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?

[Big_Katuna]

Eric&Lisa wrote:
Defective auto parts? New in the box? Naw, NEVER had that happen to me! LOL! :B

Try a different brand. Try a different seller. Don't be afraid to hit up Summit / Jegs / RockAuto instead of your local Shucks/O'Reilys/NAPA/etc. Finding a knowledgeable person at the local auto stores is pretty tough. You may not find what you are specifically looking for locally and the counter person will try to sell you something that is "the same thing". Yeah, right. You are smart do do some on-line research, including here on this forum.

-Eric

I agree. Cheapest and closest isn’t always bestes.

I remember in my youth I had a 69 Lincoln (460) that had a leaky water pump. Changing it out was not easy. Ac. Had to be removed and folded back, rad out, fan out, ps out, one bolt that you could only turn an 1/8th of a turn a whack. Meanwhile I’m working 7-10s.
Found a remanny put it on and like two weeks later, weeping again.

[Eric_Lisa]

Defective auto parts? New in the box? Naw, NEVER had that happen to me! LOL! :B

Try a different brand. Try a different seller. Don't be afraid to hit up Summit / Jegs / RockAuto instead of your local Shucks/O'Reilys/NAPA/etc. Finding a knowledgeable person at the local auto stores is pretty tough. You may not find what you are specifically looking for locally and the counter person will try to sell you something that is "the same thing". Yeah, right. You are smart do do some on-line research, including here on this forum.

-Eric

[Kayteg1]

KKELLER14K wrote:
When a brake is dragging....can't you smell that?...I just replaced a rear caliper that had seized up..not the guide pins but the caliper piston broke and seized up...SidecarFlip has this down....good write up.

Depends how much temperature it generates.
When I was using F450 for equipment hauling - infra red thermometer was my big friend. Not only tire temp would indicate lower pressure, but checking the brakes temp would indicate any problems with them, while occasional check of differential temp was not bad idea.
20 seconds spend at rest stop could avoid lot of problems down the road.
The laser-pointed thermometers go for $10 at HF sales. No excuse to not carry one.
With new truck and TPMS I don't do it anymore, but when truck ages, the thermometer is still handy.

[KKELLER14K]

When a brake is dragging....can't you smell that?...I just replaced a rear caliper that had seized up..not the guide pins but the caliper piston broke and seized up...SidecarFlip has this down....good write up.

[Big_Katuna]

I eye roll to mice elf all the time::R

Looking for a quite generator.

Can’t stop, having break problems.

We go their allot.

They lost there dog.

We like meetloaf to.

[Kayteg1]

Good we don't have brake problems and can concentrate on google speller 😄

[trail-explorer]

Big Katuna wrote:

trail-explorer wrote:

Kayteg1 wrote:
1 years is mean less.

What exactly does the phrase mean?

Sometimes you have read between the lines.

Pretty common when that person posts. Some of the words are missing or not even correct, so it makes it hard to understand what he/she is saying.

[Big_Katuna]

trail-explorer wrote:

Kayteg1 wrote:
1 years is mean less.

What exactly does the phrase mean?

Meaningless. Time doesn’t matter, mileage and use do.

Sometimes you have read between the lines.

[Big_Katuna]

I fought braking issues on my 35’ 20,000# over loaded, under designed 16” wheeled 97 F 53. Rebuilt completely; OEM calipers, slides Ford grease, hoses, high temp fluid, rotors. Still problems.

They ended when I started driving like I didn’t have brakes. Big gap when in traffic, second or third gear downhills, etc. I hated being that guy on downhills but losing your brakes is not fun.

[trail-explorer]

Kayteg1 wrote:
1 years is mean less.

What exactly does the phrase mean?

[time2roll]

BTW I have used and like EBC pads. What color would be recommended for this service without going ceramic?

[time2roll]

SidecarFlip wrote:
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.

The video shows pad to pad springs that push the pads away from the rotor.

I don't think wear itself was an issue. 3 pads looked very even but heat cracked, 1 pad lost the entire pad material. I assume heat was in process to break apart all the material on all the pads just that the one gave way first.

Braking method in extreme conditions could be an issue. +1 for checking the rear brakes.

And with some FF I watched the whole video. Brakes are important.

[Reality_Check]

What a fantastic response from Sidecarflip. Well written.

Camper_Jeff_&_Kelli wrote:

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.

No worries.. I'm sure I clicked on it and went and did something else..then came back to the full thing. My opps.

[Camper_Jeff___K]

SidecarFlip wrote:
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.

I like your answer thank you.
The calipers were sliding freely and the pistons did press back in freely and pressure in on one would cause the other to slide out unless held in place. It was the inner left that failed. The pads were from O'Reilly's which may or may not mean anything. I have had brake material failures on other vehicle's in the past. Thankfully these don't have rivets or the rotor would have been ruined. I should change the fluid. I think next brake change, I'll spring for new calipers. I plan to service the rears soon. Looking forward to wrestling off the rear rotors to service the emergency brake shoes.