Problems with 2004 Ford F-150 SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC

Contact states: rear end shook while going about 25-30 mph. when driving across small pot holes the vehicle made noise. brakes squealed at about 18,000 miles. when applying pressure to the brakes there was a lot of powder from the brakes on the front of the vehicle. dealer checked brake pads and they were more than half worn out at about 18, 000 miles. also , there was vibration in the steering while applying pressure to the brakes. while driving vehicle pulled to the right. *ak

With 4k miles, the brake rotors were scarred extremely bad. the dealer and the manufacturer stated that this problem was due to normal wear. *sc the consumer stated that the vehicle is under full warranty. the consumer stated that he can not afford to get the vehicle fixed. *tc

I drive a 2004 ford f-150 super crew. on a 50 degree clear dry morning i left the house and drove 100 yds to stop sign and stopped. turned left drove 100 yard to stop light controlled intersection. stepped on brake pedal. it went to the floor and engine rpm increased without input from me (my foot was stomping on the brake pedal). pulled the gear selector to low, pumped brake pedal repeatedly, made a hard right turn to avoid entering the intersection and engaged the emergency brake to stop the truck. i shut it off for a few moments in order to calm down. upon restarting, the brakes seemed to work normally. the truck is now at the dealer for investigation of the problem. *jb

While consumer was driving 30-35 mph, another vehicle cut in front of consumer vehicle, consumer slammed on brakes and vehicle continued on , hitting the other vehicle on driver's front side. upon impact, neither frontal air bag deployed, and the abs failed to stop the vehicle. dealer and the manufacturer were not notified.*ak

Purchased 2004 ford f-150 supercab 4x2 at hub city ford inc in crestview, florida on november 15, 2004. after heavy rains the pickup cab flooded, covering the rear seat back, bench, and carpeting in large puddles. upon further inspection, noticed the brake pedal rod, steering column, and all bare metal was severely rusted. *ak took vehicle to the dealership and was told that it was "normal" and would be painted, and detailed to clean the carpets. was also informed immediately that the cause of the leak was a faulty seal around the top cab rear brake light. appointment was made for tuesday november 30th, 2004. inspected the cab further on sunday (today) november 28th, 2004. rust is covering all exposed metal, including the seat brackets (which hold the seats to the frame) all bolts, and most of the rear cab metal behind the rear seats. water is still covering the rear floor pans and side pans under plastic side steps (under which is bound wiring relating to forward to rear electrical functions). the damage from rust is not surficial, but deep, cracked and pitted. will attempt to have dealer replace vehicle entirely.

Consumer was pulling inside of the garage and vehicle suddenly accelerated. consumer applied the brakes and pedal went to the floor. then, vehicle crashed into the garage door. upon impact, both frontal air bag did not deploy. no injuries were reported. vehicle was towed to the dealer for inspection, and mechanic could not determine the cause of the collision. *ak.....the brakes did not stop vehicle, nd the air bags did not deploy. there were two children, 5 and 7 years in the back seat who could have been seriously hurt. if the vehicle had moved 3 inches to the right consumer would have gone through the garage door, where consumer's husband was working and could have been run over and seriously hurt. this happened again on christmas eve when the vehicle was parked on a city street in midway, ky. it was in park when consumer turned on the ignition and the accelerator went wide open. consumer put foot on the brakes and after a few seconds the accelerator went down to normal. *ak

This will be the third time advising nhtsa and ford concerning the same problems stated before.those are the the rear end shuddering upon acceleration,the whining noise from the rear end, the automatic transmission slippage, the whining noise from the power steering unit and last but not least the brakes constant squealing.i have gone to three different ford service centers in three differeent states.ny,nj,nc.of all the dealerships svc centers mahwah ford in nj spent the most time investigating these problems.shultz ford ny and cella ford nc forget them (no help what so ever just a bunch of lame people with lame excuses)total visits 6 and nothing has been replaced even upon my insistance. i owned a 1998 f-150(best truck to date) i'm sorry that i traded it in for this 2004 bucket of bolts. *ak

I started having problems with pulsations and abnormal amounts of brake dust at around 1000 miles. the ford dealer turned the rotors. at 11,000 miles the brake pedal went right down to the floor and had to be pumped to get the vehicle to stop. i took it to the dealer and they bled the brakes and inspected them and said they could find nothing. *nm

I am going to give you a view of what has happened with this truck in the 2 months that i have owned this new truck. the day after i bought the truck i took it back for a vibration in the breaks and a vibration in the wheels at 30 and 75 well as i am sure all of you know the vibration in the wheels at those speeds was the tires are out of round and well the breaks well we are still on that one i also had a vibration in the rear end. well they told me that they had to get new tires and that the rear end was bad. so now that they have replaced the rear end and replaced the tires and rebuilt the break system that still does not work, and now the window falls off track and i smell something burning in the truck like plastic also let me add that the keypad does not work. now remember that this truck in two (2) months old i bought it on august 23 2004 and it is now november 9, 2004. so what do you think that i should do??? i do appreciate all the input .*ak

