How to Fix the Brakes on a Deuce & a Half

Timely brake replacement is vital for safe operation of any motor vehicle. If you begin to hear a squealing sound as you apply the brakes on your F-250, you have already waited too long, and you need to change the brake pads as soon as possible. This is because the friction of your braking has already worn through your brake pads themselves, and what you are hearing now is metal-on-metal.

Instructions

Loosen the lug nuts on the front wheels with your lug nut wrench. Do not completely remove the lug nuts.

Raise the vehicle in a safe manner. If you don't have ramps to drive it up on, use your floor jack to jack up the front section of the vehicle and place sturdy blocks under the frame. Do not leave the vehicle on the jack during maintenance; rest its full weight on the blocks. Place wedges behind the back wheels to keep them from rolling. (Only remove two wheels at a time.)

Finish removing the lug nuts with your lug nut wrench and fingers. Pull off the wheels and put them aside.

Remove the nut and copper washers from the brake hose with a wrench. Plug the brake hose, which is now open, with an ear plug.

Remove the caliper pin bolts with a wrench. Remove the caliper from the anchor plate.

Place the brake caliper on the caliper anchor plate, and tighten the two pin bolts with your torque wrench. For the front brake pads, tighten to 56 foot-pounds. For the back brake pads, tighten to 26 foot-pounds.

Place the new copper washers that come with the new brake pads on the brake hose where the old copper washers were. Connect the fluid line to the caliper, and tighten it with a wrench.

Install the retaining bolt or banjo bolt and tighten them down with your torque wrench. Tighten the retaining bolt on the front brakes to 35 foot-pounds. Tighten the banjo bolt on the back brakes to 26 foot-pounds.

Place the wheels back on the vehicle. Remove the blocks or ramps and tighten the lug nuts fully.

Tell your helper to sit in the driver's seat. Tell him or her to fully press the brake pedal and hold it.

Loosen the bleeder bolt with a wrench and let the brake fluid flow out. When it stops flowing, tighten it again.

Add brake fluid to the brake reservoir under the hood. As you repeat these steps for all four wheels, you will need to keep adding fluid to the reservoir to keep it full. The amount you add each time will vary.

Repeat steps 1 through 3 of this section until new, clean brake fluid starts to flow out. Tighten the bleeder bolt with your wrench and repeat the process on each individual wheel.

Confirm that your brakes are working properly before you take your truck on the open road.