[wolfeman04]

I went and got a free (my parents had a free one from going there so much throughout the years) oil change from the ford dealership the other day and they made me aware i needed new brake pads. He quoted me over $400 and i told him not to worry about it since i could just do it myself for under half that price. He then proceeded to tell me that my rear passenger side brake pad is really bad and that it might be locking up. Ever since then i have noticed my car pulling to the right . What does that mean and is there any way I can check to see if it is locking up? Thanks!

[AndyG47]

$400 bought all new pads and 4 rotors for my truck. Gotta love Pep Boys.

If it was locking up you'd be able to smell it since it would be dragging and getting hotter than the others.





You could try the water method but that's frowned upon since it can cause the rotors to crack.

_

[wolfeman04]

Yeah i was just gonna buy the rotors and pads from ebay for under $200. The thing is when I push on the brakes it doesnt pull, its just while driving. I thought it might have just been an alignment issue but after I was told my brake might be locking up i thought it might have something to do with that.

[mp4 player]

Originally Posted by wolfeman04 Yeah i was just gonna buy the rotors and pads from ebay for under $200. The thing is when I push on the brakes it doesnt pull, its just while driving. I thought it might have just been an alignment issue but after I was told my brake might be locking up i thought it might have something to do with that.

Then your caliper or slide is probably freezing and not allowing it to push back away from the rotor.

There's no good reason why the brake itself should be locking up.

[SON1C]

when i brake my steering wheel pulls to the left (sometimes) ?

[01 Slate Stang]

@ Wolf if ur caliper is hanging u should only really notice it when ur NOT using brakes, because the brake is being applied, but when u actually apply ur brakes normally then the faulty caliper doesnt move ( because of being hung up ) and the others apply so then it will feel normal... if that makes any sense. but like said before if its hanging u should be able to smell it or feel heat coming from it once u stop. on my mustang ive had 3 of the 4 hang up.... and i would suggest buying ur brakes and rotors from a local parts store just incase one has a factory defect u can take it right back ... from ebay ud have to ship it all again

[mcqueen]

If your breaks are locking up, you'll more than likely be able to smell it. It's not something you'll miss unless your obvious to everything on your car (I've had basically all my calipers hang up and the smell is strong, but usually just compressing them a few times gets them working again, only replaced 1 caliper). Plus when you walk past that wheel you'll probably feel the heat radiating from the rotor (don't touch it please, I did that once when I wasn't thinking. Left me with no feeling in 2 of my finer tips for a few months). You calipers should not start locking up because of worn out brake pads. That would indicate an issue with the caliper itself.

[wolfeman04]

I checked them all today and they all felt them same heat wise. Would there be any reason for one to be more worn then the other?

[shipwreck_98]

Could just be the way they were made. Just because the pads are made the same way doesnt mean they will wear the same way. The mixture they used for the friction material may not have been mixed exactly the same.

[wraitherx]

check the caliper slides. They are prone to having the rubber rip and causing the sliding pin/guide to seize up in the caliper bracket. This will cause all the symptoms that are described. you could have a hot wheel, burning pads, and uneven wear. I just changed both the rears on my sixxer. I tried removing the pins but they were seized and not moving at all so I just picked to new brackets and hardware with pad from autozone for 120 for everything. Took my about 20 minutes each side to replace.

[1Clean6]

Meineke wantd over $600 for a set of rear brake pads for my car, labor included.

I literally told them to go fuck themselves, bought all new tools, did it myself in about an hour. I dont know why I even went there to begin with.

I used the money to buy a set of Baer rotors and Hawk ceramic pads instead.

[wolfeman04]

Yeah the shops prices are just ridiculous! Ill check out the caliper slides when i get off work. Thanks guys!! repped

[Jetflo]

The rear calipers are not serviceable on our cars. Mine required replacement after the driver side axle seal failed. Boy does gear lube smell bad!!

With the new calipers and axle seal my wallet was a lot lighter but the wheels are staying cleaner. I still notice a bit of pull to the left under hard stops. Probably going to rebuild the front calipers next.

Having a shop replace an axle, bearing and seal is really expensive. Best to nip this one in the bud and replace those rear calipers if they're not 100% A-OK.

[qwiksilvermustang]

The best method for checking for a hanging caliper is feeling the wheels after a short drive. if you find one wheel extremely hottter than the other then you'll know. I screwed up a caliper the first time i did my brakes because i didnt have the block to turn them in so i just used a pair of vice grips. the vicegrips boogered up the facing of the piston causing it to lock up. i could smell the brakes so i walked around and sure enough i couldnt even touch the right rear wheel, it'd burn you like the rotors will..35 dollars for a rebuilt caliper and my core to autozone and the problem was fixed.