The vehicle would shimmy/vibrate when braking. the vehicle was taken to the dealer. the dealer had to turn both front rotors. the consumer has a concern that the rotors were wearing prematurely. *jb

Complaint received via e-mail. while driving down a hills state road applied the brakes and the car started to shimmer, and the steering wheel started to shake very badly. i was scared to death. luckily, we made it to the park in one piece. i drove home and called the dealer. the dealership, upon inspection of the vehicle, indicated that the 2 front rotors were badly warped. they machine them down just shy of the minimum, and did not replace them because the warranty book indicated replacement only if it was beyond the maximum allowed.*ak

Brakes warping... abs comes on,brakes start pumping......turn the brake disc about three times, replaced brake disc four times in twenty thousand miles on f 150 ford pickup truck........

Dt: the contact stated she had an ongoing failure of the brakes. the vehicle was serviced by the dealership nine times. the pads and rotors were replaced six times. a manufacturer's engineer inspected the vehicle. he made several suggestions to the dealership. the dealership implemented these suggestions although the aforementioned problems recurred. also, the transmission started slipping while driving. it was inspected by the dealer, and they were unable to determine the cause of the problem. *ak

While applying the brakes coming to a red light at an intersection, all power was lost and driver unable to stop vehicle and crashed into a dump truck. no airbags were deployed, all power was lost. dealer checked vehicle and said that they could not find anything wrong with the vehicle. very disturbing failure because the dealer could not find anything wrong with the vehicle to fix and that this could happen again at any time.*ak

I went shopping and parked my truck. upon returning to my truck 10 min later, i drove to the first light and went to use my brakes and the pedal went right to the floor. no brakes. had to get towed to ford. they say it's the ecu. i know of 4 other people who have had the same problem with the same vehicle. *nm

I personally have not had a problem with this vehicle, rather this is a link to a message board where several people with 2004 ford f-150 trucks have lost their brakes completely! i have the same vehicle and am very concerned. i urged them to contact you, but not sure if they'll take the time to do it. i just wanted to make nhtsa aware of a potentially life threatening issue. here is the link. http://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/showthread.php?p=2019172#post2019172. *nm

Brakes on new model 2004 f150 are defective. *ak

Front brakes pulsate. severe pulsation when applying brakes at freeway speeds. front end shakes violently. first repair (rotor replacement) at 10578 miles. second repair (rotor replacement) at 16141 miles. third repair (machine rotors) 21260 miles. *nm

1) brake system malfunction. it was serviced by friendly ford but the problem still exist, extreme severe vibration that it shakes the whole truck when you step on the brake pedal. brake failed to slow down the said vehicle at 65 mph going downhill. the condition is worse than before it was serviced. i beg nhtsa to address the problem to ford motor company before a fatal accident could occur. 2) engine or computer electrical problem? engine losses power and drops to fail safe mode. totally gutless while coming in to freeway from an offramp or during crossing an intersection. after hours of driving it comes back to normal. i tried different grades of fuels octane it didn't make any diffference it did malfunction in similar way. very scary and dagerous experience. 3) driver's side power window and rear winshield power window malfunctions. extreme water intrusion during rain and car wash time. it has harsh mechanical noise inside the door.

Tl*the contact owns a 2004 ford f-150. while driving approximately 70 mph on normal road conditions, the vehicle vibrated excessively when the brake pedal was depressed. the failure occurred without warning. the vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer for inspection and they replaced both front rotors under the warranty. on three separate occasions, the vehicle was taken back to an authorized dealer for the identical failures. the front brake pads and rotors were replaced at the contact's expense. the manufacturer has been notified of the malfunctions. the failure mileage was 30 and current mileage was 32,000.

