FINISHED! - would i be able to install my new rotors and brake pads?
 

I recently purchased a pair of powerslot rotors and a set of hawk performance brake pads... now the problem i'm running into is that local shops here in san diego won't install customer parts, so i basically have to do it myself. i know some of you have done this, and if you could point me in the direction of a how-to or give me any tips, i'd appreciate it! I've never done a rotor/pad install before... is this even something i could do?

I know i'd have to rent some tools, like an air ratchet to take off the wheel lugs, doesnt autozome rent those? what other tools would i need?

brake pads are easy. as for the rotors. Thats a handfull. Its not as easy as they used to be where the rotors just slide off.

Im sure someone can answer more thoroughly, i just wanted to give you a heads up before you go outside and start jacking the truck up.

dont use an air ractchet, use a torque wrench, the air ratchet will tighten them way to tight....


like leo said, the brake pads are easy to do, but i had my dad do my roaters cuz he used to be a mechanic....
http://www.carcentral.net/content/gu...DiscBrakes.php

i think rotors are the 3rd one down on the list

You shouldn't need air tools.. unless stuff is really stuck. Even then you should be able to get by w/ a hand impact driver. I've never done the Ranger (actually, I've never had a Ranger need brake work!), but I did my old VW once. Stuff was rusted on pretty good, but an impact driver worked nicely for me.

Get yourself a fourway lug-wrench for the wheel lugs.. or just use the spare tire tool. Or go all out and invest in a breaker bar and a torque wrench..

2wd break rotors are a pain, because you are doing the bearings at the same time. So you BEST bet is to learn how to pack the bearings and do them. While you've got the rotor off packing the bearings replace the rotors... simple as that!

All yout gotta do is watch the nifty video me brian and jon made....

http://www.bd-productions.com/Q/Rotorupgrade.wmv

does anyone reccomend changing out my brake lines for stainless steel braided ones? would it make any noticeable difference in brake response?

q that video is perfect thanks! are there any major differences between the 99-00 and 03's that you know of?

none that I know of....

Dude you have a 2wd with a hub assy, that video is for a 4wd. Your set-up is nothing like that. Also you do NOT want to compress your caliper pistons with the c-clamp you can damage the piston and/or boot and end up with a leak. Use your OLD brake pad and compress each piston a little at a time or compress from the center of the pad and then install the new pad. You will also have to install new bearing races into the new rotors (if they do not already have them installed) as well as re pack your wheel bearings and correctly tighten your castle nut. I do not have time to go into the deatils of the 2wd brake job right now while at work but I would highly recomend you have someone that knows what they are doing and learn from them. As for the SS brake lines that requires you to bleed the lines.

ok..i have a few disagreeing opinions...first for the video...don't waste your money on those stupid ass "lockwashers." I've posted about this before...those lockwashers serve no purpose to the consumer...they are only on there to prevent the rotor from falling off when it's going down the assembly line...so to us it is useless and a waste of money.

as far compressing your brake calipers brian is right....don't use a c-clamp directly on the caliper pistons...use an old pad or a piece of wood at least a 1/2 inch thick and compress them that way....

ok thanks for all the help so far guys... i dug up this post from john griggs on repacking wheel bearings, and im assuming my hub setup is identical to his:

https://www.ranger-forums.com/forum2...ead.php?t=3186

so my next question is - the castle nut has to be torqued just right... to 21ft/lbs while turning the drum counterclockwise, then to 17ft/lbs while turning the drum clockwise. what tool do i need so i know how much ft/lbs im giving it? would i need an impact wrench for that?

I never did it before my truck and I did it. I say very easy.

if you are replacing the rotor why are you dealing with repacking bearings? it's a hat off rotor design....

and his brakes seem to be working fine by the way.... I'd go more into it, but ya'll ain't worth my time.

hell yeah q tellem how it is..

Replacing the pads and rotors really should not be that difficult. A friend of mine and I did it in about half a day on his 2WD '00 F-150. When you consider that one of the inner races from the wheel bearings was seized to the spindle and had to be torched and we also got the wrong rotors (I know it sounds stupid, but there are like 20 kinds of rotors for '00 F-150s), it really wasn't that bad. Neither one of us had ever taken rotors off a vehicle before and all we had to go by was a Hayne's manual. I really wouldn't worry about it.

Must have tools for the job are...
- torque wrench to torque the castle nut and lug nuts
- socket for the castle nut
- c-clamp for the caliper (and an old brake pad)
- socket to remove caliper bracket (and a box end wrench if the socket is a tight fit)
- lug wrench
- jack and jack stands (not just a jack! jack stands are a must)

Things to get before you take stuff apart...
- new cotter pins
- solvent for the wheel bearings
- grease for the wheel bearings
- lots of rags


You don't need any air tools at all for the job. We did it in a driveway in the rain after one of the wheels on the F-150 almost fell off (we mainly just needed to do wheel bearings, but it was due for a brake job too, so we ended up doing everything since we had it apart).

ok im right in the middle of installign the new brakes... and i have a stupid question - which part is the castle nut?

It keeps the rotor and wheel bearings on the spindle.

so i did the rotor/brake pad install last night, and everything went smoothly! thanks everyone for your help! The hardest part was definitely removing the caliper braket bolts. I rented a torque wrench from autozone so I could torque the castle nut properly, but it came in handy for removing the caliper bolts. I didn't bleed my brake lines, as I did the method in Q's video where he removes the brake fluid cap. I did a quick test drive last night, and drove to work this morning and everything seems to be working perfectly. should i still bleed my brakes? how do i do that?

Did you remove the break line for any reason? If not then no, there is no need to bleed your breaks.

Thats what a breaker bar is for, you will throw off the calibration of the wrench using it like that.

oops thanks for the tip jon :o)

Why wouldn't you? If you have the rotor off anyway then your going to have your bearings out so may as well inspect an repack them. Prevenative maintance. 4wd's are the only ones you can get the rotor off with out taking the hubs/bearings out..

And noone asked why hes changing the pads/rotors but he is, so thats why it was suggested to do the bearings at the same time, kill two birds with one stone :wink:

i changed the rotors because they were out of spec, and one was warped. i was getting vibrations and roughness on hard braking, and the pads were down to about 1/8 inch too so I went ahead and replaced em with hawk performance ferro-carbon street pads. the powerslot rotors i got recommended installing them with new pads anyways.

lastly, the reason i ended up installing everything myself was because every local shop i called said they wouldnt install customer brought-in brake parts due to liability and warranty issues.

Good reason to replace them!

So that should answer Q's question then.. so why arn't we worth your time?