Help me out with brakes

[Kach]

Sorry to ask about stuff that probably gets asked a lot - I tried searching and there was just too much info to sort through to figure it all out!

My 2003 QCSB 2500 4x4 is getting close to needing some brakes. I just turned 159k, bought the truck with 120k and haven't personally had the wheels off yet (take it in for tire rotations and had some u-joint work done at a shop while traveling, so no need yet).

I have no idea if the rotors are OEM, it sounds like on these trucks many are able to turn the rotors, maybe more than once? My only experience with brakes is cars and lighter trucks - I usually just turn them once or replace the rotors with the pads if they're pretty cheap. How likely is it that I need rotors at this mileage? What would be some good ones to get?

I'm doing pads and new parking brake shoes for sure. I'm thinking about going with the Hawk super-duty pads. Does anyone have experience with those? Better recommendations?

And finally, any big challenges or surprises on this truck (versus brake jobs on most other vehicles)? I live pretty rural now, so I have to be a bit more prepared when taking on the big projects...

Thanks!

 

[cerberusiam]

Pads you probably need but unless you have been abusing the parking brake shoes they are normally not a problem. Check them first.

You can turn the rotors as long as they stay in spec, however, they may be in spec for thickness and the runout is beyond what it should be. Recipe for chasing vibrations until your are crazy. Make sure they are as true as possible for runout.

Replace the calipers. If you feel you can rebuild them adequately you can save so me $$ but for the cost a good reman is also a good choice. At the mileage you are at they are ready for replacement.

When pulling the calipers open the bleeder and take the pressure off and shove the piston back, do not try to push fluid back thru the system. The ABS controller will not like that and you will be buying a spendy part if it messes it up. Now is also an excellent time to flush ALL the brake fluid out. Always flush from the MC thru the ABS controller to keep the crud out of things.

The fronts rotors should just fall off when you pull the retainers, the rears are likely going to need persuasion. After removing the retainers whack the back side of the rotor a couple of times with a sledge to get them loose.

 

[Prairie Dog]

Agree'd, replace the calipers.
I cheaped out on the fronts and reused them ( I really knew better) and a couple of weeks later they started binding up. After having it towed home I replaced the calipers.

I used EBC Greens. They brake really good but they like to make a whistle noise when cold. The more miles I get on them the less they do it but the way its going it will probably take 5K or so to make them stop.

 

[jelag]

I've owned a group of these trucks over the past 20 years.... (at least 18) both Fords and Dodges... each has had a pacbrake... and we would see 125-150K miles between brake jobs... I was in the Clutch and Brake business doing HD remanufacturing work... we would pull the wheels and calipers.. if there was damage to the piston boot we'd rebuild the caliper ... if not we'd compress the piston dumping the fluid out of the caliper, NEVER pushing it back to the master cylinder to save time... we'd pull the rotor and machine the rotor... during our life of the truck... usually 350K miles we'd never exceed the minimum thickness of the rotor, so we never installed new rotors... BTW there is no magic in one brand from another (in my opinion)... they must meet a standard for the mix of gray iron and other metals... the exception is rotors used in racing that have to meet a standard for damage in an accident.... once the rotor was machined... we install new pads... and than use at least 1 quart of brake fluid to bleed out the system and install fresh fluid.. We always used one of the major brands... Raybestos, Bendix... etc.. most are made of shore.. that's fine.. the OE pads are made there also.... the key is a pad that meets FMSI standards... (Friction Materials Standard Institute)

In all our trucks we've not had a problem with the above procedure... I was after lowest cost per mile... each truck ran with a DOT number and went through an annual inspection yearly... I'm now retired and treat my personal truck the same as my small fleet... in each step we'd inspect, and decide if something needs to be done... ON the Fords, we'd get them hot enough to damage to boot on the pistons.. and we'd figure we'd have to rebuild the calipers.... with the Dodges we found that the larger diameter of the location of the caliper and the use of the 17' tires would allow for better cooling and to my knowledge we never found a boot damaged from heat...

Sorry this is so long... hope it helps...

 

[Prairie Dog]

I have a heavy equipment mechanic friend that owns his own business and they do brakes every day. He has had so many issues with calipers sticking after pad replacement they they stopped do so about 10 years ago. He will not reuse high mileage calipers because the risk is too high.
I should have trusted him when he told me to replace the calipers - it would have saved me a lot of hassle.
So some folks that have tons of experience clearly have different results.

 

[jelag]

The key to caliper replacement/repair/or leave in the truck...... is a decision I make when I get the old caliper off and see the boot between the piston and the caliper... I roll back the boot and if there is dirt behind the boot its replaced or we rebuild it.... if the area behind the boot is clean than we reuse them... that has always been how I draw the line.... but I've always flushed the brake system every 24 months or so... keeping clean fluid at the caliper... and we always open the bleeder when we compress the piston and dump the brake fluid.... we are careful when we do compress the piston.... making sure we compress it into caliper keep it square....

I know a lot of mechanics who replace them and only installed a loaded caliper (caliper with pad's installed)... I don't know any of the large tire chains that don't always replace the calipers when they do brakes.... but I owned a company that remanufactured Clutches, brake shoes, air compressors... etc for class 8 trucks... its just how comfortable you are with knowing what your re-using is in excellent shape.....

My other thought is that if we were working on a customers truck instead of our own fleet... I might do it differently.... . I often don't turn rotors if we test them with a dial indicator and the run out is less than .002".... Again... all my actions were based on keeping the cost per mile at its lowest.... and keeping the trucks to 350K miles....

Just my thoughts...