This 2012 Ford F350 has some serious brake issues. Send us a postcard: Watch Wes Work P.O. Box 106 Fulton, IL 61252 Send us an email: mail@watchweswork.com
I know you think brake work is boring but Wes, I watched you make sausage, repair machine tools and save ancient loaders. You could tell shaggy dog stories while sharpening every knife in your house for all I care, you’re just an entertaining & skilful man.
"Gonna need a bigger hammer" - boy, if I had a nickel for every time I heard that..... Enjoyed the video. Never get tired of Wes' humor and skill sharing.
I know you *think* this isn't worth listing publicly, but folks *love* watching the "just rolled into the shop" stuff. Thanks for keeping the rest of us safe by repairing crap like this!
"Made it sound like it just happened." made me laugh. Friend of mine is a specialty mechanic working on a specific type of classic car. The way people "imply" how long something has been a certain way, or what condition something is in always amazes him. Best one was a car that "has always been garaged and has been stored indoors for last 20 years", but forgot to mention the garage was under water once during a bad spring flood so the car sat under water for a week.
It still genuinely stuns me that some people can hear metal grinding against metal and/or think "I wonder why the brakes don't work?" and then shrug, put it out of their mind and cheerfully drive on. Mind bending!
That would be my sister. Windshield wiper blade wore off and scratched a semi circle in her windshield. Scraping/humming wheel bearing. Tire so low someone at a gas station pointed it out to her (hit a pot hole and dented the rim). U-joint totally worn making a awful binding/grinding on acceleration. Currently in my garage waiting for a new driveshaft to arrive as the u-joints are non-serviceable (thanks Subaru). She never mentioned any of these to me, I or someone else had to point them out to her.
Four or so years ago my aunt was complaining her car was hard to shift out of park. Her parking brake was non existent and she lives on a hill and doesn't curb her tires ao the entire weight of the car is on the trans parking pawl. I offered to adjust her parking brake, I found paper thin brake pads and worn rotors, calipers were ok. Parking brake pad was ok but adjuster was completely frozen from moisture, brake and road dust. I removed cleaned lubed reinstalled and adjusted parking brake, worked perfect. I told her the front brakes were on their last legs and as long as I had her car I would do those too, she declined saying "there not that old." I also noticed both upper and lower radiator hoses needed replaced, lower had a big bulging soft spot, she also declined that repair saying "her regular mechanic had not mentioned it. I thought what the hell I'm I doing working on this car. A week or so later the radiator hose burst, she didn't notice the steam or over heating and didn't stop until the motor seized. She blamed it all on me, wanted me to pay to replace engine, cost would have been twice what the car was worth. She still holds that grudge today, Thanksgiving get togethers are fun as she never fails to bring it up and renew the grudge. Just saying be careful who you do favors for!
WWW goes 'Mechanical Nightmare' and 'Just Rolled In', all in one video! Yeah... You're spot on, we all need to remember that vehicles like this are rocketing down the road, pretending that they'll stop at the intersection you're approaching.
I’m here to tell you I absolutely love the brake job content and all the carnage and rust you come across. So much nicer to see someone else fighting rust and not just myself 😂
@@Jeffro_1 Here in Hungary the inspections are mainly done by independent companies but they are inspected and licensed by the national authorities beforehand. Furthermore they have to use the official online software (with webcams) and there are random checks by the authority. They can freeze the software in the middle of an inspection and if this happens the currently inspected car cannot leave the inspection station until the authority arrives and tells otherwise. During an inspection they check the lights, brakes, tires, suspension parts and if the body or frame is heavily rusted. Of course there are instances where a car "slips through" an inspection but this is not general.
I had no idea how long I had been watching your vids. I just went back to your oldest videos and realized I began watching when you were very new to RU-vid. Or… at least it appears that way. You may have other stuff. Maybe hidden/deleted stuff. But… I started watching you because I was searching for surface grinder videos and you had just posted a video. That video was 6 years ago now. I’ve been through a couple RU-vid accounts and a lot of life changes in that time. I just wanted to say thank you for all the entertainment and education you have passed my way. I’m not exactly in a situation where I can toss you some financial support… but when that day comes… I am definitely at least paying for you and your family to have a night out on me. I sincerely appreciate you my guy. Oh… and I sincerely appreciate your wife being so patient and understanding with the whole RU-vid thing. It’s a lot to have thousands and thousands of people looking at you and judging you. She’s a keeper for sure. Anyway, have a great day friend. Many thanks. 🙏
Sounds like you've got a perpetual content customer in the owner of that truck since he owns the dodge as wll, lol. "was like that when I bought it".. mmmhmmm
This makes me so glad we have an annual MOT test on our vehicles here in the UK. Although we moan about it all the time it does help keep vehicles safer.
