HOW TO - Brake change on a Ford F150

Greetings folks! Things are slowing down in the lawn mower world, so I decided it was time to do some maintenance on the truck we just bought. It is a 1997 Ford F-150, which has been great for hauling/towing things around town! Since we bought it the brakes have been squeaking when coming to a stop, plus a horrible vibration. I was debating between having the rotors re surfaced or replacing them, and i'm glad I chose the replacement.

I figured not knowing the history of the vehicle, or if the rotors were even thick enough to machine it would be better to replace them. I began by jacking up the front of the truck, lowering it on jack stands, and removing the tires. Next came taking of the caliper, which was done by removal of these two bolts.

After pulling that off, the pads are able to be pulled out.

Since i'm taking off the rotors, the caliper bracket has to come off. That was easily done be removing these 2 bolts. (Let's pretend I didn't get ahead of myself and thats the old rotor, deal?)

After that a few love taps with a hammer the rotor came off, and the new one was ready to go one. Before installing it I used brake clean to remove the anti-rust coating the factory puts on.

After sliding the rotor on and bolting back on the caliper bracket, the pads were ready to go on. Before doing that the pads need to lubed. I put it on both ends of the pads where it slides into the bracket, and where the caliper touches the back of the pad.

Also another lube point is the caliper slides. I just pull them out a put a small amount on them. 2 of mine where frozen and I had to clean the rust off, then lube.

Of course the caliper wont go back on with all of these new components, so the piston has to be pressed back into the bore. I used a C clamp and an old brake pad to do this.

After that, you can put the caliper back on and tighten the two caliper bolts. Don't forget to pump up the brakes before you start moving!

Pretty easy job anyone can take on. I recently also fixed the heat since winter is coming up. I need to replace the rear windshield as well, because it is missing the sliding door...along with rear brakes as well. Also i'm sure i'll be sharing some snowblower repairs I will be doing soon. Up next time!

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