brake issues

hello everyone. i have a 01 explorer sport 4.0l sohc thats a 4 x 2.now i had replaced the front brake pads on it and noticed uneven wearing. the uneven wearing was only on the outer pads. at the bottom of the pad it had only a 1/4 inch left on it. but on the top of the pad it was ground down the metal plate. now i went to a couple of parts stores to ask about this, one said it was the wheel bearings? now before i tear into it. i wanted to know if i am repairing the right items. any info would be greatly appreciated. thanks

The most common problem with uneven brake pad wear is the caliper slides being siezed or not moving freely. Also the area where the pads rest must be clean and lubricated with the proper caliper slide grease.

well when i changed out the pads the piston on the caliper moved very freely and i cleaned all the brake dust off and applied grease to moving parts. it seemed to be working fine. also something i didn't mension. the new pads are only contacting 3/4 of the rotor.

The Exlporer Sport brakes are not the same as regular Explorer 4 door models.

So if I understand your initial post correctly, the pads are wearing unevenly from the outer diameter to the inner diameter as they sit on the rotor braking surface. That sounds like the pads were not properly seated, especially if the inner pads were wearing fine. If it were a wheel bearing issue, both the inner and outer pads should be wearing similarly (but opposite).

Were there any shims between the pad and the caliper? If so, maybe the shims weren't installed correctly or moved on the pad as the adhesive got hot. If the rotor surface were that sloped I think you'd see it.

-Rod

well there were just the thin metal pieces that are attached to the pads themselves. other than that there are no shims on it. and hardware was in good shape. the rotor doesnt look like its sloped. i dont see anything to show that anything is worn improperly.

now it has little retaining clips. but were not damaged, just dirty. i cleaned those off and reinstalled them. would it be the caliper pins? or binding of pistons?

the sport has the same brake system as the sporttrac.

and that means what????? is this common in sporttracs?

I don't see how the cliper pins or anti-rattle clips would cause what I think you described if they were properly installed. I suppose if the caliper is warped or mangled it could cause what you describe. I really think it had to be interference of some sort between the pad back and the contact points with the caliper. I suspect that if you clean the calipers, verify the brake pads shims are properly installed and correctly put everything back together, you won't have the wear issue again.

It is recommended (although rarely practiced) to replace the brake hardware with each brake job. So it wouldn't be a waste of money necessarily to go ahead and replace the slide pins.

-Rod

but wouldn't the pins cause wearing on both pads?

I've never seen this condition you describe. Can you remove the caliper pull the pads. Use a small square against the rotor. Measure between the rotor and edge of caliper looking for differences in the measurement. Use a straight edge and check for bent hardware from a wreck. Look at the mounting bracket for the caliper is it bent installed properly a washer on one side none on the other. Look closely for evidence of a wreck something bent.
Tell us what you find as we are interested. You might also have a parts store like Pep Boys Mic the caliper while its off.

but wouldn't the pins cause wearing on both pads?

As I mentioned, I don't see how caliper pins (although I misspelled "caliper" in my previous post) would cause what you describe. I was just suggesting that technically a complete brake job would consist of replacing the caliper pins, which is suggested when doing a brake job anyway. Seized caliper pins would not necessarily cause even wear since the caliper would not be free-floating. The lack of floating would accelerate pad wear on one side of the rotor, typically the piston side.

To experience sloped wear, you'd almost have to have an obstruction between the pad and the caliper, or something's tweaked with the caliper or caliper mounting.

-Rod

It appears Sharod is correct unless he bought a used caliper from a scrap yard and the fork lift operator hit the outside of the caliper bending the outside. This could be done moving a car.

when i bought the car a year ago the brakes were just replaced. three months ago i saw that the pads were worn. i am not a brake pro, but i have done a few brake jobs. i have never seen this before. i will check everthing that was posted and keep u all posted. thanks for all your help.