Front drivers side caliper question
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Joined: Dec 2018
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Front drivers side caliper question
Hey everyone. Long time listener first time caller an I have encountered a issue that has me scratching my head. Hope to get some thoughts.
I have a 2014 f150 crew cab with 63K and within in the last three weeks I replaced my front rotors and pads. When I went to replace my driver side caliper it was a bit more challenging to bolt up. Shouldn’t be right!? (Driver side pad was more worn than pass) But with a little fignagling I managed to bolt it up. But after bleeding the brakes I could not spin the tire without great effort. So I tore it apart thinking somehow I had made some sort of mistake. Same result. Because I noticed that my pads were worn more on drivers side than passenger side I felt it was a caliper issue so I replaced both the caliper, bracket and brake line.
After bleeding the new caliper (and I did all four brakes in order) I received the same results! What are the odds two calipers would be bad right? So feeling like the pressure of the system was causing the caliper to “drag” I cracked open the bleeder expecting fluid to shoot out... but instead had a slow drip drip drip. And the caliper didn’t release. To continue to troubleshoot I pulled the caliper off and for grins pressed the brakes. Top piston extended leaving the lower piston in place. Should these not extend together? I decompressed the top piston..put a C clamp to hold it and with a much greater effort I pressed the brake to get the lower piston to extend. Put it all back together. Still is dragging.
I have driven the truck to work and back (not recommended I know) and the brake dust along with the smell confirms it’s dragging. It does not pull while driving and does not pull when braking.
So in short. New rotor new pads new brake like= brake dragging. I will say that the truck was in a somewhat minor collision where the guy hit the drivers tire and knocked it wonky. Had to have it towed. But that was a year and half ago.
Any thoughts?
Thanks in advance!
I have a 2014 f150 crew cab with 63K and within in the last three weeks I replaced my front rotors and pads. When I went to replace my driver side caliper it was a bit more challenging to bolt up. Shouldn’t be right!? (Driver side pad was more worn than pass) But with a little fignagling I managed to bolt it up. But after bleeding the brakes I could not spin the tire without great effort. So I tore it apart thinking somehow I had made some sort of mistake. Same result. Because I noticed that my pads were worn more on drivers side than passenger side I felt it was a caliper issue so I replaced both the caliper, bracket and brake line.
After bleeding the new caliper (and I did all four brakes in order) I received the same results! What are the odds two calipers would be bad right? So feeling like the pressure of the system was causing the caliper to “drag” I cracked open the bleeder expecting fluid to shoot out... but instead had a slow drip drip drip. And the caliper didn’t release. To continue to troubleshoot I pulled the caliper off and for grins pressed the brakes. Top piston extended leaving the lower piston in place. Should these not extend together? I decompressed the top piston..put a C clamp to hold it and with a much greater effort I pressed the brake to get the lower piston to extend. Put it all back together. Still is dragging.
I have driven the truck to work and back (not recommended I know) and the brake dust along with the smell confirms it’s dragging. It does not pull while driving and does not pull when braking.
So in short. New rotor new pads new brake like= brake dragging. I will say that the truck was in a somewhat minor collision where the guy hit the drivers tire and knocked it wonky. Had to have it towed. But that was a year and half ago.
Any thoughts?
Thanks in advance!
Last edited by servocrank; Dec 15, 2018 at 08:53 PM.
Thread Starter
Junior Member
Joined: Dec 2018
Posts: 2
Likes: 0
Nailed it
Well rnlcomp....you hit it on the head! I had taken one of the old pads in to compare with the new pads when I bought them and by chance pulled out one the same side. It was a match and I did not think that there would be an inner and outer. I was called away between doing the two sides and didn't even notice. Dumb mistake but an easy fix I guess.
Thank you very much for your insight!
Thank you very much for your insight!