03 3500 rear brakes

[JFJordan]

Have any of you DIY's out there had the pleasure of this task? What is DC thinking?

 

[jray]

The only thing I did (DIY) was to buy the pads both front and rear from Dodge. I paid to have them installed. The installer cautioned on watching the right rear axle seal and claimed he had seen alot of these seals on the AA leak. My right rear seal was infact leaking and it soaked the pads. The seal if you need it is a dealer only item.



Good Luck.

 

[JFJordan]

I did the job this past weekend. First thing that blew my mind was that the rotors on a dually are in board. This requires the removal of the axle shaft and hub (requires a special socket for the spindle nut). In board drums and rotors are an old school joke!! O you will also need two $25 seals. Another CRACK HEAD desgin is the E-brake on the inside of the rotor. This truck lives life in upstate NY(lots of road salt) So after 60k the hidden parts of these brakes get pretty rusty. As with drum brakes these E brakes develope a ring on the edge of the rotor were the shoes run. The adjusters are only accessible through a 1/2" by 1" hole on the bottom of the axle housing for the passanger side. Now on the drivers side this is were the engineering took A BIG HIT OFF THE CRACK PIPE and just flipped everything over the make the parts work on either side. Well now that little adjuster hole is now directly behind the spring pack for the axle. Do you have a tool for that magic act in your tool box? I sure dont!! The E-brake shoe anchor pins were rotten and broke while removing the rotor. The shoes cocked and jammed inside of the rotor. With no room and nothing to pry against out came the big hammer. That was followed by a set of bearings for that side. Not wanting a repeat episod on the dr side and unable to access the adjuster I oppted to cut a hole in the drum portion of the rotor with a angle grinder and a razor wheel. This exposed the adjuster so I could put some heat on it and get it backed off. The way these $45000 trucks are put together today really makes wonder if there worth it? Or maybe there just throw away trucks now like most other things produced today?