Brakes are too sensitive.

[IH POWER]

I replaced my axle seal and ever since i put my calipers back on the front brakes lock up when going slow. For example, pulling into convience store parking lot and barely touched the brakes and locked em up. Anyone know anyway to fix this?

 

[RLDSL]

Could it be that one or both of the front calipers were frozen before you removed them and are now finally working after having the piston compressed to remove the things?

 

[Ataylor]

If the rotors and pads are clean, then I would suspect the caliper is hanging up. Are the flexible brake hoses old? If so I would replace the hoses and calipers on both side to be safe.

Archie

 

[IH POWER]

I only took the drivers side off and I didnt have to compress the pads to get it back on the rotor. It Went on just fine. And hoses look fine. Not crappy looking.

 

[rpm427]

I would agree as to caliper sticking as my truck only had 80,000 miles on it and the calipers were sticking so I replaced both calipers,new rotors and brake pads and new lines and it solved all the front brake issue's I was having.

 

[icanfixall]

Many times the flexible hoses to the front calipers look fine but the insides are breaking down causing the issues only found on our frony brakes. Whats happening is the hose is able to pass brake fluid into the calipers but it can't get back out because of the hose internal diameter has swollen shut. Our standard brakeing pressure is 1100 lbs and the hydroboost makes over 2200 lbs. So fluid gets in but it can't get out of the calipers. So the brakes are usually on all the time up front.

 

[riotwarrior]

by any chance did you get some grease or oil on the pads or the rotor? If so that could cause some issues.

 

[6.9poweredscout]

My friend did the hard lines on a old chevy pickup and the hoses looked new and soft, no cracks. Well they were about 16 years old and the insides swelled shut. Couldn't get them to pass fluid to bleed them. Threw on new ones and no problem.

 

[IH POWER]

But it just suddenly happened after I took the caliper off. I didnt even take the lines off. I just took it off the rotor and set it on the leaf spring while I worked. So I dont think the lines went bad while I worked on it. The brakes were locking up the first drive after I put em back on. And even if I got grease on the rotor I wouldnt think itd cause them to lock up. and like i said, they only lock up while moving slow. Like pulling in the driveway.

 

[Old Blue]

Grease or oil on the rotor or pads, even in small amounts, will cause the brakes to 'grab' which may feel like a lock up situation at low speeds. Make sure to clean them thoroughly with CRC Brakleen after handling. It's counter intuitive that oils make brakes grab quicker, but it's true. I wouldn't completely discount the other possibility of the rubber line either, old lines can be fragile, and just moving the caliper out of its original position could cause the inner lining to separate. Rubber lines are cheap and easy to replace, you're in the rust belt so a little extra care might be needed with the fittings. I always buy a new banjo bolt just in case, and use a line wrench on the hardline fitting after soaking with PB Blaster several times.

 

[mobilemech]

taking thr caliper off and laying it on the leaf spring, can be enough of a change in the hose position to cause it to break internally. But first rule of repairs: when your done with a repair to a component or system and you have a problem or concern with the same area you just worked on, go back to that area first and don't discard anything because it looks good or I just moved it a little. brake hoses are known to break down inside over time and cause all sorts of issues. they are cheep enough that I don't run them more than 5 years and the get replaced

 

[RLDSL]

Most certainly on the grease, it only take a small spot. You always need to shoot everything down good with cleaner on reassembly.
as far as the caliper, when you set it aside, have to rememberm that hose has been in a fixed loop for YEARS with a limited range of motion. then all the sudden , on the verge of dry rot on teh outside and internal rot , you take it and move it aside and possibly kink the hose while finding a place to secure the thing. That's all it takes for the guts of the hose to fold up inside and you have fluid blocked and bypassing all over the place. Thats why its always good to have something like some old hangers to hook on to them and carefully pull them up out of the way without kinking the hose
In case you havent figured it out yet, we've all had these nasty little things happen before, it's quite common