Uneven brake pad wear

[Motor On]

Front brake pads have uneven wear. Left front is 4 mm; Right front is 9 mm. Clean and grease the caliper pins, or replace the Left front caliper?

If you replace one caliper should you replace the opposite caliper at the same time?

2009 Expedition with 214k miles.

 

[John D]

I would start by just replacing the pins. Simple, cheap and they were in stock at my local NAPA.

 

[Plati]

In my 2003XLT I've been through a lot of brake parts. How you maintain the vehicle is a personal preference but I would not replace the calipers in pairs & have not in practice done that.

I would get a cheap infrared heat gun and measure the rotor / caliper temps after a drive with braking used. Both sides should be close in temp to each other. If one side is hotter than other then something is sticking and yes it could be the caliper hanging up because its bad (piston) or because of the pins sticking (not allowing caliper to slide) or a pad sticking (hanging up on something, I always file pads down around perimeter to make sure they side easily in tracks) or something else? I think it could even be the flexible hose collapsed inside not allowing the caliper to release. If that was the case it would (probably) pull to one side when braking.

So I would do a little diagnosis first then act on that. If you can clean the pins and grease them and it fixes the problem then go ahead and replace the brake pads in pairs (both left and right wheel). I've never heard of replacing pins but apparently thats a thing too, didn't know.

There are 4 pads there ... whats the wear on all 4?
Is one side wearing too much or is the other side wearing too little?
(how many miles on those pads?)

Maybe you could have a situation where you replace the caliper with the extra wear on the pad thinking its bad and its really the other caliper thats bad or maybe neither caliper is bad?

I'm NOT a brake expert ... but these are some thoughts. Don't just throw parts at it, diagnose it and determine what the problem is and go down that route.

My $0.02. Does this make sense?

 

[07navi]

No need to replace pins. Brakes often wear unevenly, I would just throw some new pads in it when the time comes, don't overthink it. Grease the pins though.

 

[Plati]

No need to replace pins. Brakes often wear unevenly, I would just throw some new pads in it when the time comes, don't overthink it. Grease the pins though.

I guess you were a mechanic at a Dealership, back in the day?
Or maybe Monroe Muffler or a Discount Tire place?

 

[07navi]

I guess you were a mechanic at a Dealership, back in the day?
Or maybe Monroe Muffler or a Discount Tire place?

Another wise guy for the forum, every forum has a couple.

You are both getting too deep into it, he hasn't even greased the pins yet. Read my post again and quit being a wise guy.

 

[Plati]

Another wise guy for the forum, every forum has a couple.

You are both getting too deep into it, he hasn't even greased the pins yet. Read my post again and quit being a wise guy.

I'm not being a wise guy. You just sound like a hack with bad advice.

Its an interesting world. I'm pretty sure you believe what you say.
Pretty much the situation nowadays. One man's trash is another man's treasure.
Don't feel bad, you have plenty of company. However, if you're going to give advice on a Forum you should include a legal disclosure that you are a HACK and you're advice is sketchy and may cause collateral damage.

Maybe you should read my post again?

 

[07navi]

I'm not being a wise guy. You just sound like a hack with bad advice.

Its an interesting world. I'm pretty sure you believe what you say.
Pretty much the situation nowadays. One man's trash is another man's treasure.

Maybe you should read my post again?

I read your post, but you are way ahead of the issue, he hasn't even greased the pins yet.......get it?
I might sound like a hack but that's because you don't have the experience I have. I listed my credentials a couple times in here.

 

[sjwelds]

Just stuffed a wire in beside a fuse to power oil pressure gauge = HACK

 

[07navi]

Just stuffed a wire in beside a fuse to power oil pressure gauge = HACK

Oh yeah, the other wise guy............lol. You can buy a pack of 10 worthless fuse piggybacks but the stuffed wire trick works quite well and has been done for many years.

 

[Trainmaster]

include a legal disclosure that you are a HACK and you're advice is sketchy and may cause collateral damage.

This is real funny stuff. Love you guys.

 

[RichardH]

If you folks don't mind, I'm going to jump in here.

In my experience, Occam's Razor may come in to play: Occam's Razor is the principle that, of two explanations that account for all the facts, the simpler one is more likely to be correct. In medicine it's referred (loosely here) to as differential diagnosis - eliminate what it isn't to point at what the DX is.

Yes, I've heard of the 'parts cannon' - avoid throwing parts at it until it's fixed, but..

After no luck with my '03 EB's stalling issue with 3 different shops, same same - I threw in the towel and went to the dealer. It took the dealer 3 visits to figure it out. Their shop Forman worked on it the last last two attempts. They were stumped. On visit 3 they noticed I had new EGR, DPFE and the two hoses. After substantial $$, it turned out the pressure sensor need replacing although new (I replaced that), (in addition to the cables to the battery and starter fixed in earlier visit) .

