Replacing the brake pads on your Ford F-150 should only take an hour to complete successfully. Removing the brake pads and installing new ones will improve your vehicle braking tremendously. The F-150 is a heavy pickup truck, and it will not take long to wear the brake pads down and need new shoes. As you are removing the brake pads, be sure to feel the inside and outside of the rotor and make sure it is a flat smooth surface. Driving on worn brake pads will damage the rotor and seriously hinder your truck braking.
Loosen the lug nuts on the driver side front wheel. Do not remove the lug nuts until the wheel is off the ground.
Jack up the front end of the vehicle. Ensure the parking brake is set and the back wheel is secured by blocking the back wheel.
Unbolt the lug nuts and take the wheel off the studs. Place the wheel to the side and out of the way.
Locate the caliper, and undo the bolts in the back of the caliper. There will be two bolts on the back of the caliper, which you will remove with a socket wrench.
Slide the caliper up and off the rotor. The rotor may be hard to pull off, so you can use a hammer to tap it upward to loosen it.
Take off the two brake pads. They will come out with your fingers.
Place the smaller brake pad toward the back of the pad. Ensure the padding is faced out and the metal is touching the exposed cylinder.
Push the piston back to make it flush with the rest of the caliper. Use a c-clamp by placing one end on the pad and the other to the back of the caliper. Tighten the clamp until the piston is flush to the cylinder.
Place the new pads in the caliper. Place the bigger one to the back and the smaller one to the front with the padding facing each other. They will click in place.
Position the caliper back over the rotor and secure it in place with the caliper bolts. Do not tighten until both caliper bolts are started.
Tighten the caliper bolts. The caliper will be snug against the rotor.
Place the wheel back on the studs. Start each of the lugs, but do not tighten them until all the lugs are started on the studs.
Tighten the studs as much as you can with the tire tool while the wheel is off the ground.
Lower the vehicle off the jack. Tighten the lugs to ensure the wheel is tight on the axle.
Repeat these steps to the passenger side of the truck. When you are finished, pump the brake pedal to allow the brake fluid to circulate.