Disc brake defect- i own a 2004 f-150 supercrew. two of my friends own one each as well. the disks are too small for the weight of the vehicle. mine have already warped twice. they finally stopped turning them which only makes the warping faster, and put a new set on. the only problem is that tehy will do the same thing. my friends are having the same problem and ford acknowleges the problem although i don't see it as a recell item. i dont know what ford will do once these trucks are out of warranty. they always try to sell extended but i will not bite as i know that this is a design defect. 2. i believe that most people will drive on the warped brakes making them brake differently in bad conditions. i believe that brakes are a major componant of any moving vehicle and that in nearly all dangerous situations in a vehicle brakes are applied and depended upon. 3. i talked planet ford in to replacing the rotors. they wanted to turn them a second time. according to posts on different web sites, the warping in the front rotors and the groving in the rear rotors has become a major issue. *ak

I have a ford f-150 extended cab with approximately 3000 miles. the brakes have been squeaking for several weeks now. i took it to my dealer and was told that ford installs brakes that don't meet up right with the roters which causes the squeaking. i was informed that there was nothing my dealer could do and that i should buy a different brand of brake pads to put on the vehicle. i was told these new pads would run approx $50.00. i called ford and was informed they wouldn't do anything to rectify the problem either. i don't think it's right that my vehicle that has 3000 miles and that i've owned for less than a year has squeaking brakes and no one wants to fix the problem.*ak

While driving and coming to complete stop automatic transmission didn't shift properly from the first to the second gear, finally the stick shift didn't move from park to a drive gear. also brakes vibrated while driving at any speed . *ak

Drove veh. 10 miles, parked, came out from shopping started vehicle. brake pedal went right to the floor, could only obtain some brake by pumping pedal.*ak

Rear rotors have deep grooves being cut into them, the front are not as bad but more ripples in them. i took it to my ford dealer and they told me it was due to having used tire shine on the tires. i explain to them that this was the first time i used it and it was the nite before i brought the truck in for service. the truck is a 2004 f150 supercrew 4x4 fx4. it has 4256. miles on it. i have noticed 11 other f150 supercrews with the same 2 line grooves cut into the rear rotors. one of those trucks only had 600 miles on it. all where the 2004 f150 supercrew 4x4 ( lariat and fx4)

I have a 2004 f-150 fx4, i was driving to work about 7 months ago and i went to apply the braks and the brake pedal went all the way to the floor. i took it to the dealership and they could not find anything wrong, the same thing happened yesterday. i drove it today and its not doing it now, im scared to drive it. *jb

The brakes began to shimmy and shutter and there was vibration from the rear when driving. *nm

The brakes began to shimmy and shutter and there was vibration from the rear when driving. *nm

Vehicle was parked and consumer noticed fluid was leaking from underneath the vehicle. and a odor was coming in from the vents. consumer drove the vehicle to the dealer for inspection, and mechanic determined that o ring needed to be replaced inside of the engine. also, a second problem occurred. while applying the brakes pedal went to the floor,and the driver heard a squeaking noise. mechanic determined that the both front rotors needed to be replaced. *ak

2004 ford f150 xlt 4wd supercab(brakes constantly squealing)conditions were normal even braking.i never had to slam on the brakes. 've brought my vehicle back to ford dealership three times over a period of 4 months.corrective actions are scuffing the brake pads and deglazing the rotors.it's fine for a month and the squealing is back as well as a deposit of brake dust on the wheel.i've also had two incidents concerning the electronic accelrator(ford calls this drive by wire as it is digitally controlled acceleration)the trouble light displayed in dash panel twice over a period of 4 months.the last incident caused the vehicle engine to violently sputter and misfire causing loss of power .the vehicle was checked with diagnostic equipment and i was told that nothing appeared wrong with the accelerator module.the brakes i can live with but the electronic accelerator is paramount for the vehicle to function.no accelerator(digital) no go.loss of power,control and you might cause an accident causing injury to you and others. *ak

During routine inspection dealership informed the consumer that the rear brakes wore out. the problem was not resolved. *ak

While applying the brake pedal vehicle vibrated uncontrollably. consumer was able to maintain control of the vehicle, and drove it to the dealer for inspection. however, mechanic could not duplicate the problem. *ak

Vehicle was taken to the dealer because the vehicle would shimmy while driving 35 mph or more. the dealer turned the rotors. after 6000 miles the problem resurfaced.. please provide any further information. *jb

I have a 2004 f150 super crew four wheel drive with 39,367 miles on it. i had to replace the front pads at 30,000 and now the deler tells me the rear are gone also, at under 40,000 miles. i drive almost exclusively on the highway, no in town driving, the truck is empty, and i do not own a trailer. dealer says "tough luck". ford rep was even less courteous when he denied my request to meet him to discuss the horribly unacceptable brake life. i have several other fords, a 2001 expedition that got almost twice the brake life, and my wife drives it in town every day. dealer has blamed ford. ford says "brake wear is normal". maybe it is time my lifelong commitment to ford comes under serious review!*ak

