How to Change the Brake Pads on a '94 Ford Ranger

One of the most important systems to maintain on your 1994 Ford Ranger is the braking system. Your brake pads will wear down over time, reducing their effectiveness and taking longer to stop your truck. Even worse, worn-out brakes can fail, leading to serious injury or worse. Like most vehicles, the majority of Ford Rangers have drum brakes on the rear wheels and disk brakes on the front wheels. You'll need an assistant to help with this task.

Instructions

Drum Brakes

1

Park the Ranger on flat ground and shut off the engine. Put the parking brake on and make sure that the transmission is in "Park." Loosen (but do not remove) the lug nuts on the rear wheels.

2

Jack up the back of the truck. Place jack stands underneath the truck on each side, and slowly lower the Ranger onto the jack stands.

3

Remove the lug nuts from the rear wheels and take the wheels off the truck.

4

Remove the drums from the wheel hubs. If the drums won't slide off, retract the brake shoes by removing the rubber plug on the back of the brake, sliding a flathead screwdriver through the hole and rotating the sprocket inside with an upward motion. Continue rotating the sprocket until the drum slides off.

5

Clean the wheel hub with brake wash. Wear gloves and safety goggles, and place a drain pan underneath the wheel to collect the brake wash.

6

Disconnect the shoe retracting springs from the pin at the top of the brake with the brake spring removal tool, followed by the springs at the bottom of the brake.

7

Lift up the auto-adjuster tab with a screwdriver and a pair of pliers and disconnect the auto-adjuster cable. The auto-adjuster tab is a small metal tab on the bottom of the brake.

8

Lift the primary braking shoe off of the wheel hub (it won't be attached to anything). Detach the secondary brake shoe from the parking brake cable and remove it.

9

Wash the wheel hub with brake wash.

10

Apply brake grease to the wheel hub where it comes into contact with the brake shoes.

11

Slide the new brake pads into position.

12

Reassemble the brakes by reversing the process you used to disassemble them.

Disk Brakes

13

Park the Ranger on flat ground and shut off the engine. Put the parking brake on and make sure that the transmission is in "Park." Loosen (but do not remove) the lug nuts on the front wheels.

14

Jack up the front of the truck. Place jack stands underneath the truck on each side, and slowly lower the Ranger onto the jack stands.

15

Remove the lug nuts from the front wheels and take the wheels off the truck.

16

Lift the brake caliper off the caliper mount, then detach the brake pad from the caliper slides.

17

Reset the brake caliper with a brake caliper reset tool.

18

Reinstall the caliper mounting bolts.

19

Install the new brake pads.

20

Reinstall the brake caliper, reversing the order in which you disassembled it, making sure that all bolts are secured tightly on the brakes.

Bleeding the Brakes

21

Open the hood. Remove the brake fluid from the reservoir in the engine compartment with a turkey baster. Fill the reservoir with new brake fluid.

22

Put a clear tube attached to a bottle over the nipple on the bleeder screw (you can get the tube and bottle at an auto-parts store). Get an assistant to pump the brake pedal a few times.

23

Tell your assistant to press down hard on the brake pedal and hold it. Loosen the brake fluid bleeder screw on the wheel cylinder (drum brakes) or caliper (disk brakes). Close the screw right before the brake pedal hits the floor. Repeat this step five times, then refill the reservoir.

24

Tell your assistant to pump the brakes about 10 more times, then open the bleeder screw. Continue to do this until you no longer see air bubbles in the brake fluid.

25

Fill the brake reservoir again, then bleed the brakes on the other three wheels.

26

Place the wheels back onto the truck. Reattach the lug nuts. Lift the truck off the jack stands.

27

Remove the jack stands, and slowly lower the truck to the ground.