Went to my tire guy to swap out my All Weather for my Winter tires. Except the guys told me that one of my rear caliper was sticking and the other one had caused uneven wear on the brake pad. Front ones are almost metal on metal.
Total cost for this whole episode is CAD $1,495 and after going through this site, I am seeing a lot of similar issues in Grand caravans with less mileage! On top of that, its a recurring problem and it seems like there is no recall issued for this problem.
Considering going to the tire guys or dealership... the tire guy said I should fix it like yesterday as they might seize all of a sudden!
Rear driver caliper stuck and overheated pads and burned rotors. Not the first time. Took to dealer, inspected and claimed last brake job person had not cleaned slides and pads were sticking. I did the brake job 30,000 mi prior and cleaned slides and all functioned well until this. Dealer supposedly cleaned slides, reassembled and I took it home and put new pads in on all four corners. I didn't really see any cleaning action that I spent $176 dollars on. Brakes lasted for 10,000 mile before rear driver caliper stuck again and burnt pads to steel. Replace pads on that wheel and works for now. I've had many vehicles, done my own brake work on all of them and have never had this experience. Dealer denies any tsb's or recalls. Something is not right. Is there a replacement caliper for this problem
Problem started in Sep 2013 with only 12,300 miles on. Rear rotors were warped and driver side brake pads actually broke into piece's. Rear brake problems continue to this day. Have had 2 sets of pads and calipers have been adjusted and clean 3 times since Sep 2013. Today vehicle has 26,669 miles. Garage mechanic is baffled and says I need new calipers, but it might not solve my problems.
I bought in 2010 and the 1st time it had brake issues was 20,00 miles and Dodge surfaced the front rotors but would not replace the rear shoes or rotors. The 2nd time I had the problem was at 40,000 miles. Dodge said they would not do anything, the rear caliper froze up and was smoking I had to replace it myself, around 500. dollars. The 3rd time I had brake issues was at 70,000 miles.
The front end shakes when you apply the brake and the rear brake drags for a while after you take off down the road. I now have 100,000 miles on it and the rear brakes are dragging and the front rotors shake when the brakes are applied so bad it almost shakes the steering wheel out of your hand. Dodge should be ashamed for not taking care of the product they sell but instead, just ignores the problem like it does not exist.
The real problem with the rear disc brakes is the use of a steel piston in a steel caliper. The piston rusts, sticks in the bore of the caliper which wears out the brake pad, and warps the rotor. This happened years ago to Chrysler when they first went to disc brakes. The solution was to go to a non-metallic piston in the cylinder which stopped the rust and the brakes worked. I don't know why Chrysler was so stupid to go back to a steel piston in the brakes??
At 32000 miles the rear brake calibers stuck and fried the rotors and calibers. Dealer said a clip or something like that caused the problem, but charged me for all the repairs except the clip, which was under warranty. Cost me over $500. Here we are at 46000 miles and it's done it again. Dealer said the first repair would prevent this problem from re-occurring. This is a serious problem that Dodge should be liable for.
It's bad enough they recalled the brakes, and had them replaced and 5000 miles later the rotors are warped again which seems to happen on all Dodges. But I can't figure out why the rear caliper sticks randomly and just stinks and sometimes smokes and wheel gets burning hot. Then it will be fine for a couple of months and do it again. And no I'm not leaving the parking brake on.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
No matter how much maintenance we do, I'm tired of have the rear brakes seize every 12-18 months. I still ask myself why did I ever buy a Chrysler?
- Scott B., Vaughan, ON, Canada