Eventually they got it right

Additionally, considering the current financial climate, I myself have tried some inexpensive repairs and believe it or not at no charge from the dealer when they could have charged $$$. I had a P0442 IIRC, small Evap Leak. Service advisor said Rich, put a new gas cap on it. He didn't even try to sell me a dealer one!

So if the first line to cure is mostly labor and small parts costs, I'm ok with it for my truck.

BTW, I'm not saying either opinion in the preceding posts are either right or wrong. I am sometimes surprised with what can cure our vehicles.

GL to OP and all others.

Dick

 

[Motor On]

Dealer recommended and performed a regular brake service with new pads, and fresh brake fluid. I was told they lubricated the caliper pins and that the pads appear to be moving freely. They did not recommend replacing the caliper.
*Service advisor said he was mistaken, that it was actually left rear, not left front brakes.. He showed me the old pads. The inner pad was worn down to 4mm, and the outer pad on the same caliper was still at 9. Not sure if a brake fluid change was really necessary.
It seems like something was messed up for that kind of uneven pad wear. I would like to speak directly to the service tech to verify what happened. I hope that does it for a while.

 

[07navi]

Dealer recommended and performed a regular brake service with new pads, and fresh brake fluid. I was told they lubricated the caliper pins and that the pads appear to be moving freely. They did not recommend replacing the caliper.
*Service advisor said he was mistaken, that it was actually left rear, not left front brakes.. He showed me the old pads. The inner pad was worn down to 4mm, and the outer pad on the same caliper was still at 9. Not sure if a brake fluid change was really necessary.
It seems like something was messed up for that kind of uneven pad wear. I would like to speak directly to the service tech to verify what happened. I hope that does it for a while.

It's common for pads to wear faster on one side, it could have had some lube, fluid, or something else drip on one side at one time or something else got in there. At 214k miles you needed new fluid also. I wouldn't worry about it. Just throw some new pads in it when the time comes................Navi07, The Hack.

 

[Plati]

I had new tires installed last year (2014EL) and was informed that inner rear pads were worn more than outer (same calipers, both sides I think). It was a reasonable time for new rear brakes anyway (98K) so I took it to my trusted shop to have that work done. They told me the inner pads were the most worn (vs outer) and that is typical because of the brake design. So they told me it was "normal". Just sharing what happened on my Expy and what I was told.

 

[Motor On]

Some interesting info on this topic is at this link:
https://drivetribe.com/p/causes-of-...e6_GTsOV1BrvUN_Qxg?iid=QyBuEOTtQBC-dkFWNnr0yg

 

[the hogg]

Just did my front brakes on 2012 and they were metal on metal. I took them off and whoever did the brakes before I bought it put the inboard pads on the outside. Brake pads look similar, but the inboard pads have 2 humps on the top and outboard pads don't.
Learned this the hard way several years ago. Used to working on GM brakes and most of them are the same, inboard or out. If the inboards are put on the outside the humps will get stuck on the caliper. The backside of the caliper has indentations for the humps.
Hope this was helpful...if not I hope you get some other replies.
Good Luck and stay safe,
The Hogg

 

[the hogg]

Just did my front brakes on 2012 and they were metal on metal. I took them off and whoever did the brakes before I bought it put the inboard pads on the outside. Brake pads look similar, but the inboard pads have 2 humps on the top and outboard pads don't.
Learned this the hard way several years ago. Used to working on GM brakes and most of them are the same, inboard or out. If the inboards are put on the outside the humps will get stuck on the caliper. The backside of the caliper has indentations for the humps.
Hope this was helpful...if not I hope you get some other replies.
Good Luck and stay safe,
The Hogg

 

[C Trost]

I have had sticking brake on ‘03 160k and ‘10 125k. Both times it was the RF. ‘03 it was the rubber flex line. It collapsed inside so fluid would push through but not flow back and brake would stick. I replaced the caliper first but that didn’t work, then replaced the line. ‘10 had similar problem. I just replaced both calibers and flex lines up front and flushed/replaced the brake fluid.

 

[2010ELExpy4x4]

Just did my front brakes on 2012 and they were metal on metal. I took them off and whoever did the brakes before I bought it put the inboard pads on the outside. Brake pads look similar, but the inboard pads have 2 humps on the top and outboard pads don't.
Learned this the hard way several years ago. Used to working on GM brakes and most of them are the same, inboard or out. If the inboards are put on the outside the humps will get stuck on the caliper. The backside of the caliper has indentations for the humps.
Hope this was helpful...if not I hope you get some other replies.
Good Luck and stay safe,
The Hogg

I too learned the hard way, when we first got our 2010, didn't take to long to figure out,didn't even make it to the end of the driveway, taught me to pay closer attention when doing brakes though.