Attention: TDR Forum Junkies 
A friend of mine has an '06 Mega cab with about 50K on it. This past weekend he was doing some traveling and towing a trailer with about 5K lbs on it and noticed that his right rear brake caliper was leaking. He was able to get back home okay and on Monday he came to work, no trailer, and the rear caliper didn't leak. He only tows occasionally. He said that he hasn't noticed any pulsing in the brake pedal to indicate a warped rotor and the pads aren't squealing. He took it to a shop (not a dealer) and they said that he needed a new caliper, new rear rotors, and new brake pads to the tune of about $1400. He told them to just give him back the truck.
He may or may not need new brake pads. Just because they aren't squealing yet doesn't mean that they aren't close (he didn't say how the pads looked). If the rotors aren't warped and he said he couldn't see any other kind of damage, I'd say his rotors are just fine and that the shop was trying to "squeal" him. The leaking caliper is another story. Does anybody have any ideas what would cause it to leak under load like this? If he rebuilt it, would that take care of it or should he get a new caliper? Thoughts?
(I accidentally posted this in the 3rd Gen Engine and Transmission Forum too. )
He may or may not need new brake pads. Just because they aren't squealing yet doesn't mean that they aren't close (he didn't say how the pads looked). If the rotors aren't warped and he said he couldn't see any other kind of damage, I'd say his rotors are just fine and that the shop was trying to "squeal" him. The leaking caliper is another story. Does anybody have any ideas what would cause it to leak under load like this? If he rebuilt it, would that take care of it or should he get a new caliper? Thoughts?
(I accidentally posted this in the 3rd Gen Engine and Transmission Forum too. )