Several weeks after purchasing my 2004 ford f-150, i noticed that the front wheels were beginning to discolor from a build-up of brake dust. less than a month into owning the car, i complained to the dealership and was told that this problem was the result of a ford decision to replace the originally designed brake pads with quiter ones because of previous customer complaints about noisy brakes. they told me there was no alternative but to live with the problem, even though i was having to clean my wheels every three weeks due to the constant build-up of the brake dust. they told me that they have no low-dust version for the f-150's even if i were to pay for it myself. they provided no help or support, even suggesting that we consumers were at fault for this new brake dust problem because of complaints about the previous pads' noise, as if to suggest that we deserve or should have expected at least one of these problems. my position is that when i buy a $40,000 new car, i expect that enough r&d was done to deliver a quiet and low dust brake pad. if this problem isn't remedied by the manufacturer, i guess my only recourse is never to buy ford cars again. it's been around 6 months since my purchase and my truck has about 7000 miles on it; yet i still have to wash the front wheels off at least every three weeks due to the discoloration from the build-up. *jb

I have a 2004 f-150 xlt extended cab pickup. i hae had the truck for 5 months and ever since the first month i have had brake problems. my brakes and rotors keep getting tore up and ford is saying that i have used tire shine and that is what "ate" my brakes up. i have only used tire shine once! also, my tires are only 5 months old and they are extremley wore out. i have told the ford dealer about this and they said it is normal on a 4x4. i have asked 2 other ford dealers and they said they have never heard of it being "normal" on a 4x4. in either case ford is unwilling to replace the tires. also their customer service hotline is not worth it, their attitude is oh well it is your problem not mine. i am very unhappy with ford.*ak

2004 f-150 super crew - taken back to dealer starting approximately 3 months from purchase for severe squealing and pulsating, it's going back for the 6th time next week. the rotors and brakes were replaced twice and some kind of spray (yeah right) and still not fixed. now severe shaking at any speeds very intermittent, and always pulsates like warped rotors including squealing all the time. oh yeah the rear end clutch packs were also replaced three weeks after purchase. *jb

Brakes & rack and pinion bar. *ak

While driving 25 mph,the driver applied the brakes,the pedal went to the floor. the vehicle continue to pick up speed. the driver was able to maintain control of the vehicle by pumping the brakes. the driver was able to drive the vehicle home and called a towed truck to have the vehicle towed to the dealer for inspection. the mechanic informed the driver that the master cylinder needed replacing. *mr *nm

Vibration in steering wheel. replaced front/rear rotors, rack and pinion, steering gear and balanced all tires. *bf steering vibration at hwy speeds. steering shakes when braking. *tc *jb

Tl*the contact owns a 2004 ford f150. while driving 60 mph, the vehicle's steering wheel and front end shake. the rack and pinion was replaced at 48,000 miles, the rotors were replaced and turned several times, and the calipers were replaced as well. however, the failure persists. while driving over 40 mph and making a sudden stop, the brake pedal goes all the way down to the floor and the vehicle eventually stops. the brake pedal must continuously be pumped for pressure while driving. the dealer stated that the brakes are normal. the vehicle has been experiencing the failures since the date of purchase. the current mileage is 51,000 and failure mileage was 2,000.

First applaction of brakes after backing out of drive way that is stopping at the red light at (rt)#30-& main rd,brake lines at abs control manfold,are vibrating so bad it sounds like the fan is rubbing somthing my experance with hydraulic. tells me that the brake line fittings at there seat in the manafold will fali.#2 this truck has delux mirrors,signal mirrors,led mounted in the bottom,r/s led outer three cant be seen from the driver's seat. *ak

While coming to a stop sign i noticed the steering wheel starting to shake. it progressively, became worse so i took it in to my local ford dealer. the first time they said they found nothing, then as it got worse they found the rotors warped. they replaced the rotors and pads. about 4-5 months went by and i noticed the steering wheel starting to shake again. i brought it to a different dealer, kearny mesa ford and the found the rotors warped again. this time they wanted to machine the rotors, instead of replacing them. i pushed them into replacing the rotors and pads again. this took a day or so to get them to do this. once again, 4-5 months down the road, the steering wheel started to shake. this time encinitas ford said that ford would not replace anything regarding the brakes. i informed them of all the other complaints on this site and only then did they get back to me saying they would replace the rotors but not the pads. magically, their service director said that ford had newer rotors available, but they flat out refused to replace the pads. so as of now i have new rotors and i am getting new pads put on somewhere else. i would not give them any of my money to replace the pads. i would rather have another mechanic do the work. we will see how long these rotors last!*ak

Vehicle vibration and very noticeable steering wheel shimmy/nibble at highway speeds above 45 mph. bad vibration when braking. in february 2004, beginning at approximately 3000 miles, i had vehicle checked/serviced several times by ford dealership service department. was told to keep driving it until it gets broken in (suggested about 12-15,000 miles). diagnoses ranged from warped brake rotors to "tires slipping on the rims." vehicle now has 31,000miles and the problem still has not been resolved. *jb