Sticky brake caliper

I have a 92 Ford F250 4x4 and my right front brake seems to be sticky and locks up when brake is applied. Seems to go away after driving, the wheel also heats up as well. Is there anything I can do other than rebuild the caliper, etc? Any help is much appreciated.
Thanks,
Larry

 

You can try replacing the brake hose that runs from the solid portion of the brake line to the caliper. Sticky calipers are frequently caused by brake hoses that are failing internally and acting as a check valve. Eventually the pressure eases as you drive.

 

Tow,

I have some old van out on some backlot right now I could revive, but it TOO has the stuck caliper syndrome. When people complain of this/go to brake shop, could you venture a rough guess what the odds are?, on it being the brake hose, rather than the caliper?

 

Your old van on the backlot probably has calipers rusted up solid. I think the odds of a "functioning" caliper on a regular driver suddenly deciding to lock up and not release are pretty low. Internal brake hose failure, with resultant blocking of backflow to release pressure, is quite common especially on vehicles with some mileage on them. The other possible cause is that on some disk brake calipers there are slider pins that the caliper mounts to and if they lose their lubrication it can prevent the caliper from properly relieving. Had that on my wrecker last time I replaced front pads. Didn't properly lube the sliders and wore one side down to the metal in about 5000 miles (Oops!).

I'm hoping Neesh will get back to us on what he finds.

 

Thanks for the explanations. But my explanation was lacking in the sense that my van did not develop the problem from sitting out there. Sorry for not mentioning that.

It occured while I had been driving it. It just showed up, one day. It is sitting out at my mechanics backlot after he replaced the head gasket for me (I paid him, but have no room at my parking lot at home, with my other 2 vehicles) and I never got the vehicle as I had bought another one. I paid him $100 for storage last year and since it has been out there over the winter and spring is coming and he will probably want more money (like another $50-100), and the van is no longer worth what the cost of the head gasket, the frozen caliper or ? is, and the storage fees.

I sort of hung onto this vehicle for an emergency vehicle to have, because the underbody has almost no rust. Not bad for an 85.

I always hope posters come back and let us know what they find and/or try, also.

 

Disc brakes consist of a metal disc, or rotor, that is connected to the wheel. A device called a caliper rests on the edge of the rotor and holds two friction pads on either side of the rotor. Applying the brakes causes fluid to push a piston within the caliper, which pinches the brake pads against the rotor and slows the wheel. Disc brakes do not have return springs, like those in drum brakes, to disengage the brakes. Instead, a seal around the piston bends slightly when the brakes are applied and then retracts to pull the piston back away from the rotor when the brake pedal is released. Maybe this could help you, if you don’t mind.