I was driving my truck last week and I noticed is seemed like a tire was out of balance. I was driving it yesterday and the same thing however it seemed like it was pulling to the right as well. When I parked it I noticed a smell coming from the right front brake. Sure enough it was scalding hot. I went into Lowes and cam back out it seemed fine again but on the way home it did it again. What can I do to stop this? I definately admit brakes are kryptonite to me.

 

Time to get that truck up check the brakes. Could be a seized caliper piston or they just might need to cleaned and lubed. Check the caliper slide bolts and make sure the rubber bellow boots ar not ripped. These bolts are 10mil and you should be able to check them without to much trouble. Pull them out 1 at a time clean them and regrease with a good synthetic lube, permatex ultra slick is what i use, and reinstall. If these 4 slide bolts are all free and moving then it's time to check the caliper.

Hope this helps, and i'm sure others will help more as will i if that doesn't work

regards
selsyn

 

I have had this happen to me. It was my caliper, piston was shot. You can rebuild the caliper with a kit from the AP store or just replace. I went ahead and replaced both fronts when it started with me. Its not a bad job you just need another person when it comes time to blled the brakes after you get the new one on. They were about $45.00 after your $55.00 core. That is for an unloaded.

 

Is there a way to tell yes or no exactly wha the issue is? I don't want to replace the caliper or rebuild it for the sape of rebuilding it. Some sort of additional steps or what to look for to tell me what the issue is. I am not good working on brakes so a good or a bad caliper would not be known on a regular visual inspection so I need a little more specific what is good/what is bad.

 

I would be replacing a caliper

 

I just did front brakes on my '06 over the weekend at 37K miles. They had never been touched before and my stock rotors were really warped. The sad part is, there was tons of brake pad left, but I think the pads were sticking in the caliper adapters causing the rotors to overheat. The pads did not slide freely in the caliper adapters because the adapters were rusted. I had to hammer the pads out of the adapters. I cleaned up all the rust off the adapters, lubed everything, and put new pads/rotors on. Its like a new truck again.

 

either way if they locked up you will need new pads and rotor without a doubt.

My bet is on the caliper slide pins which allow the caliper to move around when they are not properly lubed it will cause said issue. Easiest way i can think of is to pull the caliper off and check the pins if they slide easily through and back then it's the piston.

Either way i'd just replace it all once it gets burned like that it's really better to just replace it all.

 

Here is a check that helps with trouble shooting. When the brake is dragging, open the bleed screw and see if the caliper frees up. If it does the problem is likely a collapsed brake line (hose). I had this problem and ruined a new rotor because I changed the caliper thinking that was the problem, when actually the brake line (hose) had collapsed internally and was acting as a check valve. I had never heard of this and it was suggested to me by a guy at Auto Zone. Frankly I didn't believe it but had changed everything else including the master cylinder and didn't have any more ideas. Good luck...

 

Hey Pirata if yours is a 2008 there is a recall on the right front caliper locking up. Mine was doing that and i went to the dealership and they replaced it with no questions asked

 

Nope mine is on 07. I will look at it Sunday and see what I find. I'll keep you posted. Thanks.