Toad brake lockup

[1thomason]

This past weekend towing my 2013 F-150 I had a blowout on new Michelin tires less than 1000 miles I was in Chipley FL in town when I heard the tire blow I drove 3 blocks before I could find a place to pull over tire was toast. after we stopped I tried to remove the lug nuts could not fit wrench over nuts then I looked and saw the chrome on the wheel had buckled from overheating. Called Good Sam wrecker driver could not get tire off so we had it towed to a ford dealer in Graceville FL he removed wheel and discovered that the front brakes had locked up and overheated disc and caliper and front hub plus sensors. He asked me to take truck to a larger dealer. I Bought an extended warranty from Ford of course that is void because I tow the truck. I use M&G braking I think that's not the problem because the back brakes are ok . Anyone else experence this?

[Tall Tex]

This is not the same, but maybe similar. DW was driving the Dakota pickup and we crossed the divide in Yellowstone twice that day. She was using the brakes to control speed on the long grades and I was too busy sight seeing to notice. Suddenly we smelled hot brakes and one of the front calipers was not releasing. It was so hot that it would not fully release. We had to stop and let it cool down, then it worked ok. To me it sounds like you had one caliper do the same thing because the brake system did not fully release.

This situation could have been avoided if you had a TPMS with temperature warning. I never thought about a TPMS to monitor brake malfunctions.

[Matt D]

Bob, what does the other (unblown) front tire look like? Any flat spotting?

If the other tire on the same axle is perfect, likely the problem isn't with the M&G, or anything to do with towing. If your problem is isolated to one specific wheel, there is likely an issue with that brake.

Once you get two good tires on the pickup, I would take your IR non-contact thermometer and shoot it at the rotors after driving for 10 minutes. Attempt to avoid using the brakes as much as safety will permit.

What you're looking to determine is, if the M&G is improperly adjusted, causing the brakes to drag. If this is the situation, you will see your rotors get fairly hot in spite of the brakes not having been applied. For example, on a mild 75F day, I would expect to see the rotors warm up to possibly 100-120F. However, should the rotors be in the high 100s, or approaching 200F and up, I would have reason to suspect the M&G is improperly adjusted.

Who did the M&G install?

Where are you currently located?

Regarding warranty coverage, I don't believe the fat lady has sung on that one. Someone needs to clearly determine the causal factor of this failure. Once that determination has been proven, the next question is whether or not your modifications had any impact.

To state there is no warranty simply because you tow is a cop out. That truck is designed by Ford to tow four down.

I hope this helps,

-Matt

[rorr1821]

I agree with previous post. Your warranty claim can not be denied simply base on the fact you tow your vehicle. Ford under the Massey-Ferguson Act has to prove the cause was from an external source such as the added braking system.

Now that being said I know for a fact if the M&G braking system is not installed correctly, making the very sensitive adjustment to the push rod in the M&G add-on head, it will cause the brakes to drag and over heat. The M&G is a great braking system when properly installed. I have personally installed the M&G on a 2014 Ram pickup and it worked great. But I had to remove it during installation because I did not have the rod screwed in far enough so the pressure was removed from the master cylinder.

Hope it was not due to poor M&G install.

Ray

[1thomason]

The M&G brake system worked great for 4 years and over 20,000 miles. Truck is still in shop replaced all rotors, calipers and brake lines. Front hub bearing assembly and sensors next. I bought a TPMS EZRV and plan to have a light on the rv dash to show when trucks brakes are applied. I cannot afford to have this happen again.

[Matt D]

Bob, I can appreciate your desire to avoid a reoccurrence of this problem.

Have you determined the root cause?

One other thought that occurred to me is the possibility of a breakaway failure, improperly applying the brakes when not desired.

-Matt

[1thomason]

After the brake job the brakes would not release until the M&G Cylinder was removed from the master cylinder I plan to return the brake system to M&G for a rebuild and to find out what happened

[Matt D]

Bob, have you been pretty careful about capping the air line when not in use?

I'll be really interested in what M&G says.

-Matt