No idea why I enjoy these videos as much as I do. Guess it's just presentation and pure amazement at your diagnosis skills. Here I am with an 01 Xterra sitting for 3 weeks because I can't get a lower control arm bushing out. Thanks for the videos.
@freiherrdinkelacker Thanks, I have a good tool for it but the issue on the Xterra is that the bushing isn't attached to the control arm like most. The rear side of the control arm actually attaches to the outside of the bushing which is seized inside the bracket attached to the frame. I have new upper and lower control arms for it but have to get the bushing out to attach them. I'm going to try heat and an air hammer but may still have to cut them. Concerned about cutting into the bracket. Nissan couldn't make it easy.
Don't even consider replacing bushings, replace the whole control arms, you can find them at a reasonable price and save the aggravation, the days of rebuilding components are over.
@robertklein1316 Thanks, the bushing isn't seized in the control arm. It's seized in a bracket welded to the frame. Nissan couldn't make it easy. I have all new upper and lower control arms.
@freiherrdinkelacker I haven't but will try that if no luck any other way. I was able to get the center out with a ball joint press but the outer sleeve is still fused. I'll keep you updated.
@@SteelCityRyanyou could try running a drill bit between the bushing and the outer housing it is stuck to.. The drill bit will separate the 2 materials allowing for a bit of an easier removal of the bushing but not sure if you have the room to do that since the bushing housing is welded to the frame & the control arm is still connected..
Cant belive people drive cars in that condition. Im in the uk and am thankful we have the mot that car would never been allowed to leave the garage with the brakes in that condition. Love the videos keep up the good work.
There are seriously dodgy MOTs too though. Lawrie of LMM bought an MG a while ago, with a fresh MOT and the car was so bad he scrapped it immediately. My Mate Vince's Rolls wasn't exactly safe either, despite its fresh MOT, the rear suspension mount almost completely rotted out. I live in Austria where we have fairly strict yearly inspections but one day I still found a brake pad without any traces of friction material on the side of the road. The wear marks on the metal suggested the car had been driven without the friction material for a while before it lost the pad altogether. As far as I know it's a lot more likely to be killed by a drunk and speeding driver than by a car with dodgy brakes though, so apparently the inspections keep most of the incredibly dangerous crap off the roads.
As a DIYer, living in the salt free South, it always amazes me how you pros in the rust belt are able to keep your sanity and motivation to continue working on such rotted out junk. Makes me wonder why I swear at my "pristine" no rust classic every time I work on it. I do stop and count my blessings after your videos. Love them. Thanks for sharing.
I moved from the south to the north. It wasn't easy getting used to working on rusted stuff. You get used to ut and the ways to make it go easier or dealing with the issues
What is scarier than the stuff coming at you at 70mph is that the people driving that stuff decided it was worth the risk (to their life and yours) to do that. Brakes are just one way of stopping.
I’m usually anti government but people are just too stupid to be trusted with these 3 ton projectiles! Unfortunately I’ve seen what passes inspections on SMA so I guess I just better up my insurance.
@@noscopesallowed8128 Every one says that mandatory annual inspection would get rid of these. In Finnland we have mandatory annual inspection and every day there is at least several car on the road with brakes like this. And cars even in worse condition, since there is no point on fixing things as they occur, but wait until the inspection. Also many don't bother to repair the problem, instead they hack something together just enough to fool the inspection since the whole car can be deemed unworthy to repair on a miniscule but expensive fault
@@felixchaus Yeah I grew up in Germany, and all I remember of the inspections is that they would find something completely unimportant and fail your car on it, costing you hundreds if not thousands of Euro, and days of your life to fix. You of course would still see cars driving down the road with various problems.
