My brother-in-law came by today and helped me work on the brakes. He's an ASE certified something-or-other (I don't know the details of those certifications). It's great having a mentor available. He let me watch while he talked me through 1 side, then I did the other.
Took a while (7 hours including a trip to NAPA, and a long lunch break), but we:
1) Replaced the front rotors with OEM.
2) Replaced the pads (1MM!) with 100 series.
3) Flushed the brake fluid.
4) Checked rear brakes (LOTS of wear left; although I do need to adjust the e-brake)
I haven't check the Birf procedure in detail, but I suspect we were much of the way into it.
:whoops:
Looks like the axle service the PO mentioned was fairly recent, but not the best. Lots of old grease in the bearings & housing (with new over old). Looks like the mechanic's primary tools were a screwdriver, a chisel, and a BFH. Seals on both sides were severely distorted by screwdriver marks (were they even working?). The axle nuts were cut up so bad, we couldn't get the socket on them -- had to use a screwdriver to get them off (used a grinder to smooth them out for reinstallation).
Question: We packed the bearings with "brake grease" on his recommendation. I wasn't comfortable with this, but let it ride because I'll be back in there in the next few months for the birfs AND I have new bearings from CDan already. Next time should I use Moly (synthetic), Lithium (synthetic), or Brake grease?
The 100 series pads fit very tightly, and we couldn't fit the shims between the calipers & pads.
Question: Is this a big deal? Can I just install them when I go back in for the birfs? Do I need to even then?
And I need a caliper rebuild kit: The gasket (is that the correct term) in front of one of the pistons was mangled and preventing the (very tight) pad from fitting. We ended up removing it.
The brake fluid had apparently never been flushed... either that or brake fluid gets nasty-brown really quickly (the master cylinder is brand-new)
My bro-in-law has a cool gizmo that you attach to the bleeder plug. Little tank holds about 1 reservoir of fluid (max to min). Open bleeder valve, pump peddle 6-8 times (until tank is full), close valve, dump tank, fill reservoir, move to next bleeder. Very quick and very effective -- and doable by 1 person. 
One of the birf procedure writeups mentioned to leave the nuts on by a few threads when you're "tapping" the tapered washers loose. VERY good idea! I forgot until 1 went flying across the garage!!!
Overall a very productive day. I'm sure many of you could have done it in an hour or two.
But I'm very happy: truck is working; had all the necessary parts onhand (or at NAPA); got my hands (and feet and legs and garage and ...) dirty; and I don't have to sweat about the brakes for a while! 
Tomorrow: Transfer case indicator sensor, CDL switch, Pin 7, and Antenna Mast (at least according to plan )
Hants
Took a while (7 hours including a trip to NAPA, and a long lunch break), but we:
1) Replaced the front rotors with OEM.
2) Replaced the pads (1MM!) with 100 series.
3) Flushed the brake fluid.
4) Checked rear brakes (LOTS of wear left; although I do need to adjust the e-brake)
I haven't check the Birf procedure in detail, but I suspect we were much of the way into it.
:whoops: Looks like the axle service the PO mentioned was fairly recent, but not the best. Lots of old grease in the bearings & housing (with new over old). Looks like the mechanic's primary tools were a screwdriver, a chisel, and a BFH. Seals on both sides were severely distorted by screwdriver marks (were they even working?). The axle nuts were cut up so bad, we couldn't get the socket on them -- had to use a screwdriver to get them off (used a grinder to smooth them out for reinstallation).
Question: We packed the bearings with "brake grease" on his recommendation. I wasn't comfortable with this, but let it ride because I'll be back in there in the next few months for the birfs AND I have new bearings from CDan already. Next time should I use Moly (synthetic), Lithium (synthetic), or Brake grease?
The 100 series pads fit very tightly, and we couldn't fit the shims between the calipers & pads.
Question: Is this a big deal? Can I just install them when I go back in for the birfs? Do I need to even then?
And I need a caliper rebuild kit: The gasket (is that the correct term) in front of one of the pistons was mangled and preventing the (very tight) pad from fitting. We ended up removing it.
The brake fluid had apparently never been flushed... either that or brake fluid gets nasty-brown really quickly (the master cylinder is brand-new)
My bro-in-law has a cool gizmo that you attach to the bleeder plug. Little tank holds about 1 reservoir of fluid (max to min). Open bleeder valve, pump peddle 6-8 times (until tank is full), close valve, dump tank, fill reservoir, move to next bleeder. Very quick and very effective -- and doable by 1 person. One of the birf procedure writeups mentioned to leave the nuts on by a few threads when you're "tapping" the tapered washers loose. VERY good idea!
I forgot until 1 went flying across the garage!!!Overall a very productive day. I'm sure many of you could have done it in an hour or two.
But I'm very happy: truck is working; had all the necessary parts onhand (or at NAPA); got my hands (and feet and legs and garage and ...) dirty; and I don't have to sweat about the brakes for a while! Tomorrow: Transfer case indicator sensor, CDL switch, Pin 7, and Antenna Mast (at least according to plan
) Hants
