Any Dodge Pickup Drivers Out There?

Seem to be dragging?

Time to jack the front wheels up to make sure if not your bearings are the culprit. Having no history, someone could have "adjusted" the tension a bit too high.

The brake pads should not be "pushing" after releasing the pedal. This would be the first check I'd do. Release the nut of the wheel bearing a little and spin the wheel by hand when free.

You could also have a bad master cylinder, bad proportional valve or ABS problems. Being the OP didn't supply all the details, we can't ASSume if his truck has ABS or not

'04, of course it has ABS. No lights/alarms indicates it's not a sensor, maybe.

There's a lot I haven't said because I don't know. Just got it.

If u dont know then why u bought that and why u r wasting our time?get lost u begger.

It sounds like you just need to bleed the brakes....probably some air in the line.....I would go ahead and change the brake fluid, check the brake lines(visual)....If it's a reoccurring problem then you will need to find the source....starting in the dark like this you just have to go by the numbers...

Things looked OK, but I didn't do anything in the way of diagnostics. All pads were worn evenly, at least.

Kid had to go see his girlfriend tonight.

This may go to the shop.

Your personality seems to have some peculiarities. If You are looking for a career path, might I suggest omitting the following: Crisis intervention phone dispatcher, hostage negotiator, phone representative for suicide hotline, 911 phone dispatcher, any religious representative that might need to give out advice, teacher or adviser, bartender, bus or cab driver,,,,, HELL, I don't think you should be allowed to have any contact with anyone other than convicted criminals. And even then, only the worst of the worst.

Just thought I might be able to offer some help in a career choice. Good luck.

Same here. Perhaps I could add -

What are the rear brakes like? If the drag is due to a bad master cylinder it's likely to affect them as well.

If it's the hoses it seems unlikely it would affect both (front) wheels.

You can easily check that the pistons move OK by removing the calliper and pushing the pistons back with a piece of wood, as you do when fitting new pads (as I'm sure you know!). If it's a sliding-calliper type you can check it moves freely at the same time.

Ref #5, I don't see how air in the system would cause those symptoms.

....vapor lock...

But if the master cylinder is OK, with foot off the brake the whole system is at atmospheric pressure via the ports to the reservoir. I don't see how air or vapour could cause drag. Also if there were much air in the system he would notice a spongy feel to the pedal.

If there is air in one side of the front brake line it will cause unequal pressure....one side with air will allow compression and the other side will not....with no maintenance history I would start with visual inspection, and changing the brake fluid....this would be the start of the troubleshooting procedure....for me anyway...and would eliminate 90%+ of the probable cause....If there is another problem, it would then become apparent....My first guess would be a wheel bearing going bad...but I've had both occur..

Air in the system does not cause pressure build up, just a spongy pedal, perhaps going to the floor.

If opening the bleeder release the disk; Check pedal-rod play, if OK look for fault in the master cylinder or if all brake fluid pass through a flexible rubber hose before it split to the front wheels.

II just showed my nephew how to change the rear end on his '01 Ram 1500, disc in front and standard in the rear. The brake system is pretty straight forward on them, even with ABS. How much brake pedal travel is there before and after you drive it? And is it "hard"? Like what Sir Robin said, you could have a caliper frozen, not floating like it should. The calipers are pretty much bomb proof, you'd see a leaking seal if you had a bad seal. And that's not to say that the brakes were properly reassemble during the last brake job. Found that on my nephew's truck rear brakes, someone swapped the secondary with the primary shoes, which lead to some over heating issuses and changing he rear end.

And I sure hope it's not a bad Oman that your thread follows that cavalier joke?

Damn tablet and auto correct!! Meant to say, .... bad omen.

You may have a collapsed rubber brake line. It's really hard to diagnose but if you check the fluid be sure to see if there's any crap in it. The rubber lines will collapse on the inside and don't necessarily show any signs on the outside. You just have to replace them.

First force the caliper piston to retract. I've used a large screw driver in the past. This way there is no drag at the pads and you can see if it's the wheel bearings.

It also maybe the pins the assembley slides on maybe rusted up. Not allowing an even release at the pads. Would cause uneven wear of the pads.

Ah, a pickup! Can the truck be turned into a coal roller?

I had a 1986, had it until 2010. First generation, yours is a third generation so I doubt there is much similarity. I had no trouble with brakes on mine; in fact, I got 170,000 out of the factory brakes. Sorry, no help.

Lyn: I have a 1996 Dodge Dakota, I have this problem of front disk brake dragging also. I believe it was corrosion of the pad carrier with the holder on the spindle frame. (not sure of the correct names for these parts). I removed the bolts holding the pad carrier, and then filed the rough cast iron where they need to slide during brake application, then used some anti seize on those interfaces. This was last fall, and I have not had a problem again.

The other possibility is internal to the slave cylinder, where a phenolic disk thermal break part is getting hung up, this was per my neighbor mechanic thoughts. I'm not wanting to open the hydraulic fluid lines yet if the first fix works.

