Rear brake pads tapered top to bottom

[shockea]

My 2020 Ranger with 80k on it I bought used as a RAV at 72k miles.

I've been noticing a shaking in my seat when slowing indicative of warped rotors, and brake noise, especially after first starting to move. I can do a brake job myself, and have in other vehicles. However, since I've still got a warranty either until late Febuary or I drive another 4,000 miles, if its bad calipers I can get the work done under warranty and save even myself several hundred bucks.

I inspected the rear brakes today and found tapering, but not in the side to side fashion, but end to end. Its more pronounced on the passenger side, but even the drivers side has a difference of 1mm. The drivers side also has more wear overall compared to the passenger.

If I saw tapering on one side, that pretty well proves I have a sticky caliper on that side. But now Im questioning that possibility since its on both sides. I did notice that the piston mark on the inner pads seems to be off center, since the little cup on the piston for the pin is off center as well. Not sure if this could have something to do with it.

Any assessment of advice is appreciated, as I'm weighing trying to get warranty work done or just doing it myself as I'm accustomed to.

Thanks in advance!

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[dtech]

Have you ever replaced the front pads and have you ever bled all 4 wheels and lubricated the slide pins ? To me the wear in the pics doesn't seem worrisome, especially for the rears which provide less braking. Can you reinstall the pads on the opposite side that you removed them , also sometimes good to check the pistons under the seals and they can be lubed using brake fluid.
I had some slight shaking when applying brakes but that was fixed by wheel alignment as the toe was out a good deal.

 

[shockea]

Have you ever replaced the front pads and have you ever bled all 4 wheels and lubricated the slide pins ? To me the wear in the pics doesn't seem worrisome, especially for the rears which provide less braking. Can you reinstall the pads on the opposite side that you removed them , also sometimes good to check the pistons under the seals and they can be lubed using brake fluid.
I had some slight shaking when applying brakes but that was fixed by wheel alignment as the toe was out a good deal.

I had an alignment done in June and the front pass side toe was out. Otherwise I have done nothing to the wheels / brakes etc since purchase other than a tire rotation when I changed the oil, also in June. I did not inspect the front brake pads as the shimmy has been through the seat instead of the steering wheel.

The only thing I will add is the visible taper on the passenger side is not as noticeable on the photo as it was looking at it. I am wondering if the issue pre-dates me getting the truck and Ford simply slapped new pads on it before reselling it to me after buying it back from the original owner.

 

[Trustable]

I would honesty just replace the pads and rotors. My rears are over half worn at 36k miles and the rotors are warped. The fronts pads are barely worn at all. Ford for sure screwed up on the rear brakes. I’m hoping to replace my rotors soon as I can feel it pulsing when I brake.

 

[21rangerCactus]

I would honesty just replace the pads and rotors. My rears are over half worn at 36k miles and the rotors are warped. The fronts pads are barely worn at all. Ford for sure screwed up on the rear brakes. I’m hoping to replace my rotors soon as I can feel it pulsing when I brake.

Does your traction/stability control kick in a lot? It uses the rear brakes to straighten you out.

I have 111k on oem pads and rotors.

 

[shockea]

Does your traction/stability control kick in a lot? It uses the rear brakes to straighten you out.

I have 111k on oem pads and rotors.

No. Mainly just city driving to and from work. An occasional gravel road but nothing to really kick all that in. And if it does, its not showing on the dash.

 

[Trustable]

Does your traction/stability control kick in a lot? It uses the rear brakes to straighten you out.

I have 111k on oem pads and rotors.

Not really, or I should say not any more than on my focus. The biggest time I notice it is turning out of my driveway which is gravel/dirt when there some snow on it onto the road. I don’t think it’s enough to explain warping and uneven wear though but I could be wrong.

If I needed to replace the brakes on my focus I would say it’s the way I drive but before I sold it they were barely worn at similar mileage to my ranger.

 

[landiscarrier]

Replace the pads and rotors BUT MAKE SURE YOU HAVE THE BRAKE PISTON LINED UP CORRECTLY AND PADS ON THE CORRECT SIDES. They are a bit of a pain and the one side turns in clockwise and the other side counterclockwise. The piston has to be in a specific position or they will not wear correctly.

 

[shockea]

Why do I have the feeling this is the ultimate issue here? Again, I haven't done any brake work on this vehicle having bought it back in February, but I did notice the piston off center on the pad.

Would I be correct in assuming the dimples on the piston should be centered at 12 & 6?

If so, sounds like whoever did the brakes before I got it messed up. But other than the pads being FoMoCo, little way of showing its their mistake.

 

[seasprite]

I've noticed on these newer cars and trucks, that the back brakes need to be replaced before the front from all the nanny devices.

Had to replace my wife's back brakes on her 17 Outback at 60k and the fronts still had a lot of meat on the bone yet.

I'm at 49k on the truck right now and checked them at back at 45k when I rotated the tires. The backs showed more wear than the front, but still plenty of pad left. I'll check them again at 60k

 

[airline tech]

Just some reference for install of rear pads:
Since you mentioned (possible off center) wear marks on the inner pads.

 

[Rp930]

Not sure but I think it uses only rear brakes on long hills with cruise control engaged to maintain selected speed.

 

[shockea]

So, armed with this I took the passenger side off again just now to share what I found.

You can see the off-set of the piston on the pad really well. And on the 2nd image you can see the tapering better than yesterday's picture. FWIW, the piston is off center to the thicker side of the pad. The image below shows the piston rotation within the caliper:

So.... The question becomes was this an installation issue by whatever Ford tech that did the brake job? Or is the piston rotation due to some other factor? If its a workmanship issue by the service folks, I know I would have a difficult time proving this, since it would have been done prior to me purchasing the vehicle.

Bottom line is will I be on the hook for new pads and rotors, or will I be able to get a Ford dealership to do this as a warranty repair?

 

[shockea]

FOLLOWING UP:

I spoke to a Ford tech freelance, and showed him these same images. He told me that the rotation of the piston is generally okay, as it'd be at 12 & 6 when the pads are new, and it then will roate some as the pads wear down naturally.

He stressed checking the slide pins to ensure they hadn't frozen up, but definitely said there was some sort of uneven pressure on the pads to cause tapering like that.. My slide pins, however, did move freely when I checked them. He did advise having the Ford dealership do a "courtesey brake inspection," so they wouldn't charge me a diag fee, but should be able to determine the problem. If they cop to it being calipers, then I could proceed under warranty. Otherwise, if they want to just do a pad slap or pads and rotors and charge me beaucoup dinero, I can refuse and do it myself.

 

[shockea]

FINAL UPDATE:
Took it into the local Ford dealership today (first available appointment I could make). They did an inspection on it and "recommended rotors and pads." When I pressed as to why the rotors were warped, the service manager looking at the paperwork kinda shrugged. I pressed him as to if it were any issues with the calipers. He said there wasn't anything sugesting that with the paperwork. So.... If they're gonna tell me the calipers are fine, I'm gonna go do some shopping on Rock Auto and do it myself. I'm not convinced it's still not the calipers, but if Ford is not gonna culp to that, not much I can say.

If it ends up being something else, I guess we will find out. But for now, I'll end up doing new pads, rotors and I think I will replace the slide pins and boots just to cover that base as well.

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