Ok so I took off my front driver’s side tire today to inspect the brakes because I have noticed a lot of brake dust ever since I got my front end alignment. I was looking at the pads and I noticed that the inner pad was worn way down and the outside pad looked like it was less than 1/2 way worn out.

I have 68k on my truck so I'm going to do a brake job this sat. And was just wondering if the uneven brake ware was b/c of my alignment problem "It has been out for 40k come to find out, the front tire was always leaning in at the top". And what is the best kind of brake pads to buy?

THANKS

 

I'd guess a sticking caliper.

 

Yeah, could be a sticking caliper, but more likely a sticking slider. Can't have anything at all to do with the alignment.

You need to clean and lube up the sliders, and use high heat grease made for disc brakes.

There are different qualities of aftermarket pads. Nothing wrong with stock Ford ones. You'll need to have the rotors turned.

 

Ok thanks, that's what I needed to know!

 

2nd that ...... 99% of the time uneven pad wear like that is caused by at least one sticking slider.

take the pads out and buff them off with some sandpaper. that should get rid of the glaze on the friction surface. then pop the slides out of the bracket/caliper and clean them up so that they shine again. i wire brush on a bench grinder does wonders for this.

when you put the sliders back make sure you use a liberal amount of a silicone based lubricant. the silicone stuff does a great job of resisiting things like heat, cold, water, salt .... etc etc

also, before you put the pads back into the bracket, clean up the metal shims on the top and bottom. put a bit of lube here too.

good luck!

 

I agree with the sticking slider, especially if you go offroad very much. I 'm having the same problem here. The only point I disagree with is the turning of the rotors. There is ne need to turn them, only scuff the glaze off. The pads will wear to the grooves rater quickly and the grooves don't impede stopping power. The only thing turning them really does is make them thinner, which isn't good. Another point to ponder; if you use pads from most of the big name parts stores, they have a lifetime warranty...so pads wearing out faster due to grooving themselves to the rotors isn't a big deal. You can replace them for free every couple of years.

As for the best pads, I've been wondering that myself. I've done a lot of reading on here the last few days and there is a lot of talk about Hawk pads. I ended up ordering EBC Greenstuff pads (wanted Yellowstuff, but they seem to be elusive for a Ranger), and Summit slotted/cross drilled rotors. We'll see how they do after break-in.

 

I guess I was the one who said to turn, and my reason for it is that at the mechanic shop I worked in we found that most semi metallic pads are too hard to wear well into the grooves and they end up squealing/chattering. But it sure is cheap and easy to try it, and you might get lucky.

I totally agree that if your discs aren't grooved badly and you use organic pads that the method described above works great.

I don't usually worry too much about turning making them too thin. The shops will only tun 'em a certain amount to stay within factory spec, and won't turn them past that. If they have to turn em more than that they make you buy new ones. And if your rotors are grooved that deeply you SHOULD buy new ones.

4.0 YJ's post above is great advice, and good tips on brake pads too.

 

You should turn the rotors if they are warped as well. I just had to do this on my truck. Had a pretty bad pulsating in the brake pedal when braking. My discs were warped. Turning them and replacing the pads completely solved this.