2nd Gen Non-Engine/Transmission Front Brake Shoe Replacement

[DieselMinded]

Well @ 48,000 miles They started crying out to me ..... About 50 Miles of driving around Squeaking looking like Im neglecting my truck I finally got a chance to change them.



Good thing ... . They already were eatting my rotors !!!!!



Not much of a warning



Rotors will be chanegd at probly 88,000 miles if they last that long



May want to check your out



I threw together a guide for replacement for anyone who have yet to do them on there truck



http://www.dodgedieseldatabase.com/front_brakes.htm



DM

 

[litespeed]

DM,



Good post! Thanks for the effort!!



I'll be checking mine this week. Funny, was just in the dealer and they said everything is fine @ 55,500 miles. All this past week I have been hearing this sqealing from the left front. Its getting louder and louder and seems to dissapear in turns or when I lightly press on the brakes.



Now I'm thinking that they are most certainly bad. Wondering how long I have left? And I have to haul a trailer full of cabinets from Jacksonville to Port St. Lucie tomorrow..... About 500 miles round trip.



Once again... ... Thank you... ...



AJ

 

[GKainz]

just read thru your steps - looks good! One question tho... why loosen the bleeder to compress the calipers? I take the top off my reservour and slowly compress the calipers with a c-clamp while my helper keeps an eye on the fluid level, making sure I don't overflow it. Eliminates having to bleed the system after changing pads.

 

[DSpencer]

I lost one rotor when I heard the sqeaking. I saw no wear indicator on the originals, the little piece thats supposed to start sqeaking before the pads wear out. The sqealing was the rotors being eaten up!

 

[RT66DOC]

Rotors?

Just how "rippled" can the rotors be before they have to be replaced? I need pads for sure but don't know about the rotors - little bit grooved (little ripples) but nothing you can snag a fingernail on. No, I don't have a dial indicator.

 

[DieselMinded]

One question tho... why loosen the bleeder to compress the calipers? I take the top off my reservour and slowly compress the calipers with a c-clamp while my helper keeps an eye on the fluid level, making sure I don't overflow it. Eliminates having to bleed the system after changing pads.

Yeah that works to ... but my helper was 2 1/2 years old ... . and this very same helper lost my C-Clamp somewhere ???



So I just grabed the channel locks and a 3/8 and lossened the bleeder and compressed them and just bleed it afterwards ... . I always bleed them anyway



Wife had to pump the breaks for some reason I dont think my boy would hold his foot on the pedel :>



DM

 

[kelly4463]

Diesel Minded lol :-laf

 

[Sleepy Creek]

Just did mine at 60K. Started getting the chirping sound intermitently a week or two prior. The inboard pad was really shot. I can't complain though, this is the best mileage I have gotten out of a set of brakes on these trucks.

 

[dalton4]

RT66DOC, there is a required minimum thickness (stamped on rotor) after the grooves are machined off.

 

[dalton4]

Suggest that you make visual checks on the pads. I got a little lazy and was waiting for the "talk to you tab" to sound off. You guessed it! The pad with tab was sticking, not wearing down and the warning tab never made contact with rotor. Can't say the same for the other matching pad's metal base. It contacted the rotor with a sound telling me I was way beyond tab warning. My location was such that I had the brakes repaired immediately and saved the rotor. I now pay more attention to the pads and their thickness to each other.

 

[rweis]

My OEM brakes squeeled from day one. Changed pads and had rotors machined at 50k. Machine shop said OEM rotors are not as thick as aftermarket ones and they only removed . 040 but the limit was only slightly more than that. Will have to buy new rotors next time.



I ordered speed bleeders for the next time I change brake fluid or do brake work. Makes it a one person job. ~$10 per set of 2, ie $20 for both front and rear.



Bob Weis

 

[BDeArmon]

Forcing brake fluid back through a ABS module can cause it to fail (not sure when they went to 4 wheel ABS). GM's are BAD about this. It is also a good idea to replace brake fluid every couple years. It WILL obsorb (how the hell do you spell that????) water and air over time (which is why you shouldn't use brake fluid from a container that has been open on the shelf of your garage for very long). I usually do a complete brake fluid change when I put on new pads/rotors. (BTW, just so you feel bad..... it costs about $17 to produce a rotor for the 2nd gen dodge 2500's..... assuming they are machined in America, with a North American foundry supplying the casting... . less if they are off-shore parts)



Aftermarket brake rotors are rarely thicker than OE. The standard proceedure for designing a aftermarket brake rotor is to rent a vehicle, tear the rotors off, set them up in a CMM and digitally reproduce them, then apply the in-house tolerances (run out, parallelism, flatness, bore sizes, bolt circle runout, chamfers, etc). Then put them back on and return the car or truck to the rental place (been there, done that). So, essentially, what the aftermarket manufacturer sells is a part based on the measurements taken from a OE rotor. The problem with making a oversized part, is that it may not fit. No reason to risk a return just to add . 020 to each friction surface.

 

[SHobbs]

I ordered speed bleeders for the next time I change brake fluid or do brake work. Makes it a one person job. ~$10 per set of 2, ie $20 for both front and rear.



Bob Weis[/QUOTE]



Say Bob,

Where did you get the speedbleeders from and what size? Also would the same size apply to my year model, thanks.

Scott

 

[nps]

Forcing brake fluid back through a ABS module can cause it to fail

Seems to me that this happens every time you lift your foot from the brake pedal.

 

[JKinney]

DieselMinded:



Thanks for the post! I had a squeak while traveling at slow speeds on one tire. I read this thread last night and this morning sure enough at 50,000 mine were gone, but I had caught it before the rotors were hurt. Now im alset to head north for another weekend of hunbting Oo.

 

[rweis]

Speed Bleeders-



2002 3500 disc front and rear.



BOTH of the front and rear are 3/8 bleeders. I got "Russell #639590 Speed Bleeder 3/8 - 24".



I just got around to installing them. They fit fine both front and rear.



Sorry I was so long getting back to you. Lots going on Oo. .



Bob Weis