On a return trip from Portland Oregon to my home in Albany I noticed a dragging noise and sensation from the right (passenger) side of Strayhound, my 98 E 150 club wagon. Hoping to find locally some Bosch or Raybestos pads I found that the only pads available were NAPAs Rayloc. It's been a couple of decades but I've never heard of these guys, what's more with the advent of ABS and speed sensors I'm concerned about screwing something up in changing out the pads. By the TSM it looks like disc brakes of old, but what do I know? My last rig was an 81 econoline. Should I be watchful of anything? Please advise soonest.
Thanks and a lift of the lynch lid.
Gus

 

I don't know which Albany you are referring to , but if it is a good distance, you might want to make sure the caliper is working properly and not hanging up.

If you can and want to, NAPA sells a "premium" brake pad and you might consider them. Again I don't know how far you need to go , but brakes are important and if the caliper is questionable , you may have to go the full route and do everything while it is apart.

 

Portland Oregon to Albany Oregon. NAPAs Rayloc was described to me as their premium pad so I'll see. Being on a strict budget I hope to keep this on the cheap. Which goes against my idiom but nowadays being on welfare it's tough. Unless that is if the restitution from vandalism comes in soon.

 

Like Hanky said, check the caliper. E 150s have a history of caliper problems.

 

I was able to find time to jack up the van and pull the wheel and by outward appearance the outer pad is worn down and shows signs of wear on the disk by discoloration but no gouges. If I have less than an 11 hour work day tonight I may pull the calipers and size them up for unusual wear or alignment.

 

I got Strayhound up on jack stand and pulled the rim. Looking at the disk there's some discoloration but no gouging. Whew!
As far as the caliper goes there's no sign of misalignment or damage. From the related forum below a pin is mentioned but I didn't see any such in the TSM. I hope to have time to pull the caliper before I go to work this evening. More to come...

 

If you have an opportunity to read this before starting work on the calipers, maybe a little info might be helpful.
The caliper slides on caliper "pins" and they can get cruddy inside where they slide, so it is very important to make sure the pins are clean and lubricated with the proper lube.
Synthetic grease is recommended because mineral based grease attacks the rubber dust boots. When you attempt to compress the caliper piston back into the caliper , good practice is to open the caliper bleeder and expel the gunky brake fluid out the bleeder instead of back into the ABS components where that can cause problems.
The "O" ring inside the caliper retracts the piston just enough to allow the pad to move back from the rotor and the outnoard pad to not drag on the rotor. If you cannot open the bleeder screw continued pressure will wring off the bleeder and now the broken part has to be removed with heat and a new bleeder screw installed before you can continue bleeding..

A little side note, after you are done and ready to step on the brake pedal, only depress the pedal 1/2 way down, because if you go all the way down , the junk inside the master cyl bore will score the rubber cups and master cyl replacement will be necessary.
This is why a complete job is done because there is always another pitfall around the corner when doing only an incomplete job.
It is not my intent to discourage you, but to alert you to some of the potential problems of working on an older vehicle.

 

I would like to take this project all the way but funds and time do not allow. By Caliper "pins" do folks mean the Caliper Sleeves as mentioned in the Ford TSM? Also I'm supposing that the also mentioned Brake Caliper Grease and Dielectric Grease go between the bolts and the Caliper Sleeves (pins) no so?

 

Brake caliper grease and Dielectric grease are different animals. Best to stick with the proper caliper grease.

The pins slide inside a tube of the caliper mountnig. It is important to make sure the inside of those tubes are clean.and lubricated with the correct lube.. The rubber dust boots are what is supposed to keep foreign material out.
You have to do, what you have to do, just don't make the mistake of saving a few dollars now only to pay up later when you do the job over again.

 

Hmm the TSM mentioned to use both, I found it odd myself but I figured I couldn't go wrong by following the Ford manual. Be that as it may the right side is done and I hope to do the left side before I go to work tomorrow. 7 days this week.