That brings back memories. Back in the mid 80's I had a 1982 model Jeep Renegade CJ7. It had a similar problem. The front brake calipers would not release fully causing some drag. The heat generated by the dragging could be felt on the hubs and wheels.

With the Jeep the caliper body was cast iron. One half of the caliper slides in the other half of the caliper in an abutment (basically a wedge on one caliper half slides in a groove on the other).

I disassembled the two halves and cleaned up the sliding surfaces with file and then some emery paper. I found that the cast iron would oxidise quite quickly especially after getting wet and the brake would bind again. So then I coated with some grease (I think I used jet lube but any high temp grease would do). Just put the grease on the surfaces not to excess. It was fine after that.

Peter

Did you notice pulling to one side when you braked?

Since it is apparent that you bought the truck used and have no history on it, I will relate some brake problems I have encountered when buying trucks from used car dealers. (Most of the time, I try to buy vehicles used from the actual owners and have never had problems that way)

One truck had all the brakes dragging and a very stiff brake pedal about 30 days after purchase. Brake fluid smelled funny. Had a manufacturing plant I called on run a test on it in the chemical department. It was dot 3 and dot 4 brake fluid mixed. A big no-no. The two reacted together, with the moisture in the air, and with the rubber of the system to cause all rubber parts to swell. The truck stopped, although the pedal pressure required was high but would not fully release the pads and shoes. I replaced front calipers, rear cylinders, master cylinder, flushed the ABS and lines and installed fresh dot 3 fluid as specified by the manufacturer. Every thing was fine after that.

Another vehicle, a passenger car, had been sitting for a time before my purchase. Brakes grabbed, were inconsistent, and dragged a lot. Inspection showed rust where the calipers slide and rear brakes not automatically adjusting correctly. (they usually don't anyway) About 30 minutes with wire brush, lube, and adjusting tool solved the problems.

Unexpected heat and dragging indicate a dangerous operating condition.

Get the vehicle to dependable dealer, service shop or independent mechanic.

If possible, have the vehicle towed or transported on flat bed.

To attempt to examine or T/S any mechanical product without the manual(s) or prior formal training is the road leading to mistakes and possible disaster.

It's already past time to obtain the service manual. Before the next problem.. Is a good time to do so!

Do I have your attention?

GOOD.

Heat is not excessive, won't boil water, front is hotter than rear, but my Chevy 4WD had hot front hubs too.

Drag is relative and is not necessarily excessive, truck starts off at idle when put in drive.

No pulling, no hard pedal, no excessive wear, just my question, is this normal for a Dodge.

Thanks for your concern.

If everything is as you say it is (I'm sure it is) and you have grease dripping out the seals, I say let-er buck. Disc brake pads have a tendency to rub some, just nature of the beast. Un-like conventional brakes, disc brakes don't have return springs for the pads and caliper pistons.

SOB! This frigging tablet!! I meant to say, "if you don't have grease dripping out the seals ......"

He who kicks the butt of the person causing him the most problems, winds up with sore butt.

I think Lyn should beat hell out of the calipers, stomp on the brakes about 50-100 times, swear a bit, and then turn the kid loose with the truck. It is a Dodge. They are meant to be ridden hard and put up wet. Sitting around is hard on any vehicle, even ones sitting around in a barn in Arizona. Sooner you get the rust knocked off this ride the better.

On the other hand, if you are like me, you will spend $XX on fixing the brakes yourself, when you could have just gone to a brake shop for $X (factor of ten less).

Then go and ask a mechanic. Why u r wasting our time? Dont u have common sense.

I have not read every reply but if the flex lines to the front calipers have deteriorated such as swollen they will let fluid in to the calipers but not release. This is quite a common problem on older vehicles. I have experienced it several times.

Seized caliper from lack of use or rust!

Quick fix, Replace the Calipers.

What pads are in the truck? Some organic pads(cheap) are thicker than semi-metalics(most OE pads today). They will show as a good cross reference but the extra thickness will cause the problem you are having.( cheaper isn't always better.)

Sorry meant to add I've run into this on multiple vehicles including Dodge p/u's. Putting in new pads seems to be a common thing when selling a car so the cheapest they can buy........

Pads are about 60% so thickness isn't an issue.

I'm not doing anything more till the weekend when we can park the kids truck on concrete and use the floor jack.

I'll try the bleeders first then pry a pad back from the rotor.

Like I said, this may be a quirk of Dodges for all I know.

"Like I said, this may be a quirk of Dodges for all I know." I doubt it. "The front disc brakes seem to be dragging. Wheels are hot and it's hard to turn the tires when jacked up." doesn't seem like the sort of thing that a design team would shoot for. I doubt this would be a design element of a Cavalier!

You're right to be concerned, this is a problem that will only get worse if ignored.

A 2015 Dodge pickup will have nice, new brakes.....

