I have a 2006 F350 dually diesel. 19,485 miles. Yes I typed that correctly. Wife took it for inspection about a month ago. On way home driver rear wheel was smoking from brakes. I checked the brake release and it wasn't set. Set it and released it all the same thinking that it might have stuck. This week hauling a trailer, I get to the John Deere dealer and my passenger rear wheel is smoking as if brakes were caught. After cool down evrything was normal again (my brake pedal was firm when going to the John Deere dealer). On the way home, about 20 miles all was fine. Last mile or 2 my steering began pulling and I thought I was getting a flat. Stop and looked, no flat but front passenger side wheel smoking, brake was catching now on front wheel. "What the H--L!. Took it to the local dealer here in Tomball on Tuesday and today they call and say I need new calipers front and back and new front and rear brakes. This with Brake flush and labor +tax is $1,527.00. What the hay!? What could have caused this? My worry is that I do this work but am I treating the results of the brake issue but not the cause of my brake issue. It was if the brake issue rotated sequentially from driver rear to passenger rear to passenger front with this experience instead of being isolated to one wheel. Anyone heard of this before or have any theroy's as to what occurred or is occurring?

Thanks,

Mark

 

Bump: Update.

Talked with a fellow F350 owner this past weekend in Rockport, TX. He had similar issues with a 2009 F350 Diesel Dually. Front Calibers wouldnt release causing brake burn out also. He drove his Truck daily. Here is what the dealership has finally discovered. After replacing the Calipers all around, the Brake technician, Jeff, could not get a pedal. So he investigates further and deterines the Hydraulic Control Unit is to blame. When I was experiencing intermittant stiff pedal it was due to the Hydraulic Controller unit holding the pistons closed on the calipers due to a sticking valve condition within the HCU. After replacing the calipers all around and flushing / replacing the brake fluid in master cylinder etc., he could not achieve pedal as the valve was now stuck in the open position rather than the problematic closed positon. The HC unit and ABS are an integral unit so this is all replaced together which according to the Tech is a $783.00 part and has to be ordered from Detroit. Truck will be down two weeks I believe before all this is resolved and I will be $2300 + lighter in the wallet . The reason I was having a sequential brake anomoly is that the F350 Brakes are evidently cross circuits, in other words Left rear tied to front right and visa versa according to the tech.

So the brake failure came not as a result of sticking pistons in the brake calipers due to underuse but rather by the HCU malfunction causing the pistions in the calipers to hold and not release on an irregular basis. This on a truck with 19,485 miles on the odometer. I hold out hope that Ford could work with me on this as it was a HCU part failure. Not holding my breath necessarily but worth a request. This issue is not as uncommon as one would perhaps think. I have found others reporting the same issues on the same series of Ford Truck while researching on line as well as the personal experience of my friend in Rockport as cited above. I hope that this post helps someone in the future that may experience this issue.

Best,

Mark

 

So as to not be guilty of hearsay and inuindo I am attaching a few of the reports that I found in my research.

06/25/2008 45000 1 I was slowing down to a stop light when my driverside rear tire was smoking profusely. i stopped to check the problem out and the rear brake was locked up. i spoke to workers at the ford dealership and they told me this is a normal occurrence with this particular model truck. i replaced the driverside rear caliper and went on my way. two weeks later the same thing happened to the passenger side rear caliper. the dealers i have spoken to once again said this is a normal occurrence and that you only get about a year out of the calipers. at over $250 a caliper this is very expensive. i don't tow with my vehicle or abuse it in any way. i am strict with maintaining it. *tr

Read more: http://www.faqs.org/car/ford-f-350-superduty/service-brakes/#ixzz23oIgZTJO

12/14/2006 20000 50 07/30/2005 I have a 2005 ford f350 super duty pickup truck and experiencing a problem with the antilock brakes locking up. problem originally began as an intermittent problem in early 2006 occurring about once a month but would only present symptoms once per occurrence. finally in december 2006 problem occurred multiple times and vehicle was taken to united ford. unfortunately united ford was not able to duplicate the problem. no error codes pertaining to the antilock brake system were being recorded by the vehicle. about two weeks ago while on a 900 mile trip the brakes continually locked up. upon return to tulsa on january 30th i immediately took the vehicle to united ford as the problem continued on a frequent basis. dealership was finally able to observe the problem and agreed the antilock brakes were in fact malfunctioning. after inspecting the brake system, checking technical bulletins and talking with ford motor company the dealership was instructed to make sure all of all the ground connections on the antilock brake system were clean and secure. vehicle was returned to me by the dealership on february 2nd. united ford stated that ford motor company claims there have been no other reports of antilock brake failure reported on this type of vehicle. yesterday (february 8th) after driving the vehicle for about five days the problem occurred again. vehicle was immediately taken to united ford in tulsa, ok. for the third time in the past several months for this problem. at this point ford still does not know what is causing the brakes to lockup. this problem is a concern to me since it has the potential to cause the driver of the vehicle to loose control of the vehicle and potential for a serious accident, injury and/or death. *nm

Read more: http://www.faqs.org/car/ford-f-350-superduty/service-brakes/#ixzz23oO5HkPo
07/03/2007 16000 3 Repeated brake caliper problems. brake pads lock in on position while caliper releases. result is that one brake pad in a set will quickly become worn while other pad is like new. failure results when locked pad is undetected, then caliper, rotor and brake line damage result. this has occurred on 3 seperate instances and on seperate wheels. ford has paid for one rear caliper, front rotors.this problem began on or before 16,000 miles. vehicle has been serviced and repaired at ford garages only. this vehicle is not a severe duty truck, has a tow haul package. further: immediately, after one repair abs lite came on and brakes went to floor. abs stayed on for 10 minutes and then when brakes were pumped they went out and brake returned. immediate thought was that abs malfunction was due to brake repair and correct and that it was a temporary problem. front brake pads did however malfuction within 400 miles of this incident. from the beginning this truck has had an occasional spongey brake problem. incident date is the last date noted. first date occurred 02/30/07. incident date of this report reflects last to date incident. 05/10/2007 75000 04/01/2005

05 and 06 ford f350 ambulance brake caliber pistons break or crack and hold piston out making brakes unable to fully release, both our 05 have have done it one on all four wheel and the other just the fronts so far and now our 06 has the fronts on both sides tolal of three of the four pistons broke

Read more: http://www.faqs.org/car/ford-f-350-superduty/service-brakes/#ixzz23uCN7JLP