Hey folks,

I have a 3.0L V6 2002 Ford Ranger RWD with torsion bar front suspension.

I'm looking to replace my front rotors and wheel bearings in one go, but I want to be sure I have all the parts and tools I'll need for the job. I figured I can list them here and get feed back to be sure I have all I need before I start this job so that I don't end up in the lurch with my only vehicle up on blocks. Also, do you folks think I should go ahead and just replace my calipers while I'm at it? I have about 190k on my Ranger, and I had heard that Calipers may need to be replaced just as a preventative maintenance measure at or over 100k miles or so.

So far, here's what I think I'll need:

Parts:

• Rotors (2)
• Brake pads (4)
• Front outer bearing (2)
• Front inner bearing (2)
• Front wheel seal (2)
• Replacement pad shims

Tools/Supplies:

• Lucas Red and Tacky Grease for packing the bearings and coating the spindle (1lb)
• Silicone brake parts lubricant
• Nitrile Gloves
• Brake parts cleaner
• Cotter pins
• Ratchet
• Breaker bar
• Jack stands
• Jack
• Torque Wrench
• Pliers
• Hammer/mallet
• Blue Removable threadlocker
• 15mm socket
• 13mm socket
• 24mm socket
• Steel brush
• Brake fluid

These are the tutorial videos I based my list off of:


So what do ya'll think? Am I missing anything before I start the job?

 

Update:

I tackled to project yesterday. Apparently, my ranger has a 27mm axel nut rather than a 24mm like the guy in the video does. I think it has to do with the fact my Ranger is a 2WD with torsion bar suspension rather than a 2WD with a spring suspension. Originally, I was going to reuse my old front calipers, but the bleeder screws were so worn I could not for the life of me get a good grip and remove and replace them, so I just decided to replace the calipers.

I also opted to use Valvoline moly-fortified full synthetic grease instead of Lucas red and tacky because I had read that Ford uses and recommends moly fortified grease in its wheel bearings. No idea if that's true or not, but I didn't want to risk it.

The parts I went with from RockAuto:
(Driver's side caliper) CARDONE18P4607
(Passenger's side caliper) CARDONE18P4606
(Rotor and brake pad kit) POWER STOPCRK1854 Evolution Geomet Coated Kit
Timken inner and outer wheel bearings and wheel seals


Driver's side (Original Hardware)

Passenger's side (New Hardware)

 

Are the faces of the rotor (the part the brake pad grips onto) painted? If so that's gonna contaminate the pads.....

 

Hey Fordzilla!

They are "coated" rotors, so they basically are painted as far as I under stand it. It's some sort of high temp, rust, and water resistant coating called "Geomet" or something like that I think. Braking will strip the coating material from the rotar to expose the actual steel the pads will grip to.

I'd imagine braking will clear the material contamination from the brake pads too given some more driving and braking.

So far I haven't had any problems in braking, but you do raise a good point.

 

If you haven't noticed any issues, then maybe it does dissipate under friction and heat, but it's not something I've heard of before.

 

When I did my first brake job on mine, I used the duralast gold rotors that were powder coated. Just had to brake a few times hard and it didn't permanently contaminate them.

 

Thanks for posting these videos!

 

No problem. If you have any questions doing this on a torsion bar 2wd ranger, let me know!

 

I've done this before on my old 97 Ranger 2WD. I'm guessing it's going to be roughly the same process for an 04 Ranger FX4? I looked in the Chiltons and could not find anything about the rotors,bearings and races which is weird. Could have just missed it, it's a big book.

 

An 04 4wd Ranger will have sealed hub assemblies, sometimes referred to as unit bearing assemblies, and sometimes as sealed bearing assemblies. It is a bearing/hub assembly that bolts to the steering knuckle. The only way to service them is to replace them.

 

Thanks for the reply. I was looking online at all the auto parts places and i was seeing the full hubs for sale that matched my vehicle, and other ones where it was just the rotor but with nothing else on them. I figure I'll just pop the brakes and rotors off and have a look see for myself. Well that turned into a whole day of failure. Caliper bracket bolts are rusted to ****. No longer a 15mm bolt, not quite a 14mm one eitther. Pretty sure the last owner messed them up some and then I came in and tried like hell to get them off and finished the job of stripping them. I can't do much on a car, but I could at least change the pads and rotors. The rotors aren't in too bad a shape, so I figure I'll just do pads for now and deal with the rotors later. Bought new pads as well and they won't fit in bracket with the clips provided lol. One of THOSE days.

 

The joys of working on an old vehicle lol.
I hope things get better for you and that you can get the job done sooner rather than later.

 

You didn't miss it.....it just says "remove the rotor from the hub. Use a block of wood and tap it if they don't come right off." Yeah, right, AFTER you remove the various parts to get to that stage!

 

Question:
It seems there are two sizes of rotors for a 2002 B3000 RWD DS (same as 3.0 Ranger) with torsion bar suspension, 261 mm and 287 mm. Any way to tell which without removing a wheel and measuring? (Its too cold right now to work on it and I want to get the parts ordered.)