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Tractor hauler brake smell

N

Nick167

Member
I put new pads and rotors on my 13 Ford f350 and have only drove it about 40 miles but the driver's side wheel is definitely warmer and smells like brakes than the passenger side could it still be breaking in or something else?
 
I would bet you have a sticking caliper. It seems that the Ford ones are worse then the other brands. My sons says he replaces more calipers on the Fords then most. They are not too expensive these days. I would replace the caliper and the hose coming down form the frame. That can restrict the return brake fluid too.
 
I've squeezed the pistons back in the calipers on my GM, but they don't move well enough to release. So I get reman's and turn in the old ones for the core credit.
 
The antilock brake system can have single front wheel failure with no codes. If you bleed the caliper and it releases fully, My bet is ABS. Used is OK. A bit nasty to change, as the lines want to twist off at the ABS unit. It is imperative that a line wrench be used as well as juice, and tighten/loosen/tighten/loosen approach. Jim
 
When mine get sticky I reach over behind the wheel and hit them with a hammer ,after a few times they limber up and quit sticking.
 
Did you free up the slide pins? Just did our 2012 Ram 3500, 7 out of 8 slide pins seized up. Used to have same problem on our superduty too, at least one a year seized. They all use the same design of pins and boots and all fail at the same rate, just garbage design for salt spray exposure.

Wish someone would make them with stainless pins and brass inserts. Have tried every type of lube, nothing helps except driving regularly and heating the callipers up to drive the water out. Best trick seems to be to overpack the rubber boot so no airspace once a year and clean up the seat area with a file where the lip sits so its more water tight. Give the boot a twist so the boot has an even layer where the lip sits against the steel.

If you take them apart once a year you can usually get the seized ones apart with a torch, pin the vice, heat the caliper bracket up nice and hot, twist gently and work it free. If its been a couple of years the pin will shear off even with the caliper bracket red hot.
 
I vote for the sliding pins being seized. I did my daughters car and had the same problem as was described. I pulled the wheel and found the pins were seized, took some heat but got them out , wire wheeled, cleaned the bracket holes, lubed with pin glide and everything was fine.
 
If you are out on the road and have a disk caliper/front brake heating --- stinking even smoking a good stop gap trick is to continue on your trip but after every brake application wiggle the steering wheel back and forth . There is play in your front wheel bearing and when you wiggle the steering it drives the stuck piston back into the caliper just enough to clear the roter and stop heating/dragging. Driving down the road will also cool off the heated parts very quickly -- well provided they arnt rubbing any more. It is important to to do this maneuver after EVERY application of the brakes even just kicking off the cruse control. Check to see how things are going every once and awhile by stopping and feeling for heat on the front rim. Like I said if you forget once it will get smoking hot again
 
Probably like someone else said, the caliper is probably sticking. I rebuilt a couple on my E450 motorhome. Probably like yours. It would not do it again. Try it and you will see why. The pads are real close to the rotor. It may wear in. I had one stick, it got everything real hot. Maybe you didn't have the piston pushed in all the way. Stan
 
Ken, the big problem with stainless is that stainless is attacked by Chlorides. Chlorides in one form or another are used in road de-icing solutions. Some use Calcium chloride, some use Magnesium chloride, and plain old road salt is Sodium chloride. Stainless pins would soon fail when constantly exposed to road chemicals. They would also gall in the mating parts from heat. Stainless is a bad choice all around in that application. Brass might be better, but it is too soft when annealed and too brittle at full hardness.
 
Carry the wrench that fits the bleeder screw, drive it till it gets hot.

Quickly reach under and crack the bleeder. If it has pressure, the hose is collapsed internally.

If no pressure, and it's binding, there is a mechanical problem with the caliper, the slide screws, possibly a rattle clip is out of place and binding, pad incorrectly installed.
 
Thanks guys il pull the wheel back off and make sure the slide and everything is free and in right if I have to put a new caliper on ok make sure I replace the rubber hose there to. This is in the back wheel by the way
 

Check the temp of each rotor with a infrared temperature gun they are cheap now it does not get any easier than that...

Sticking calipers are not rare even rebuilt calipers out of the box...

If you have not overworking the brakes you should not smell them after they have been broke end on a test drive and allowed to cool off...

On a break end you heat'em up good they will smoke. If one is running hotter than it should you can feel it buy holding your hand over center of the wheel/rim just by doing that you can tell if one is hotter then the other..
 
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