Uneven brake pad wear

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.

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

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?

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.

07navi said:

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.

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

MrSticker said:

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

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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.

07navi said:

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.

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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?

MrSticker said:

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?

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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.

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

sjwelds said:

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

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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.