big time problems.

[Doug K 2]

So I haven't had any problems with my trac for almost 4 years now. I have driven it cross country 3 times now. It is a real trooper. Until now... It started a week ago when I heard a light grinding sound in my front driver side wheel. I had a busy week so I didn't have time to get it checked out. And now today I started hearing a clunking sound. I'm not sure where it is coming from. I pulled into a parking lot to check it out and when I tried to stop I had almost no break pressure. The breaks still worked I just had to pump them a little. I was just wondering if anyone has had this happen to them or have a feeling on what it might be. Thanks for the much needed help in advance.

 

[Mrlunchbox]

On my 96 Explorer I let the brakes go for so long that I went from the annoying squeak to the grinding. One day I heard a loud clunk and brake pedal went to the floor. Had to push it several times to get pressure back up. Felt a little soupy after that. Took a look in the AM and found that the pad on the outside passenger side had fallen off! How that happened I haven't a clue. Anyrate the pad falling out caused the caliper to squeeze up against the rotor. It still stopped but barely. It over extended the caliper as well as making one hell of a racket. Maybe take a look into that?

 

[Doug K 2]

I hear the sound even when the brakes are not applied. I'm almost positive that it's not the breaks. But I will take a look and see if that may be the problem.

 

[A K]

Perhaps a bad hub/bad bearings. If the hub overheats, it can cause the brake fluid to break down.

 

[swshawaii]

the pad on the outside passenger side had fallen off!

I'm almost positive that it's not the breaks.

I would say you definitely have a brake problem, and possibly a bearing issue.

Four years is a good interval for front pad wear, it's usually around 40-50K. GL

 

[Les C]

Our son just went 92k on front brakes & 185k on rear brakes on his '05.

 

[Richard L]

les c,

It's not uncommon for people to wear out brake pads in as little as 20K-25K while other may go 100K miles on a set of brakes. It all has to do with your driving style and where you drive. If you do a lot of highway driving in rural areas, you can put hundreds of miles on your vehicle without ever having to touch your brakes.



I had a friend who went through front brake pads every 18K miles in his Mazda. Mazda claimed that he or his wife must have been driving while resting their foot on the brake pedal? After two brake jobs by Mazda using OEM pads, he took the car to an independent shop and got over 40K miles on that set of pads.



I also had a caliper mounting pin fall out on my Honda after a brake job? Don't know how, but it did. That let the caliper pivot up and down on the remaining pin when the brakes were applied....talk about clunking and grinding caused by the caliper dragging on the inside of the wheel. It was quickly fixed without and damage to the brakes or the wheel.



I agree with swshawaii, It definitely sounds like something broke or came apart in the front wheel, and it most likely involves the brake caliper or pads. You may have lost a pin, or perhaps the bonding failed and te brake friction material separated from the backing plate?



Pull the wheel off and do a little inspection and I think the problem will become very obvious.



...Rich

 

[rod denton]

1 caliper(s) not operating as they should will make you feel that

 

[Mrlunchbox]

Well for me even if not having the brakes applied I still had that sound. It was because as I had mentioned that the caliper itself was always up against the rotor. It made the most awful sound while traveling until I applied the brakes, then it would get worse. LoL

 

[O W]

Richard is right, mileage is definitely not a gauge for checking brake wear. Doug you didn't specify 2wd or 4wd. If its 2wd you will find it easy and quick to pop wheel off and take a look at everything in there.

 

[O W]

Richard is right, mileage is definitely not a gauge for checking brake wear. Doug you didn't specify 2wd or 4wd. If its 2wd you will find it easy and quick to pop wheel off and take a look at everything in there.

 

[Doug K 2]

thanks guys for the help. I checked out the brakes and they were messed up. I had a friend help me because I'm not too mechanically inclined. The calipers were rubbing against the disk at an angle. Nit exactly sure what happened but I replaced the calipers and the disk. This was an awesome place to find help. Thank you!