Ford Super Duty
Rear Brake Pad Replacement
2004 F250 4x4 XLT Sport Crew Cab
Click Here for a PDF version of this article
The brakes have been shaking quite a bit lately on my truck, particularly when going down mountains. So I decided it was time to replace the front brake rotors and pads. You can see that process in my ball joint replacement article.
During this process, I also replaced the pads on the rear brakes. Given that the front brakes do most of the work and that the rear rotors were still in great shape, I elected to not replace them this time. I had planned to get the rear rotors turned but they looked great and measured good so I elected to just replace the pads. More about this below.
Here's the new pads
Now on to the procedure...
First thing to do is to remove one of the rear tires. I started with the driver's side. Be sure to chock the front wheels and put a jackstand somewhere under the rear.
Next, remove the two 12mm bolts that attach the caliper to the bracket.
Then, pry the bracket away from the rotor. If its real tight, you might need to use a c-clamp or another method to slightly compress the caliper pistons to relieve a little pressure. I was able to pry mine off with ease.
Be sure to secure the caliper to the springs or somewhere so it doesn't hang from the hose
Remove the two bolts that attach the caliper bracket.
Removing the bracket is actually unnecessary if all you are only replacing the pads. I pulled mine off to clean it up and to grease the slide pins and also to mic the rotors.
I used a 1 - 2" micrometer to measure the rotor thickness at 12 spots around the rotor. Every spot measured between 1.168" and 1.170". The minimum thickness spec is 1.102" for the rear rotors. There are also no cracks or craters (like my front rotors had!) and both rotors were just in good shape in general. Also, all of the shaking in my brakes went away after replacing the front rotors/pads. So, I elected to just leave them as-is and reinstall the new pads.
I used CRC Brakleen to clean up the rotor on both sides before installing the new pads.
Reinstall the caliper bracket as shown and install the new pads. Be sure to apply some caliper grease to all sliding points on the pads.
Use a large c-clamp and one of the old pads to compress the caliper pistons. Otherwise it won't fit over the new pads.
Install the two bolts that hold the caliper to the bracket.
Remove the jackstand, reinstall the wheel and tire, and remove the tire chocks.
Bed-in the new pads as described on the Hawk box...
Questions or Comments? Email jmray@frontiernet.net