I found out today I need to do the brakes on my f150. I went amd got pads and rotors before the ford dealer closed. But when I started i realized I should probably replace the calipers too. So I have a question, should l wait until Monday and get motorcraft from the dealer or go pick up some carquest premium ones from advance auto? I can live without the truck for a few days but id like to finish it up too. Im guessing motorcraft is reman like the carquest. What do you all think?
You don’t replace calipers unless a problem is found with one of them while doing the tear-down and inspection.
Tester
Rubber boot is torn on the pad facing side on one of the pistons. The pad on the piston side wore very unevenly, down to metal on the bottom and maybe 3/16 on the top. Slide pins move freely. Other pad was worn equally.
Maybe I should have phrased it the other pad was worn as it should be. Equal material across the pad
Then I’d just get calipers that meets or exceeds the OEM specifications from Advance.
Tester
Im sure there are good and bad reman parts across all brands. I just wondered if carquest had an overall good reputation.
Car Quest was my primary parts supplier for my shop for over 35 years.
I’ve gotten defective parts from them, but it was a very rare occurance.
Tester
I’d only buy the semi loaded brake calipers, so you get the caliper bracket and all the bolts and hardware…
Being a F-150, I’d also replace the front brake hoses while doing the calipers… Had to replace many hoses within a month of doing calipers on the F-150’s…
Tech tip, make sure you pay very close attention to the inboard vs the outboard brake pads, they ARE different, but will fit but the caliper will mount at a slight angle and will cause excessive pad wear…
Notice the ears on the top pad??
If you get calipers, you do the hoses at the same time
No ifs ands or buts
How many years on those F150s.
However many years Ford used those danged mickey mouse eared brake pads and caliper set up are the ones that really stick out in my mind…
When you work on and or deal with almost every daily driven us sold ICE non exotic vehicle, it gets really hard to remember every little detail and year make and model modern vehicle, but you (me anyway) tend to remember red flags, like when I see a certain designed part (like mickey mouse ears on brake pads) it throws a red flag in my simple little mind, at that point I do a little digging to find out what that red flag is… And when a parts house carries 20 stocked brake hoses of the same part number, that generally means there is an issue with that part number…
Dealer guys can remember more details about the vehicles they work on cause they see the same makes (mostly) day in and day out…
The ears are the inboard pads btw…
It just so happens I replaced my front calipers a month ago. I bought them at my local CarQuest, very happy with the quality. Came with the bracket and pad hardware. (CarQuest owned by Advance now but if the CQ has a good local following they keep the CQ name. Smart business practice) I used to be a Napa guy but during Covid their prices went sky high. I now use CQ or Autozone.
I also use Rockauto online. Very nice website. Most items they offer quite a few different brand names.
If a mechanic can’t use common sense to figure out the correct placement of those pictured brake pads . . . they need to consider leaving this field, imo
You would think right, but I have had to deal with mechanic’s mixing them up many times, the caliper is designed to rest over the ears on the pads to align it up, mix’em up and now they are pushing the caliper outward into a bind… Typically it is younger (newer) mechanics that don’t have a lot of experience with that set up…
The next big issue is the caliper bracket bolt falling out due to under torquing them…
I should framed my question better. . 2013 F150, 75,000 miles. Next brake job will require rotors and brake fluid flush. At this age, seems replacing hoses might be wise.
Since you will be doing the flush anyway, it is as good a time as any to replaces them, but since you are in the mileage area that the calipers start seizing up, why not go ahead and replace them too while your at it???..
Although personally I wouldn’t change them until I noticed an issue… but that’s just me… lol
Brembo or Wagner have been my go-to brands for years for new calipers. Most of the time I’ll buy rebuilt calipers or years ago I’d rebuild them myself. Not even sure you can buy the kits anymore.
Sometimes when buying a brand you like, you may not be getting what you think you are.
When I had my own shop my main supplier told me they were switching brake caliper and rotor brands from Raybestos to Wagner. My friend the manager said he was working late to do this since the switch had to happen overnight.
Were they moving out all their old Raybestos inventory and loading the shelves with Wagner calipers and rotors? Nope. They were just putting Wagner labels on the Raybestos boxes. Which is a common practice in the aftermarket world.