...if you replace the calipers, make sure the lines are bled clear of any air.

Also, the weight [500 lbs] you put in the bed has nothing to do with any of this.

Sort out the brakes first, then see what needs to be done regarding the transmission.

 

Hey I really do appreciate the help, so I don't know the most about cars. I'm 16 but I'm sure I can find some videos on what to do. If I do this my self what all would I need to buy? Also what did you mean by batching? I assume buying in multiple purchases to save money?

 

Thanks for clearing that too, I wasn't sure of it was my fault here. Certainly not thinking more of the occasional clunking should have been thought about more but I've been stuck on that P0012. However the breaks seem to be the cause and with last night's episode I need to fix this asap. Would you happen to know what this only happens randomly? Last night I was scared I wouldn't make it home but then today it drove as good as new?

 

"batching", yes. Lots of places offer % off for "x" $$ spent. Work the amounts to your best advantage. ( Damn! That's why I need to learn how to do "word problems" in math.)

If you don't know any " motor-heads" at school, now is the time to make friends with a couple of them.

U-tube has a lot of information videos available relating to "how-to-do" repairs.

Random=intermittent,=not a total failure...yet. Machines don't always break totally-at first.

 

My dad has a man at his work that will open up an engine for next to nothing (I know I'm not doing this but I mean he will do the work for little to no labor cost, he simply loves doing it). Usually my dad floats him a bit, but as I was saying! Do I just look up what you said for my year and make and then purchase or how does that work?

I'll look at some videos and see what I can find, if it looks too hard I'll buy the parts and take it to him. The up side is that if the transmission needs replacing he could do it for the price of a transmission and then again next to no labor.

 

I recomend [that] you and your dad talk with this fellow. See what he thinks would be a good course of action. I think it would be good [for you] to work with him through the repairs as well, even if you're just handing him tools. At the least, you will have a better understanding of what is involved in vehicle repair.

 

X2 on this. Anything you can learn now will help you out down the road. I so wish I knew 20 years ago what I know now and am able to work on. Can't wait to work on cars with my son. Heck, I'm driving his future truck and he doesn't even know it

 

So something new just popped up, today it drove perfectly fine. I got home and figured I would test out the 4wd to see if it does anything odd to explain to you. Well here it is, I swapped it into 4wd high and made a turn and it seemed odd. Went around a cul de sac and it felt just like one of the wheels were skipping. I swapped it back to 2wd and the same thing. A man happened to be outside so I had him see if any were, told me they weren't but it seemed like the back right wheel was skipping, but it did in fact move. You could hear it too, it was obvious. I'm almost 100% certain it was because I was in 4wd high when I wasn't on grass or snow, that one wheel wanted to go faster than the other. But I thought I would let you know that just in case.

So one other thing. I drove in silence today listening for any little thing I could. These may be okay but they are everything I noticed. When applying gas until about 30mph or the engine noise is too loud, but there was a whistling. Not like a normal whistling like a person, not too high pitch. It was almost as if there was a cracked window with wind rushing by it, but in a lower pitch. This was only when accelerating.

For anyone questioning the transmission... Here is some info; so I accelerated a bit more than usual to check for slips. The rpms when accelerating stayed close to about 3k-3.5k until about 40ish mph then it backed off into the 2k, then worked it's way back to the 3k-3.5k, the only thing was when I got the 40ish range the car backed off a little and I flew forward a little. Don't over take what I just said, when I said flew I mean my back came off the seat maybe a hair, but I'm letting you know anything I can. It levels off once I let the gas off of course.


I can't think of anything else at this point, from what I've been told it could also be the clutch, so I found a big hill and went up it quickly and it did the same sort of thing at around 25mph that it did at the 40mph stated above. The engine revs up, backs off a bit and then kicks again. By that I'm talking about the noise the exhaust makes. It gets very loud, quiets down and then works it's way up... but never as loud as the first bit. That's that same for both the hill and the check I told you about above. I also felt myself want to move forward just a hair when it did that but nothing too noticeable.

 

So.... As you might have guessed, this is not a simple, "turn this screw and all will be unicorns and rainbows" sort of thing. If you really have fading/failing brakes, take the advice from Homer, Especial, and 60, and get them looked at by your dad's friend. If you can't stop the truck, your life, and the lives of others, are in danger. Brake repairs are relatively cheap compared to the drive train.

Everything else you mention could be "normal" for a truck that age. Take it one step at a time, cheapest/easiest first, and let us know what you find.

If you find nothing in the brakes, then you move to transmission, transfer case, etc.. whatever.

Sorry for gettin' all parental on you, but I have a teenage daughter that drives a truck. She once told me that she ran over something and ever since then, the truck has been pulling to the right. I asked what she ran over and she said, "A Prius".

 

I completely understand. I already have everything lined up to get it looked at possibly this weekend, and if not Monday. It will be off the streets tomorrow though!

One thing I was told today is that because my oil pressure is right above half it could be the cause for the p0012. My dad's friend will look at every little thing on the truck in order to fix it. He can test the transmission and do a full diagnostic for practically free. He won't charge us more than he pays. He will look at everything and more than likely won't charge to look at everything. Depending on what he finds I might run this thread by him to see what he things of it:
https://www.f150forum.com/f4/final-r...-sound-141266/

I wouldn't be able to do that but it may be something worth doing. I believe in the guide the "Cam Phasers
Part # 917250 ($139.19 each so X2) Comes with new bolt" would be the VCT that I just replaced on bank one... Correct? I could very well be wrong here.