Mechanik

I had a full brake replacement by a local mechanic about 9 months ago, brakes and front rotors. The rotor assembly apparently includes wheel bearings. About 2 months later, I noticed a squeak in the right front and I took it back in.

They said the integrated bearing had failed and replaced the hub/rotor under warranty. Three months later, the squeak is back.

I'm still under warranty, but I'm wondering if something else might be wrong that the shop is missing. Any ideas? Did I just get 2 sets of bad parts, or should they look for something else? I trust them mechanically, but they're not Ford mechanics and may be missing something.

Original symptoms were a pulsing of the brake pedal. No squeal, no noticed decrease in stopping power. I was there when they pulled off the wheels and the pads were down to the metal and the rotors were scored very deep. While I didn't bring my micrometer, the rotors looked like a Ruffles potato chip and I was there to see that before the wheels came off. Obviously, the brakes were toast, which is OK with 50k miles and a first brake job!

weadjust

2WD or 4WD?

techrep

iTrader: (1)

If after reading his post you don’t know ?

Dirttracker18

Does it squeak all the time or just during braking?

My guess, and please do not take offence, is that you are a hard braker and are getting glazed pads due to over braking. These trucks are heavy and it is easy to overheat the brakes causing this symptom.

When overheated multiple times the pads get a hard glaze on them that causes a squeaking sound as the rotors rub lightly on the pads. It may also be there during initial braking but will likely go away with harder braking.

That being said a good shop should notice glazed pads right away but some are reluctant to gentle call out a customer on it. I had a manage that would just warranty instead of letting the customer know what the issue really was for fear of offending them and losing them.

Weadjust - only the 2wd F150 had this set up

nrivera04

Find out where he buys his part... Some companies use a cheap bearing to keep the rotor cost down. Might need to spring a few bucks if you can find one with a better bearing.

Things also happen too. There's imperfect batches that don't always get caught in the inspection process and find their way to retail shelves.

Another suggestion is to have your alignment checked if you haven't done it recently. Bad camber angles can put added stress on a bearing and cause failure.

xMUDKINGx

I had 3 rotor assembly's go out all on the same side within a year. I replaced them through warranty every time. Then I took my truck in to get the tranny rebuilt. They said it was bad again and they put some oem moog bearings in there. Ive yet to have the problem again.

Mechanik

Thanks to all for the ideas and suggestions. It is 2WD, by the way and happens only when the steering is turned off of center. During braking or any other time.

I'm kinda leaning towards the bad parts per NRIVERA and MUDKING. That's what the shop said first time around. They work on 4 cars for me, so I trust them a lot, but they are very cost-centric, always trying to get the best deal for me on parts. I may ask them to complain to their supplier and see if they can get comped a free set of upgraded rotors. Listening to it today, it sounds like both left and right are now squeaking and grinding.

I hadn't thought of alignment, NRIVERA. You started me thinking (don't usually do that). I managed to get a big-*** boulder wedged under the lower control arm last summer; 110 degrees in the Mojave desert and I had no interest in anything except not dying before I got the truck moving again. I had to use ramps and the jack to get it out without damaging the fascias. Wow! This might turn out to be my fault after all. Hope not, but will definitely check alignment.

weadjust

Take a look at the Centric Brake conversion kit. Centric Part # 120.65128. The kit comes with separate hub and rotor also includes axle nut. I have about 40,000 miles since I installed with no problems. Amazon was cheapest ($130.00) due to free shipping.

FST150

I went with Bosch rotors on my 2007 2wd and they are lifetime warranty. They were $99 a piece and are made really well

Mechanik

Well, I finally got it into the shop and asked them to look at alignment as well as do a thorough inspection of the suspension. They said it's just another crappy Chinese bearing. They did admit that they were trying to save me money by using the cheapest parts so I asked them to replace it with a premium part. Had to pay for the parts, but labor was free.

If I didn't have such a good relationship with them, I'd have argued about paying for the original parts plus the replacement (the second one was completely free), but they got screwed by the parts supplier and had to supply free labor twice.

They did offer to fix the electric windows and rubber door seals on my DeLorean and I may take them up on that. They only charge $40/hour for labor so it may be worth a shot.