I like Your storytelling and am very happy that in Germany we have an extra entity just for checking every registered vehicle every two years, buses and trucks every year. This kinda carnage- I know my aunt and uncle had an old VW 411 for hauling stuff to renovate their home, they didn´t want to use their brand new VW Polo. So my aunt got pulled over with the 411 but had the registration for the Polo with. Not knowingly she gave the cop the slip, he didn´t recognize either because he was too busy writing all that´s bad with the 411. Well, the 411 got finally scrapped and they paid a fine for driving a not roadworthy rust bucket. I still like the 411/412- to me they were nice and with 80hp not too slow. They even had fuel injection and most of them I saw had a second heater because aircooled engines can lack heating power in -25C.
This reminds me of the time I stopped next to a dump truck on an interstate off ramp light in SoFla. It was towing an excavator on a trailer with a reese pintle hook hitch. I just happened to look over at it, and it was loose where it bolted to the truck frame and had two of the four bolts missing. I ended up following them until I could get the driver's attention. He spoke Spanish and I speak little of it, but hopefully I got the point across. Made me wonder if he even had a valid license. You have to be wary of the crap rolling around next to you every day.
We had a period where parts were falling off of trucks, and dump trucks specifically, with disastrous results. The highway cops cracked down with pop up inspection stations and roadside inspections, and that helped a fair bit, but like everything else government, the steam ran out of that and it's becoming obvious that there are problems again.
You got vehicles like this on the road not being checked by the DOT, then they are ticketing commercial trucks for two wires rubbing together. It's all about money, not safety. Good work as always Wes. The rust belt is no joke.
In the 80s I worked in a repair shop and a 3/4 ton truck came in with "brake issues". The piston was catching on the cooling fins. I fully understand your astonishment.
I moved to a rust belt state a few years back. I learned the hard way that every 18 months I need to remove, re-lube, and reattach the brake pads regardless of the amount of driving or pad thickness. Rust Never Sleeps - Neil Young
Good one Wes! 😊 Here's mine. I did a state inspection on a single wheel one ton once and when I removed the left.front wheel, the caliper was pinched on the rotor holding it in place, but the rotor was severed from the hub, and I watched this old farmer drive this truck into the garage then argue with me about it not needing a brake job
That is Ford’s soft braking system, a pleasure to drive, doesn’t throw you through the windshield ,when you apply the brakes😮 several years ago. My wife went through a pair of front brakes on a brand new explorer in 21,000 miles, rotors were so warped, I could have used them for a wind chime, and yet she had no idea that the brakes were bad.
if you can't lock up the wheels when you hit the brakes, they're not good enough (and that is one of the main reasons most US cars are illegal to drive in Europe, the brakes just aren't good enough)
Wes, I can’t get enough of these types of videos you do. I did similar mechanic work many years ago and seeing videos like this bring old memories flooding back. That, plus your snickers, sighs and very dry humor are pure gold. Please keep them coming 👍.
It's a return customer, it seems like this guy just buys trucks and ignores the brakes, I guess just so WWW has the opportunity to make some good content.
Wes, Thank you so much for this video!!! I have tried to explain to the women and teenagers in my life that just because they are following the rules of the road, they are safe. I use this video to show them that the oncoming truck cannot stop. It is up to them to be ready to avoid hitting tons of moving steel and iron if they want to survive. We also have basic classes in physics and vector math. They still have a hard time believing that two vehicles hitting head on at 35 mph is the same force as driving into a wall at 70 mph. Or that kinetic energy equals one-half the mass times the velocity squared; or when you double your speed you increase the energy by a factor of four! Sorry for the long message, but I want you to know that your videos provide a public service and maybe I can use them to scare some people into paying attention when they drive.
@@CSkwirl Two vehicles colliding is NOT EXACTLY like hitting an immovable object especially if they are not exactly on center and same mass, but it is close enough that saying two vehicles colliding head on each going 35mph is like hitting a wall at 70 mph. It is close enough. You would simply lose everyone if you actually tried to explain the detailed physics. Without all that detail that would just make them a deer in the headlights, the fact they cannot comprehend the simplified version says all it needs to.
@@LisaMedeiros-tr2lz I was trying to be nice..... It's not exactly because it's not like it at all. Show me the mathematical proof where anyone agrees it's the same, it doesn't exist. Hitting a wall at 70mph is undeniably worse than 2 cars (of same mass) hitting each other at 35, it's not even the same as one car doing 70mph hitting the other car stationary. Cars absorb a lot of energy (as designed) and never stop exactly on the spot of impact, conserving more of the energy instead of putting it into the occupants. I'll hit another car at 35 any day rather than hitting a wall at 70, most people agree.
