grabby brakes

[Jim parnell]

have an 02 ST4wd, and have noticed the brakes being a bit grabby after the vehicle has sat overnight in the garage or at work for the day, it does pull a bit to the right when applying the brakes a bit on the hard side, no shimmy or shake from warped rotors or pulsating brake pedal. The bit about being grabby when cold kinda bothers me a bit. the front disc pads are in good shape based on my inspection yesterday, and no noise from the rear drums (haven't looked at those yet though)



Know I need to inspect the rear drums and bleed the brake system, what could be causing this grabby condition???

 

[Susan Pierce]

it sounds like your slide pins are sticking on your calipers or your pistonin the caliper is sticking , it could also be your metering vavle , did you check for uneven wear on the disk pads , usually the drum braks will not cause this problem , but if it does your rear tires would be locking up, you might want to check the adjustment on the rear brakes to make sure they are adjusted right, to much slack and youre just stopping on the front ones, do you have this problem all day or just in the morning

 

[Todd Z]

I agree,



Clean the slide pins and lube them and depending on your mileage you may want to get the brake fluid flushed...



Todd Z

 

[Jim P]

there is 71k on the truck so changing the brake fluid is a job i've got in mind to do soon

but the brakes just seem to do it after the truck has sat all night in the garage or all day at work, and it's just the first time I use them, the 2nd time they seem fine



best I could tell the brake pads seemed to be wearing at the same rate, (did not measure, just eyeballed them) , they look relatively new a I can still see some of the printing done by the manufacturerer that is on the side facing out from the rotor.



will try lubing the slide pins and see what happens thanks.

 

[Casey B]

I have the same problem. I attribute it to oxidation on the rotors from moisture, or better known as rust. It's especially bad after a wash and I don't drive it until later.



Is there a special grease for the slides or will any grease work?

 

[Todd Z]

C, there is a special caliper lube they sell... I have used high temp anti seize and super lube with no problems...



Todd Z

 

[blksn8k]

I had the same problem with my Ranger. In my case it was the rear drum brakes that caused the problem. It was especially bad after the brakes got wet, as in driving in a heavy rainstorm or through a waterhole. And they call this an FX4. Anyway, the problem was apparently the OEM material used in the brake shoes. Once I replaced the rear shoes the problem went away. The drum design Ford uses on later Rangers and I assume Sport Tracs with drum brakes seems to allow a lot of moisture inside the drum which also leads to rusty springs and self adjusters. The springs tend to fail prematurely and the adjusters freeze up, both of which can lead to excessive wear of the shoes. I also have to believe the OEM shoes were absorbing moisture and swelling which would explain the lockup the first time you touch the brakes after they get wet. In my case it didn't have to sit overnight. They would lock up the first time you touched the brakes after running through a mud puddle. Not one Ford's better ideas.

 

[Casey B]

The rear could be my problem. The shoes look fine and a visual inspection to me seems ok. My truck has 73k on it and I got it with 52k. Not sure if they were ever changed before but I know the drums need turning.

 

[Jake Levin]

I had something similar happen to me. Last spring we had a very warm morning with heavy heavy rain. the rain stopped around noon and the temperature dropped from 65 to about 35 in 2 hours. I started the truck, put it in gear and it wouldn't move. Seems the rear brakes seized up on me. Once the car in front of me moved I just kept on the gas until the broke free. Took it straight to the shop and had them cleaned and adjusted. Been fine since.

 

[Tom Schindler]

Drum brakes do have those problems sometimes. Moisture in the drum causes them to lock up. Never noticed it on cehicles with 4 wheel disk brakes.



My money is that it is the rear drums and have nothing to do with the front brakes.





Tom