on 98 jimmy had squeal from rt front, checked brakes and inside pad is worn down bad, outside pad has lots left. Could this be a bad caliper?

 

sometimes the pads rot inside the caliper bracket and get stuck against the rotor and cause it to wear down extremely fast. just seen it the other day on a explorer. 3 pads had like 35% left and one of the inside ones was down to nothing and grinding. had to beat that pad out of the bracket with a hammer where as normally it should just slide out.

 

Guess I'll just replace front pads and see how they do

 

make sure that your caliper pins are well greased. it could be sticking on the pins too. always, always coat them with some fresh grease whenever they are pulled out.

 

k, thanks

 

^ make sure to use high temp silicone grease, not standard bearing grease

 

If the inboard pad wears faster than the outboard pad, the caliper piston is not retracting, (binding in the caliper bore). If the outboard pad wears faster, there's a problem with the hardware, (guide pins binding etc).

 

Inside pad is wearing faster, can I do anything to fix the caliper or do I need to replace it?

 

You can rebuild it, or replace it. Remanufactured calipers are available with or without the mounting bracket, get one with the bracket. Usually cost ~$50. Bolt it on, gravity bleed it, then bleed as normal. DO NOT let the master cylinder run dry.

 

never rebuilt a caliper before, but money is really tight now and also need rotor turned or replaced