What did you do to your Ranger today? (Part Deux!)

[Curious Hound]

Grill????

 

[Summers22]

Uhm, that's ^^^ "grillllzzz"

 

[Jazzer]

Zeroed in the toe in on the passenger front wheel, it was pulling slightly. AC was blowing warm so I added dye and R134a. Found my three year old remanned rack and pinion was leaking and looked up parts.

Brand new Motorcraft this time.

 

[scotts90ranger]

Modified the stereo install, cut the shelf under the stereo in the '97 in half and added 2" of depth which leaves knuckle room around the shifter with the phone in, also put some screws in from the top to keep the phone from sliding off with some weedeater fuel line over the threads, much better! Got a bit redneck with the added material since the wife threw away a plastic trash can I just cut out a chunk of that and made 2" wide pieces, used the brake to bend the corners on the bottom one and stitched the pieces together with a bunch of small zip ties...

 

[Summers22]

Installed Powerstop Z17 front pads a week ago. Getting a grinding noise the very first stop of the day (yes I did the bedding in process on new rotors). Have only driven it 20 miles since pads installed, but wondering if I installed them in the correct orientation. Does anyone know of the little tab in the blue circle means its an inner or outer pad? I could also have a pad guide not centered as well. I'll be taking them apart this evening to investigate so would like to make sure the pads go back un correctly. Thanks

 

[97RangerXLT]

I don't think it matters unless it hits something on the caliper causing the brake pad to not seat against the rotor...

All it is there for is to scream at you when your pads are worn.

do you have a stuck/ frozen caliper? maybe a brake line is collapsing and causing the caliper to stick and wear the pads prematurely. I have had fairly good results with powerstop on my previous car (2010 Buick Lucerne) was on my second set of pads when I traded it off, they were about shot. the only gripe I had was that they only lasted 55k miles, but I had drilled and slotted rotors as well

AJ

 

[Summers22]

Thanks, this was just neglected maintenance. Only had the truck for 2 months and 300 miles. No issues noise wise before the rotor and pad replacement. I dont normally buy ceramic pads and have read they can be noisy during break-in.

 

[Blmpkn]

Ordered it new spring hangers, shackle hangers, shackles and shock mounts almost ready to start reassembly.. mucho excite.

 

[sgtsandman]

Thanks, this was just neglected maintenance. Only had the truck for 2 months and 300 miles. No issues noise wise before the rotor and pad replacement. I dont normally buy ceramic pads and have read they can be noisy during break-in.

They can make a moaning noise while braking but it can also be caused by pad movement in the caliper assembly. Normally a thin coating of high temperature brake grease at the contact points in the caliper and on the ears that slip into the grooves of the bracket can help with that, if not eliminate it.

The pads also need to move freely in the bracket. If they don't look at the grooves under the hardware and make sure they are free of rust, dirt, debris. That can cause the hardware to not seat properly, binding the pads. If they still don't move freely, due to poor manufacturing standards, you may need to remove a little bit of material from the end of the tabs that ride in the groove.

While you had it all apart, did you make sure the caliper pins move freely in the caliper? If not, did you lube them with silicone brake grease? You want silicone there because regular brake grease can cause the rubber boots and noise suppressing sleeve (if so equipped) on one of the pins to swell, binding up pin movement.

 

[Summers22]

I removed the pins, wire brushed them and lubed them up. New guides on the caliper bracket were installed and I used the powerstop high temp grease on the guides and contact points. Im a pro at brakes, so this is out ofnthe ordinary for me.

 

[Summers22]

Just removed calipers, pads and pins. Adeed even more high temp brake grease and seems better. Kind of redid the bedding in process as well.

 

[Blmpkn]

I've never greased the contact points.. those clips are stainless for a reason after all. Those being all greasy just gives a spot for dirt/grime to adhere to and end up providing the opposite effect. Pretty minimal grease on the pins as well.. always been a syl-glide guy.

 

[97RangerXLT]

cleaned and polished the center caps which have been sitting on the workbench in the garage since last year when I did the brakes. put them back on the truck. I can now drive around without my nuts showing.

AJ

 

[pjtoledo]

I've never greased the contact points.. those clips are stainless for a reason after all. Those being all greasy just gives a spot for dirt/grime to adhere to and end up providing the opposite effect. Pretty minimal grease on the pins as well.. always been a syl-glide guy.

I put grease between the clips and the bracket to prevent delay rust on the bracket.

 

[pentode]

I put grease between the clips and the bracket to prevent delay rust on the bracket.

I've occasionally seen rust buildup under those clips (rust-jacking?) that builds up enough to lock the pads in place solid. I always put some kind of hydrophobic grease (silicone or insert Fluid Film ad here) under the clips... and I do put hi temp silicone grease on the clips too as I clean and check my brakes every spring. Agreed they can get gunky with neglect but also "stainless" steel isn't always as stainless as it used to be.