining just went MIA, right? Not wore out?

Grit dog's post made me rethink the question and answers here. I stand by my comments in general, and agree with many on here that other factors can come into play concerning wear. Buzzcut makes a great point about sticking calipers, which as pointed out by others, can cause 'riding the brakes' type of action and premature wear.

I did not watch the vid.. I'm ok with checking out a picture or 30 second video, but not a 60 min how to replace show.

So, there are failures, and if one pad sheared, could be a number of reasons. A quick check of the system should answer that.

[covered_wagon]

Make sure that your rear brakes are working or adjusted properly so the front brakes aren't doing all the work.

Best way to check for a bad caliper is after a few miles down the road or anytime you stop is to place your hand near the center of each wheel. If one is significantly hotter you know there is a problem.

On a couple occasions I discovered the caliper slide pins had no lubrication. One was on a set of rebuilds that I had just purchased.

I always get the organic pads, non metallic as possible so I don't wear down the rotors.

[ticki2]

By the look of those pads they are either of poor quality or there is too much heat . I lean towards the latter . Brake calipers are notorious for sticking on their slides from road grime or rust and even ill fitting pads from New. After. Compressing the piston the caliper should slide in and out by hand . If it doesn't it will not open enough when you release the brakes and cause excessive heat , not enough for brake drag , but enough for heat . Like constantly riding your brakes .

[burningman]

Defective pad. If it were just expected wear because the truck was loaded a lot (which it isn’t), the other brakes would have been worn out too.
If you’re getting your brakes excessively hot, use more downshifting and exhaust brake.

[Camper_Jeff___K]

Grit dog wrote:
That's just a defective brake pad. Can't say I've ever seen that happen before, but not related to hauling a camper I'm pretty certain. Good thing you caught it quick. Hard not to I spose!

Edit, after reading Reality checks post, did I read yours wrong Jeff? Brake pad lining just went MIA, right? Not wore out?

The material on the one pad just sheared off. All the other pads looked to have worn evenly. About 3/16 to 1/4 inch of material was on the other pads.
Seattle and surrounding areas are hilly and I drive plenty of those hills regularly. I also drive stop and go traffic. Yearly mileage is 12 to 16K miles. I've gone about 25 to 30k miles on most brake pads over the last 12 years. The difference is this set of pads has more use with the truck camper on than any of the other brake pads. Close to 5 months with the truck camper on the truck over the last year. This probably is an amount of use with much increased weight issue.

[time2roll]

With the heat cracks I would call it failure of an inferior pad.

[Grit_dog]

That's just a defective brake pad. Can't say I've ever seen that happen before, but not related to hauling a camper I'm pretty certain. Good thing you caught it quick. Hard not to I spose!

Edit, after reading Reality checks post, did I read yours wrong Jeff? Brake pad lining just went MIA, right? Not wore out?

[Reality_Check]

This is like beating a dead horse to me.. Max out a truck with weight and the brakes will also be maxed out.

Our company 350/3500's (same brakes as 3/4 tns) have always ran heavy, and 1/2 the time with trailers. Brakes see massive use because of the city driving. Never surprised when they need brakes at 15-20k miles. We change the whole system each time; disc's, new calipers and pads. I haven't had a caliper turned in 20 years or more. It's just not worth it.

For us on this forum, lugging along with max weight on the back in the RV world, either ease up on the driving or get bigger brakes. It's like the guy that argues that 4 wheel drive is the solve all for driving in snow. Just 'cause you can get going and it works doesn't mean it's a good idea and is the best solution. You still have to stop.

I dare say, there aren't many 1 tons with campers that can stop in even close to the distance the larger trucks can (450-550/5500's, etc). Physic's... so, you either adjust your driving and habits or suffer the consequences.

To the OP... sounds about normal to me.

[Kayteg1]

1 years is mean less. How many miles?
Brake pads can have different quality, but it is driving style that matters the most.
I've been doing 100,000 miles on most of the pads.
Lately put Akebono in my sedan and after 80k miles measurement indicate they should be good for another 300k miles.

[Camper_Jeff___K]

I don't recall who made the old brake pads but they were metallic. These new pads are supposed to be good as you can see on the box as I read it aloud. It is not a sticking piston problem as when I pressed the pistons back into the cylinders, they did not stick. The rotors also spun freely before disassembly. A sticking piston on a caliper would cause somewhat of a pull to one side in the steering and that is not happening. Right now, the new pads are providing good stopping power and the stop is in a straight line without any pulling to either side. All is working properly.

[time2roll]

What brand are those pads? Get something different.

Are those Performance Friction replacements? Good pad but need to be warm for best braking. First couple stops in the morning can take more effort.

I recommend a very small amount of white lithium grease at the mounting points of the pads. This reduces the chance of getting stuck and creating unbalanced wear.

Don't use an extension on the impact gun for best performance. Especially a non-impact extension acts like a spring to absorb the hammer action.

Good time to flush with new brake fluid.

Yes I have seen pads come apart like that in the old days when turning wrenches paid the rent and tuition.

[jimh406]

My brakes have never worn like that either with my F350 or the current F450. We do use tow/haul and rarely use the brakes on the highway.

I would probably look into better brake pads and discs if I had your issue.