An LKQ U-pull-it yard, not to far from me, said they sell the brakets for $50 a pair, when they have them. It may be beneficial to roll up your sleves and go junk yarding. Calipers are $15 to $25 a pair. I wouldn't reuse rotors unless they are rust free. Also,new lines aren't very expensive unless you go braided SS.

 

If there were any junk yards around me I'd totally check it out. Unfortunately there aren't.. too many people buy new cars all the time here that junk yards aren't a thing..lol. Up in PA by my parents there are a ton but that's too hard to go back and forth.

For a DD I don't think I ever needed more brakes than what the ranger has by default. It would just be nice to have all discs/rotors but that's ok. I haven't run into a problem with the rear drums and they are easy enough to change/replace super cheap as well.

-Nigel

 

I may be the only one who wishes they never did this mod. I bought all new parts, some more than once. The caliper brackets are perfectly spaced/centered where the brake rotor is directly in the middle of the bracket, and both sides still want to eat the inside or inboard brake pads in just a few months. I've greased and re-greased the slide pins, and checked to confirm that the calipers can move on them easily, and they do.

I also rebuilt by limited slip at the same time, and had installed new axle seals just prior to that. I stacked em' in there tightly, so when checking axle endplay, it was virtually non-existent.

It boggles the mind why these things are doing this. It's all so basic. And, no, the parking brake isn't dragging. I left a little slack in the cables when I fabricated the cable-end extension pieces.


GB :)

 

Cant say you are the only one. On my lifted truck it works great. I get even wear and couldnt be happier.

On my lowered truck is a totally different animal. Exact same problems you are describing. Cant figure it out... only thing helping me is the truck is on jack stands in the garage getting body work. Not worried about it right now.

 

I believe the wear problem is on the 7.5 rear. I wonder if the mounting is slightly different than the 8.8.

 

My truck has a factory installed 8.8" - 4.10 - TracLok and is wearing the inside pads like crazy.



GB :)

 

The only thing I can think of would be when turning corners quickly, the outside axle when cornering is forcing itself inward and pushing against the inboard brake pad.

Other than that, I'm lost as to why it would do this.

I plan to get it on jackstands this weekend to have a closer look.


GB :)

 

Oh-kay, I thought you had the 7.5. I wonder if the C clips are worn and allowing the axles to slide in and out to much. I'm just spitballing here and seeing if anything makes sense.

 

Everything looked perfect when I rebuilt the TrakLoc. C-clips, new friction discs, and I added a couple of the old steels to "tighten up" the limited slip while I was at it. So the axle shafts had nearly zero endplay.


For the life of me, I can't see why it's doing it. I may have to add more spacer-washers on each side to make the rotor ride further away from the center of the caliper bracket and inside brake pad..


GB :)

 

It sounds like you cover your rear end pretty good. LOL

Shimming the calipers or brackets is the only thing left that I can think of.

 

I'm revisiting this issue all over again, because this mod on my 2001 Ranger 8.8 is complete crap. The only thing I'm left wondering is if there is a residual pressure valve that's holding around 10psi on the rear brake line. Drum brakes are set up that way from the factory on a lot of vehicles. Leaving one in the rear brake circuit would hold pressure on the rear calipers all the time, wearing out pads quickly..

I went over to my 2002 parts truck. Same 8.8 axle.. I took the brake lines off the master cylinder to look in to the "rear" port to see if it had a brass seat with a check valve (residual valve) underneath of it and it doesn't.

As described here: https://www.fordmuscleforums.com/thr...inders.578025/

That left me thinking that maybe the ABS block has a residual valve built-in to it. So I took it off and so far, I can't find any check valve in the system. I know there has to be one, unless the original drum brake wheel cylinders have built-in valves to keep the drum brake springs from overpowering the pressure in the system.. You can't have a drum brake system that doesn't hold line pressure (i.e. without a residual valve or other similar device) because the brake springs will pull the shoes back all the way, giving you a ton of pedal travel to engage the rear brakes at the same time as the front.

I've followed the rear brake line, looking for a valve and it's only regular brake line all the way to the ABS distribution block from what I can tell.

So I'm still at a loss here, and I'm about to put in my 4th or 5th set of rear brake pads, AGAIN.


I might be pulling the drum brake parts from my 2002 parts truck and converting back to the old drum brake system..



