1998 Expedition - DIY Maintainance
 

Yo gangsters,

As the title suggests I own a 1998 Expedition and try to maintain it myself so often as I am able. Last September I replaced my front rotors, calipers, and pads (along with a few connecting pieces that had deteriorated), and now my front and rear brake force is imbalanced, as are the right and left of my rear. I literally live in my truck and have little income, so anything I do needs to be evaluated against my ability to feed myself.

Brake Force Results:
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...a543dc551d.jpg
https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...d882874d5b.jpg
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...da63df7008.jpg

The essence of my questions: Please recommend a good resource for repairing a rear axle seal, along with the necessary tools.

Please recommend cost effective brand for rear brake pads, calipers, and rotors.

Please recommend resources for replacing my right and left front lower ball joints.

Thanks so much for any input!

Not knowing the condition of the rear brakes and parts , it could be anything from worn parts, self adjusters not working, yes even grease getting onto the brake friction surfaces. The better thing to do is to shop around and get a few estimates from different shops only make sure to ask them to please put in writing exactly what you will be getting for your hard earned money. Without the written itemized estimate , a shop can low ball an estimate and you think it's a good deal only to find they don't do a complete job, if that is what is required. Different areas of the country charge different labor rates and cheap parts certainly are not the same as good parts.
Let's hope some addl info help will come across to help address your concerns.

Whats then miles on the X?

During brake repairs, or on a budget, you don't always need new calipers and rotors. Mileage and corrosive conditions etc the truck is used in may dictate though.
Unless the calipers 'drag' and during inspection appear to have caused uneven R-L pad wear, or heel wear, excessive disc wear or heat indications, the caliper dust boots are toast (split open, hard/brittle), usually you can get by reloading with new frictions. Unlike wheel cylinders, rarely will you see a caliper leak, but they can drag sometimes if debris has collected internally or the boots are blown allowing trash/rust/corrosion in or forced between the cast caliper and piston. And if under those conditions,, certainly replaced or rebuilt. Drag, most often noticed when pushing the piston back into its bore. Or, on inspection, after a hard brake application and a rotational difference is felt from side to side (L/R). Caliper kits are very inexpressive, and easy to rebuild over the cost of reman units, although most reman come loaded w/pads.

Rotors have a stamped minimum or service limit thickness on their castings. A machine shop can resurface them much cheaper than new units in most cases, if within limits.
There are varying grades of hard parts/rotors and frictions, meaning many made off shore now. Some of the aftermarket the cast iron in the rotor is more porous, wear quicker, and not the quality of OE.
In fact, most are decent for true/flat/lateral rotation, but should be checked and could be cause for irregular application. Pads, there's optional materials there, and of course price which usually equates to quality. So best not to buy the lowest cost offerings.

As far the as the Report, and the rear brakes,, the best bet would be to break it down for inspection and like with the images you provided, post them here so we can see what your up against, as well as brake wear patterns for the fronts. If you haven't driven the X much, it wouldn't be unlikely to see some discrepancies in Front patterns from R-L. Until the new rotors and pads 'Bed In' meaning slight differences in surfaces equal out, there's always the potential for some slight application differences.. If it proves out that the rears are lube contaminated, we can provide you with some tech help/images..
As far as suppliers for parts,, there's plenty of good online parts resources and tend to be less expensive than walk in pricing.. Parts houses like NAPA etc, generally will have multiple offerings as to components=price..
That said, I've always preferred Fords pads, although many others would do the same job, but have run into anti rattle clip problems/pad slip in heel issues, anti squeal shims coming loose or walking/failing with some of the local parts house offerings.. There may be some differences in the rotors for replacement, but the frictions generally tend to be more potential or responsible for overall function, service life, and at times noise.