I have owned Dodge trucks since 1971, and my dad owned them for years before that, but they were drum brakes intil my last one. The drag is not proper for disk brakes regardless of brand name. One time I put transmission fluid in by mistake. I recall symptoms similar to what you are describing after driving awile (drum brakes). I would recommend sucking out the brake fluid from the master cylinder with a turkey baster and replacing it, or having a garage remove it all and adding new fluid.

You could always let it drift off the 17 somewhere between mountaineer and munds park and then the problem would be solved.

The first Harley's with front disk, gave riders a lesson on brake dynamics that was hard to forget, given the fact that lock-up due to the lack of any side to side "floating" action for the caliper, to compensate for run-out, caused the "flying W". This was an early version of the "Brake Dance".

Check for bad hoses to the front calipers. Briefly open the bleed valve, close it. if the wheel turns normally, and the truck runs normally until the brake pedal is pushed, new front hoses are needed. -- JHF

I opened a wheel cylinder bleeder and nothing came out. Still hard to turn, until I pushed a piston back a little and then it got easier.

The kid wants to R&R the calipers himself. We'll see, I may let him.

Haven't checked hoses, yet.

Check those flex hoses if they swell up they act like a check valve.

Mm... interesting. Normally when you open a bleed screw fluid flows out, slowly, by gravity. If it doesn't, it sounds like either the flexible hose is closed up, or in the master cylinder the ports to the reservoir are covered, because the piston isn't fully retracted. The latter seems unlikely, unless somebody has messed about with the mechanism, but the fact that both front wheels are affected does point that way. Or possibly blocked breather in the reservoir cap, also unlikely. Is it the same on both front wheels (no flow from bleed screw)? What are the rear brakes like?

It wouldn't hurt to make sure the pads move fairly freely in the calliper (they're never going to slide easily and don't need to, there's plenty of force to help them along) and that the calliper moves freely on the slide pins. Gives the kid something to practise on.

Sorry to be late to the party. (Some internet issues) #7 & 22 have covered most everything, but let me add this. For years Chrysler used resin pistons in their calipers. There were some conditions that would cause these to swell up just a little. Dragging brakes were the symptom. Not all Chryslers did it, but when a Chrysler came in with hot wheels, we looked. You did the test already. Pop open the bleeder, and then turn the wheel. If still tight, push the piston back in a hair, and then respin the wheel. Be sure to use the $120 brake caliper compressor to do the job. We don't want anyone to call us stupid for using the wrong tool do we? If that cures it, then remove the slide pins, clean and lube them and reinstall. Pump up the brakes, and start the testing again. Pop the bleeder, test, push in the piston, test. If still too much drag, suspect the pistons.

If the truck has been sitting for a while, the brake drag will be higher than a well driven truck, because the disc surface will become rough from rust. Minor rust like this will be worn off by the weekend, so it may self heal.

The only return in most disc brake systems, is the amount that the rubber seals in the calipers, that rub against the pistons, distort under pressure. The square cut "O" rings are trying to push their way out of the grooves that hold them in place when there is brake pressure. When pressure is released, the "O" ring goes back to its original shape, and that usually brings the piston back a few thousandths of an inch.

Tsk tsk. Don't I have to remove the caliper to use the $120.00 brake compressor?

It's going to the shop on Tuesday. There's just too many unknowns to start pulling off parts randomly, and the last Dodge I worked on was a 1961 Dart, 50 years ago with drums all around.

Sadly, I'm not physically able to do this type of work any more and to supervise the 16 YO while he pulls parts randomly off does not seem very smart either. Especially since brakes are pretty important and he hauls his little brothers around sometimes.

Thanks to all of you, except the loser who just posted.

Yup, I think you PO'd Lokeshloki All joking aside, he maybe affiliated with ISIS, so I won't post any more targets!

oh yeah, take a look at this

That's a great link.

Probably wasted on Lokesh Loki, who claims to be a, "2nd year b.tech in ece".

That's electronics and communication engineering, I guess.

I think he has a way to go in both electronics and communication.

And in personality.

And in intelligence.

And in veracity.

And in ....

Anyone?

Dont you have money for doing repair for that at a servicing centre or workshop?why are you begging money indirectly?ask directly that you want some money. Anybody please help this begger.

Went to the shop today.

I'm prepared to bend over.

Let us know what they find, will you?

Sure.

So, here we are two weeks later.

New pads and rotors all around, a front end alignment (new tires last month) and some other unrelated work.

Everything cleaned and lubed and guaranteed for two years.

The shop owner assured me that everything was as new.

Time will tell.

Thanks for the advice.

Thanks for the feedback. Did they say what the cause of the problem was? Have you checked that the brake dragging is cured?

(It was me. I had put a few dabs of epoxy on the rotors. I thought if I could knock off Lyn, I could expand my stock in Lyn-Door Enterprises.)

Haven't checked anything yet. I'm giving it a few days.

I'm busy sending the Fort Lauderdale cops to bobc's house right now.

No officer, I don't know who put that epoxy in my toolbox. It wasn't locked. It could have been the Doorman.