Front Brake JOb

[RWestbrook]

99 3500 Truck needs new pads, calipers and hoses. Brake shop said there was no aftermarket calipers or hoses. The only place to get these parts are from Dodge. Calipers are 171. 00 each, brake hoses are 30. 00 Each. What a rip off. Can any one help.

 

[paccool]

Cal Napa Auto Parts and see what they say about parts. I think the brake shop may be giving you some B. S. (I may be wrong but it's worth a try)

 

[dan_gilson]

If you are going to replace hoses I would upgrade to stainless steel lines.



I can not tell you yet how these are (my order is in route) but, I got a set from Glenn at EGR. They also have rotors, calipers, pads and shoes for RAMs.



http://dodgeram.org/tech/mods/brake/rear_disc.htm



800-468-2279

 

[DavidD]

Westbrook, I had new calipers,pads, rotors installed by Les Scwab here in my home town. Life time guarrantee, Dave ,Not Dodge!

 

[Joseph Donnelly]

Unless the truck was in extreme circumjstances, having to replace all that seems a little . . . extreme. Verify all those parts are bad on such a new truck. Many of us have repeatedly replaced just the pads and not even resurfaced the rotors. BTW, Ihave had good luck with Performance Friction pads, lifetime warranty from Auto Zone. They also have a Z rated pad that is supposedly better but I haven't tried it. Both are 459x where the autozone pad, regular series, is 4594.

 

[fj40charles]

Joe,



Have you ever had problems with sqeaking with Performance Friction Carbon Metallic pads from Autozone? Did you have to turn the rotors or did you just use some sand paper? They have a very reasonable price and great guarantee.



Thanks,

Charles

 

[MCummings]

This probly isn't the bes way to do a brake job,, but at 83K miles, it has worked purty good.



All I do is Open the hood, and take off the cover off of the brake fluid resevoir, brreak loose the wheel lug nuts, Jack up the front end, pull off the wheels, then pull off the calipers, pull out the old pads,, then with a C-Clamp, or some C shaped Vice-grips I push the caliper back, then I put the new pads on the calipers (I do this on both sides),, I then put the calipers back on, then the wheels,, I jack the truck down, tighten the lugnuts up, put the lid back on the brake fluid resevoir, and drive as normal, except for about 250-350 miles I use the brakes just a tad lighter (softer) than normal to allow them to seat.



I have done this exact routine about 4 times, only problem is I don't keep up with my rear brakes and the front rotors are starting to crack (like a stepped on Frito chip), but not only cause I didn't keep up with the rear brakes,, but because before I got this truck, it pulled a HEAVY (20K+)trailer without trailer brakes, and the previous owner didn't keep up with the rear brakes either.



MerrickNJr



P. S. I'm looking for some slotted, and/or cross drilled rotors for my '98. 5 3500. Suggestons ?

 

[LSMITH]

RWestbrook, I also have had the calipers, pads, hoses, and knuckes replaced on mine. I had mine done at the dealer under warranty. Mine was done in an attempt to stop the brake pull. It helped, but did not eliminate the pull completely. I was told by the dealer that the hoses used are known to swell and de-laminate inside causing a constriction that will not let the brakes release normally. The knuckes have the clearance for the caliper to slide in and the dealer said that there are a lot out there with either too much or too little clearance, again preventing the caliper from releasing properly. One or the other, hose or knuckle, not operating right will cause enough heat to trash the caliper.



I would go for the stainless hoses like mentioned above if I had to pay for them. Calipers at 170 clams each seems way too high, I would go with Napa to get the price down. If I were able to pay the 170 each I would get some aftermarket high performance calipers instead.



Charles, I also use the performance friction pads and like Joe have had good luck. I Have never heard a single noise from them. They stop good and are wearing well. Mine are about gone now with 40K miles on them. I do a lot of city/heavy traffic driving with an auto trans so my brake use is more than typical. I also got 40K out of the OEM pads. When I installed the pads I just scuffed the rotors with some sandpaper to take some time out of the break-in. The pads are aggressive enough that unless glazed the rotors really don't need to be scuffed. Hope this helps.

 

[fj40charles]

LSMITH,



Thanks for the info. My next set of pads will be performance friction. I got some cheap Brake Best brand from O'reillys since my rotor was not in great condition and I didn't want to spend much money on pads until I can get the rotors turned or replaced. I ended up replacing the pads on Dec. 30th. A really bad day to have to work on brakes... .



Charles

 

[Extreme1]

THOSE ARE THE BRAKES...

I'm with Joe, it sounds like they are trying to sell you everything that might be a wear item. (That seems to be a new trend) As for the delamination of the hoses, that would trigger a safety recall quicker than Bill Clinton can seduce an intern.



As for the brakes not reteacting and/or binding, test it yourself! Jack up the front and put it on jackstands. Have someone apply and release the brakes and you should be able to spin the wheel right away. You should have the engine running to apply full braking force. If you have problems, get out your service manual (you DO have a service manual, right?) and remove the calipers. Remove the pads and reinstall the calipers to see how hard it is to slide them. You might have to file the contact area to keep them from binding OR you might have to lube the slider pins. Or both.

 

[Joe Mc]

Not to long ago I did exactly what you are getting ready to do. Although I'm a 2500 yours may be more $ ??? Anyway, I found loaded "Wagner" calipers at the local Big A Auto Parts Whse. (comes with pads installed and pre-lubed new pins/bolts) @ $50 ea!!! (core charge was $50 ea). I was shocked that they were so reasonable. The hoses on the other hand were difficult for me. I think the right one was no big deal and only $20 - 25 anywhere. The left one was the buster to find, as I'm not 4 wheel anti-lock. It's kind of a weird hose and the dealer was the only place I could locate the correct one at and cost $67. 00!!!('')



So for just about 2 bills I had new front stoppers. The rotors were excellent, the pads weren't too bad either. I was getting a serious (deadly) pull to the right if my toe even thought about the break pedal(''). Works fine & stops straight now!!



The fronts are real easy to do, took about 3 - 16 oz PBR's to complete.



If you've never done them before get a manual and/or a friend that has done at least the fronts. This will be a great help.



If the rotors need to be cut, from what I've heared on the TDR, it's best to buck-up and take it to the stealer (unless a local shop has the correct equipment to do them "on the truck") and have them cut on the truck.



What's your 20 anyway?

 

[#2DSL]

Replacing the front disks sucks why could'nt they mount them on the outside of the hub.

 

[fj40charles]

I thought replacing the rotor and/or pads were pretty easy. The only hard part was removing the two large bolts that hold the calipers to the knuckle. I'm glad I had the long breakover.



I was very surprised to find the rotors which are very easy to remove. I'm used to regular 4x4 with lock out hubs where you have too loosen some nuts and end up with grease all over your hands.



Charles

 

[Extreme1]

Originally posted by fj40charles

I was very surprised to find the rotors which are very easy to remove...

Wait a couple more years until they rust in better...