Brake problems

[SpeedNinja]

I've got a few problems with the truck... mostly in the right front. I think a few of them are with the brakes, but I wanted to bounce some ideas off y'all before I take the truck apart so I can get it back together quicker. I can't afford a lot of downtime.

Here's some of its quirks...
- bad shaking while braking
- after driving in heavy rain, if I park it for the night the next morning one of the brakes will be locked up (not certain this is the right front)
- occasionally in the morning the brake pedal won't go in until I start the truck

Stuff that's been done...
- the rotors, pads and wheel bearings were replaced, didn't solve the problem

My guess, the right front caliper is hanging up (I'm guessing I should just replace it) and/or I need to bleed the lines. It's got some other issues that I'll post up in the suspension section...
Any other ideas on what it could be?

 

[TomB1269]

Could also be a bad flex line, I had two cars that the failed internally and acted like a one away valve, fluid in but not out, or a lag in brake response to that tire.

 

[AllanD]

On a 2000 Ranger it isn't really likely to be a stuck caliper

you can probably fix the problem in a couple minutes with a 13mm socket and a 16oz hammer.

jack up the truck remove the wheel and unbolt the caliper,
then remove it and the pads if the pads are hard to remove
from the caliper bracket you've found your problem.

Remove the stainless steel anti-rattle clips from the caliper bracket
and chip off the rust that forms there

Degrease the Spray them generously with any kind of paint you have laying
around and reassemble.

AD

 

[SpeedNinja]

Cool, thanks. I'll keep those in mind.

 

[Crunchy]

On a 2000 Ranger it isn't really likely to be a stuck caliper

Don't say that just yet. I have an 03, and last summer I had to replace my front brakes cause one caliper had a stuck slide pin and seized piston. Also, my rears, I had to replace everything back to the junction ontop the diffy cause of siezed cylinders (hard lines, pads, drums, spring kit, cylinders, etc....).

That sucked, but I should be good to go for a while now. Brake maintenance just became a twice a year thing for me (lube slide pins, clean the rattle clips, flush system while in there, ect....).

 

[SpeedNinja]

Sorry, disappeared for a while. Figured I'd give this thread some closure in case anyone digs it up in a search. I found out a few things...

- After replacing the PS caliper and finding no improvement, I tried the DS caliper... there was water. It was hydro-locking. It's only done it once since then when I drove through a good bit of water, but it hasn't done it again since that once... and I've kinda been avoiding puddles... not really though because I love running over debris and making splashes.

- The rotors were replaced by my dad when he was driving it... he got them from PepBoys. Along with some other issues (hub area, and wheel bearing), these pieces of crap warped almost instantly after being installed. So... I need new hubs/rotors again. Any suggestions on where to get some?

 

[SpeedNinja]

Thinking about getting a 3" lift kit using lift spindles so I can upgrade to the 11.28" rotors.