@@CSkwirl The eight semesters of math and physics I took to get my BS in engineering say this - it is easy to obfuscate the issue with trivial content. The energy dissipated by two masses moving directly towards each other at 35 mph is exactly the same amount of energy as one mass striking an immovable barrier at 70 mph. The point of the discussion was for people to understand that it is not OK to fiddle with radio because they are 'only' going 35 mph.
Love vehicular carnage like this ... reminds me why I'm on the fence about annual safety inspections ... if they weren't so stringent on things that don't actually matter, I'd fully support them. Thanks for sharing 🇨🇦
Just watch South Main Auto. Lots of approval stickers attached to the cars that come through his shop. Eric just scratches his head on how they passed. So not sure inspections make any difference.
@@jeffmartin2110 doeasnt help in states like NY where fraudulent stickers arent hard to get and fly by night I know who knows a guy shops will slap stickers on death traps for $80
@@jeffmartin2110 The only difference they make is to your wallet. Some mates of mine have 3 (near as makes no difference) identical Landcruiser 4WDs. Once per year, each of them has to swap springs and wheels for the annual inspection. The cars drive like absolute pigs with the (now wildly unsuitable) suspension components fitted, but every year they pass. And are promptly put back into their normal (technically illegal) configuration.
@@jeffmartin2110In competent countries whoever passed that car would need to answer to a regulatory body and could lose their ability to perform these tests. Ever rule or law needs enforcement or it’s irrelevant
Pretty insane to think a vehicle with 50k miles can be nearly at the end of its lifespan. Can't say I've been easy on my old truck since I bought it 50k miles ago but it's still running great. And it's got 6x as many miles at this one.
Two videos in two days! Thanks, makes me feel better about the stuff I'm working on out in the barn. (Also, that the brake fluid was a little darker than the coffee in my cup made me think maybe the "pasture pickup" can go another year without me flushing and refilling the brake system, it's only about as dark as watered down iced tea.)
Wes, Yep, Old man that can't hear past the frequency of a baritone will not be able to hear the squeaks, scrapes and grinding of a missing brake pad. Great content. Keep them coming.
I think state vehicle inspections are a pain in the rear but in these cases maybe it would get this crap off the road or at least maybe make it safe once a year. 👍
Downside is unscrupulous mechanics who use the required inspection to sell you a bunch of crap you don't need and you are held hostage by it or you don't get your sticker.
Thanks for the video. It's funny when you live anywhere in the snow belt, one of the most important trucks to run and work right is a plow truck, but the most under maintained and serviced trucks " the freaking plow truck" I bought a used F150 truck here in Canada for a project and had it pre safety inspected it before I started working on it. They never failed anything on the brake system. the scary part is all the calipers were seized on the pins, the discs, park brake cables/shoes were junk and all the pads were worn at an angle and had to be beat out of the brackets with a 14lb hammer ! yeah that made me mad when I found all this out and they had to of seen it, as part of the inspection's measure the pads and rotors ! So i replaced everything to know it was 100% right. Take care.
Ah, the good old 'driven 'till it failed' type of issue, gotta love 'em! I've seen pictures of rotors worn down to the inner fins! Saw one like that in a wrecking-yard once as well. When then get to that point, they likely lock up, and may have caused the wreck that put the vehicle I saw in the junkyard.
We have them here in many states too. Doesn't mean anything if the inspection is done by a corpulent cantankerous women who works at the DMV with zero mechanics knowledge.
Wes, never fails, content just keeps me glued. Imagine Watch Wes Work in other scenarios though........ the Department of motor vehicles, fast food, best one yet though.......Watch Wes Work starring in.......delivery of a baby. Either way, im watching
Wes thank you for the content. I enjoy what you post a lot. I have two long shot ideas for you. I have a 1950 Chev. 3/4 ton with a 1958 6 cyd in her that could use a little love. The manual trany leaks out the seals etc and after it warms up it the oil pressure on the engine drops, does not burn oil so likely a bearing issue. I live a long way north of you but would be happy to drive it down and pay you to film and fix it. Second car is longer Shot a 1961 MG A. It has a noisy first gear. Parts are usually available from Moss motors so I could order whatever well in advance and drive the car down. Thing is an MG A has no side windows, it has side curtains which makes it not much fun in bad weather . I know both are long shots and all. But if you think either would be interesting content let me know. Best wishes and thank you for all you do.
