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[FMTRVT]

The rear brakes on the 99-04 platform are problematic, and one of the reasons that Ford changed suppliers from Akebono to K-H for the 05+ years.

The issues on the rear brakes tend to come from rusting. The slides can be a problem, the pad steelbacks can rust where they fit into the brackets, and corrosion can form under the caliper piston boots, especially with remanufactured calipers.

It doesn't matter who the aftermarket calipers came from (NAPA, Autozone, Ford service, etc). All of the aftermarket calipers are run through an abrasive cleaning operation that removes the anti-corrosion coating on the caliper. So as far as the piston situation is concerned, rusting will happen faster then with new OE calipers.

And before anyone asks, there was only one supplier for this caliper, Akebono. No one else made new calipers. And all of the aftermarket stock is from cores that have been turned in or from salvage yards that sell to rebuilders.

The overall issue that is contributing is complex. One factor is that any rear disc brake on any vehicle gets a higher amount of road wetting then the front brakes. There is just a huge amount of water that is thrown off the front tires towards the back axle. So the rear brakes are bathed in water. One of the reason I added front mud flaps to my own truck, although still not enough.

Another issue is how hot the rear brakes get on this vehicle, and if your operating it in a non-commercial manner, they don't get very hot. Especially in rain conditions. So they don't dry very well and rust builds up.

And then there is the design factor. It is very easy for the bracket side of the sliding pin boot to not seal well or become dislodged. When this occurs, water gets in and the pin rusts. If you use petroleum based grease on these pins, the boots will swell even a little and the seal will be compromised, so silicone based grease is essential.

The other part of the design is the movement of the pads in the brackets. The new design in 05 has a much more forceful method of keeping the pads moving back with the piston and caliper retraction. For the Akebono design, this was accomplished with the use of double stick adhesive on the insulators for a time. But that does not work for the vehicles that came equipped with the SS heat shield between the inner pad and caliper pistons. And if anyone disturbs the caliper, that adhesion is compromised on the outer pad. But this not that much different then many other vehicles out there.

The bottom line IMO is these model years need routine inspection and maintenance on the brakes if you do not want to develop a situation where the rear brakes fail. And when they fail, they do so quickly without much warning. More so if your not operating under heavy weight, higher stop count per mile commercial conditions.