GB :)

 

To me, it sounds like you have one of two issues.
1) Trapped air in the calipers or ABS unit. This can cause brake drag as the system heats up and the trapped air expands. Also, brake fluid is hygroscopic and brake service shouldn't be done outside on a very humid day.
2) Caliper pistons have old brake gunk on the piston not letting them fully release after the brakes being applied.

 

All of the calipers and brackets, etc, were new when installed, so there shouldn't have been anything sticking as far as pistons go.. Same with the slide pins. Both sides do it, so it's a system issue, not an individual component issue such as sticking piston, etc. Brake hoses were also new. I also tried shimming the caliper brackets differently after my first set of quickly worn out pads..

I never let the master cylinder run dry when bleeding either, so no air would have made it to the ABS unit. Also, the ABS unit never kicks on at odd times or cycles needlessly, so that's a good indication there's no air in the system. It does function fine when heavily applying the brakes in an emergency stop on gravel or dirt. My pedal also felt exactly the same as it did from the factory after the mod was done.

I bled an entire 32oz bottle through the system just to flush out ALL of the old fluid and air. I do that to all of my vehicles every couple/few years.

The most odd thing is the inside pads wearing 4 to 6 times faster than the outside pads. The slide pins on the brackets should take care of centering the calipers, and as I said before, the caliper brackets are centered perfectly over the rotors.

I found a cooked pinion bearing and u-joint today when tearing it all down, so I'm swapping it out for a complete 4:10 open diff 8.8" axle I already have laying around. I hate to lose my L/S but I'm gonna use what I already have. Save some cash.

 

Seems like you have it all covered and there shouldn't be any problems.

 

I hope so. I just really hate to lose the limited slip, especially considering I just rebuilt it not that long ago. Not a cheap affair..

Oh, I forgot. I also found two crossmembers rotted in two and the fuel tank hanging by one strap. So now it's looking like I might back-half the truck. Using a donor frame I have.

Stupid Illinois and their salted winter roads.

Today I also took the ABS unit off of my donor truck, just to take it apart to see what makes it tick. I was hoping to find a residual pressure valve in it, but nope..

 

I did this swap a long time ago on my 8.8 never had a single issue. Another member has that axle now and has put over 10k on the setup that I installed and hasn't had a single issue either. Are you sure there isn't drag being created from the parking brake portion of the caliper?

 

When I built the tubing pieces to take up the slack in the parking brake cable, I purposely left some slack in the cables. So they shouldn't be dragging. I've ran in to 2 or 3 different people now that have had the exact same problem. The inside pads wearing crazy fast.

I'm still leaning towards it being a residual valve somewhere in the system, and only on certain model years of truck possibly.

 

Inside pad wear sounds like the caliper isn't centered on the rotor properly.

 

I thought the same thing after the first set of pads wore out so quickly. Even though I had the caliper bracket perfectly centered over the rotor, I tried shimming it in both directions (over the long term) and nothing improved.

This is why I believe it to be a brake system issue. A residual valve for a drum brake system (around 10psi) would hold just enough pressure on the rear calipers to make them grab the rotor a little all the time, and though the calipers would self-center via the slide pins, it might favor wearing the inside pad the most.

 

Have you tried to shim the caliper the opposite way with a washer to see if it solves your problem? Seems like that would be way easier than tearing the whole brake system apart looking for a valve.

 

Yep, I tried shimming it both directions. Both by adding shims, and running no shim at all. No shims at all put the caliper brackets much too close to the rotor, but I had to try it. I'm telling you guys, this is a mind f*ck. I've been dealing with this issue, and trying corrective measures, since I did the mod over two years ago. A couple other guys have had the exact same problem. No amount of shimming corrects the issue.

 

Did you do cobra brakes or gt brakes?

 

GT brakes.

 

Are you sure the mounting bracket was for gt and not cobra? Idk if they're different, but that means you have a solid rotor, right?

 

The brackets were for a GT. I also swapped them right/left and left/right like you have to after cutting them. Yes, the rotors are solid and not vented. The rotors are centered in the caliper bracket perfectly with minimal shimming. Still wears the inside pads like crazy. Makes zero sense to me. That's why I still believe it's a residual pressure valve doing it. It might have something to do with model year of Ranger and the braking systems that they were equipped with in those years?