Man, that's crazy! I'm starting to notice there's a trend going on with vehicles in your part of the Country! I live on the Gulf Coast and we have a problem here with sand and saltwater but I've never seen the kind of corrosion on newish vehicles that you're experiencing! Is there any way to mitigate the salt put on the roads and keep the vehicles protected? ✌🤠🇺🇸
It’s not a trend; that's the way it's been done forever. The exceptions are the states that use majority sand and those who are using calcium chloride and other, more exotic, substances. But Michigan, where I'm from, sits atop one of the largest salt domes in the world. Salt is cheap, predictable, and has the infrastructure in place. You’d have to find something that beats at least two out of these three for change to happen. I know that salt does damage to the ecosystem. But so does every other practical solution. I'm not trying to be a “salt apologist” or anything here. I've just lived my life in Michigan and I’ve heard these arguments at the start of every single winter that I can remember.
@@ArmyCop Here (Sweden) a number of drinking water wells has been destroyed by salt intrusion ..... salt from E4 (ie a european north-to-south route, mainly a swedish only road but still 1590 km long.)
Yeah, you can coat the underside with Fluidfilm, or just go cheap and melt some grease into some used transmission fluid and shoot it on with a spray gun made to spray more viscous materials. Coat practically everything but the exhaust, and do it EVERY year. If I lived in the rust belt, I would open a shop just for this and advertise so people would understand it. I think it is crazy to spend as much as a truck costs, put only 50K miles on it, and ten years later dump it for scrap and do it again. These same people are probably also the one's who will argue to death over how they swear only by brand X of motor oil. Lol. Then at 50K miles the truck breaks in two.
I live in the state of Pa where they are pushing to discontinue the annual safety inspection. These people need to watch this video. One question though. Is that a manual locking hub behind the outer flange?
the rednecks will be overjoyed. so will the we buy here we sell here shady used car lots. it'll increase their sales while lowering costs by not having to actually make sure vehicle is road worthy
You must of swept up a 5 gallon pail of rust when you got finished with the job. Seeing things like that almost makes you want to quit driving, thanks for the tag along video sir, as always interesting to see.
Hello WES and friends. Guy I worked with approached me said his brakes were making a funny noise. Long story short, his rotor was worn almost thru, so that the casting broke loose , applying the brakes just stopped the rotor no braking effect. I said you can't drive this van like this. The other front caliper was seized tite so he only had rear brakes. He thought I was being overly "repairy "and drove it for 2 weeks this way. In the hills around Pittsburgh PA till he got paid. Then he said the mechanic ripped him off by replacing everything both front sides............................god save us all.
This is why I am grateful that I live in a country (UK) where all motor vehicles have to have a yearly safety inspection and our cars / pickup trucks are generally not as heavy as US cars / pickup trucks. If that F350 was involves in an accident, I could see this being a world of legal-pain with the insurance companies.
I live in a state with a yearly inspection… trust me. It doesn’t help much, there is plenty of “lick em and stick em” shops. I’ve even had a car inspected at my local Chevy dealer, less then 1000 miles later the rear brakes went metal to metal on a car with 42k on it…. I think they could have told me that the pads were at the end of their life… nope
I have a small construction company with about 6 Ford trucks. I have my mechanic check the brakes everytime the oil gets changed. The standing rule we have is if he doesn't think the pads will make it to the next oil change replace them. No brakes is no joke when pulling trailers.
Remember everyone, that 350 you're road raging with on the interstate very well could be one of these guys. They don't care enough about their own life, do you think they care about yours? I will give it to him though, I wish I could live my life as free as this guy. Right when something breaks on our cars I have to tear it apart as soon as I get home.
I had a similar issue with the four-wheeler I used to use at work. The last guy who did the brakes, completely left off the outer pad on the one side. The caliper looked just like this one, being sharp enough to shave with it. The one saving grace was the caliper was aluminum, so the rotor didn't get damaged...
when i saw your video i thought it was sunday and i have slept for part of the week, great video Wes nothing you do is boring for me i enjoy watching every minute 👏👏👏👏👏👌👌👌👌👌👍👍👍👍👍
