2004 Ford Ranger brakes problems

Filed Aug 27, 2018 · Body, Brakes · 72,000 miles · KY

As I was driving, the bumper and spare tire came off almost causing an accident.

Filed Dec 29, 2016 · Brakes · 136,000 miles · CO · crash

My vehicle is a 2004 ford ranger xlt pickup truck with 4 wheel drive. The vehicle is in excellent mechanical condition. The brake system malfunctioned, allowing the brake pedal to hit the floor. This incident occurred while I was pulling into a parking spot on a snow covered parking lot. The air temperature was very cold (0 deg. F) at the time, and the 4x4 system on the vehicle was engaged. When I applied the brakes as I was pulling into the parking spot, the brake pedal hit the floor so the vehicle did not slow down and there was no pulsing sensation from ABS. As a result, my vehicle collided with a parked vehicle immediately in front of my vehicle. My vehicle and the other vehicle were both damaged as a result of this brake system failure. I have tried to reproduce the problem many times and have been unable to do so. The ford dealer in my town was unable to reproduce the failure and did not find any mechanical problem with the braking system. Also the dealer stated that the ABS controller on my vehicle cannot be upgraded with new firmware. The dealer invoice for the brake inspection is attached. I have found other reports on ford auto enthusiast forums of this same problem occurring to other ford ranger and explorer vehicles when the driver was making a tight turn at very slow speeds. So it seems there is a design defect with this particular ford braking system.

Filed Nov 7, 2012 · Brakes · 72,895 miles · MD

On november 2, 2012, I went to the place where I purchased my tires to have them rotated and the mechanic reported to me that my rear drum brakes where metal to metal. The next day I pulled the driver's side rear tire and drum and verified that there was no lining on one of the shoes. I purchased a new set of brake shoes (10") at autozone and on november 5, 2012 drove to my father's home to replace the defective shoes. Upon removal of the old shoes, we discovered that the lining of the shoe on the other side of that same wheel was cracked down the middle and coming off on one end. We also noted that the missing lining was a bonded shoe and the cracked lining was a riveted shoe. This was confirmed after inspecting the shoes on the passenger side which appeared to be wearing normally but that side also had one bonded shoe and one riveted shoe. Don't know why there would be a mix match of brake shoe types. The replacement shoes purchased from autozone were riveted only. I kept the original shoes for anyone's inspection. I recall having my vehicle being stuck from movement after sitting in my driveway, even after removal of the parking brake, on several different occasions. I had to shift from drive to reverse several times to get it to break free. The brake shoe problem could have been the reason behind that happening.

Filed Sep 28, 2011 · Brakes · 48,000 miles · MA

Rear brakes rusted, holding springs rusted, support pins fell out and caused brakes to drag and become worn and overheated way before their time causing replacement about 30,000 miles before they should have been. Could have caused brakes to lock while driving.

Filed Sep 22, 2010 · Brakes, Engine · 81,000 miles · FL

Recently I encountered a problem with my 2004 ford ranger. The harmonic balance pulley came apart. The website carcomplaints.com has at least 14 incidence of harmonic balance failure on other ford models. Can you investigate this issue and verify my findings? In my opinion, the problem has serious safety ramifications because of the systems involved. The harmonic balance pulley driving the serpentine belt that power the steering and brake pumps. The loss of both pumps has the potential of causing an accident. The loss of the serpentine belt will also cause over heating. I believe ford should inspect and make repairs to this component on its vehicles without charge to the customer.

Filed Jun 30, 2009 · Brakes · 60,000 miles · NY

On saturday, june 20th my wife drove down our driveway and lost her brakes. The driveway is pitched about 15 degrees so the truck, a 2004 ranger with 60,000 miles, picked up speed. Pumping didn't help. She steered the curve thereby not flying into the shed; she aimed at a 10 foot deep flowering bush to avoid the stone wall and the truck went through, missed the ash tree, and came to a halt 200 feet down in the meadow. There had been no warning that the brakes were about to fail, no softness that either of us noticed, no warning light. The diagnosis at the dealership is that the master cylinder 'failed'; no lines broken, no fluids having leaked. I called ford and was told that since the car was out of warranty there was nothing ford would do, except report the incident to the engineering department to record for future reference. A master cylinder should outlive the rest of a vehicle. There can be no excuse for this. It is not just one of those things, like a flat tire.

Filed Mar 28, 2007 · Brakes · 48,000 miles · OH

2004 ford ranger truck customer states that the truck was under warranty when he brought the truck to the service department an complained about the brakes both times the technicians found nothing. Customer wants to be reimbursed**cc the consumer stated the front and rear wheels were never removed to expose the leaking wheel cylinders. Over a period of time, the following year, brake fluid leaked at a slow pace and dissolved the brake lining and caused all the other springs and componets to rust and break.

Filed Mar 16, 2007 · Brakes · 6,438 miles · PA · crash

I would like to report poor design of brake and gas pedals , when wearing work boots if not careful you will push on gas pedal as you apply brake causing vehicle to not slow down and at times actually excelerating, this has happened twice , once resulting in accident during highway panic stop

Filed Mar 15, 2007 · Brakes · 20,495 miles · OH

Brakes were improperly inspected by dealership service dept. On two occasions while under warranty, which LED to undo repair bills. The rear brakes and wheel cylinders of my 2004 ford ranger truck leaked fluid which caused the brake lining and all other springs & components to rust, break and parts to deteriorate.

Filed Jan 17, 2007 · Brakes · NY

04 ford truck ranger( ford refused to honor warranty)**cc the consumer reported a binding/seizing problem with the rear brakes. The dealer was unable to duplicate the consumers concern. The second incident the rear brakes seized to the point where the consumer was unable to drive the vehicle. The vehicle had to be towed to the dealer. The cost for new brakes was $777.96. The dealer replaced the wheel cylinders, brake shoes and drums. The emergency brake cable was replaced