06' Dodge 2500 4x4 brake problem

[t320pilot]

When I stopped to open my gate for no reason at all the left front brake was smoking from the pads dragging on the disc. Plenty of pad on all wheels with 74k miles. I know it seems the pads would need replacing by now but the are in good shape. Wheel spins ok with slight drag when jacked up. Owned truck since new and has been trouble free until now.
I will pull the brake assembly today and take a closer look at it. Anyone else ever had this problem?

 

[JerryK]

''' Usually ''' the first thing I would look at is the pins that the caliper slides on. If they are dry or gummed up, they can keep the brakes from completely releasing. Lots of other things, bad flex hose going to that wheel, puck in the caliper problems, etc... but I'd look at the pins first. Need to clean them and grease them up real good with the appropriate high temp silicone brake grease stuff... I have a 2002 [ old body BR style 3/4 ton ] and have never had any brake problems on the truck.

 

[s219]

Would have to be a sticking caliper or piston -- I imagine it will be obvious once you tear it apart. If you're lucky it's just the caliper -- may just need to lube the slide pins/bushings (in which case I'd suggest doing the other three brakes too).

 

[Diamondpilot]

Sounds like a sticking caliper. My guess if there is nothing physically wrong with the caliper itself or the sliding pins replace the rubber hose.

I have seen more than my fair share of rubber hoses fail internally creating what works like a check valve.

With your truck being 10 years old it's a very good possibility. We had this happen on a 07 and a 04. A $10 rubber hose fixed it. If you find it to be the case change them all and do a complete flush and bleeding.

Chris

 

[t320pilot]

Since it's not my daily driver and usually sits in the garage for 2-3 weeks at a time, that probably has something to do with it.
Thanks for the input men.

 

[Raspy]

Have to agree that is is probably a sticking caliper. You say the wheel spins with slight drag when jacked up. That's normal. Look for play in your unit bearing on that wheel. It's a known weakness and easy to spot. It would let the wheel wobble a bit and you should be able to feel it when jacked up, like a loose wheel bearing. That would also cause a lot of drag on that brake.

Also, 74,000 miles on front Dodge brakes of that era is not unusual. I went about 90,000 on each of three front sets on mine. If you get new pads get the Dodge OEM "Premium" pads. I doubt there is anything better as Dodge put excellent brakes on those 3rd gen trucks. BTW, in 280,000 miles and three sets of brakes, I still have the original calipers and rotors.

 

[94BULLITT]

It is probably a sticking caliper but it also could be the hose. It is a good idea to replace the hose if you replace the caliper.

 

[LD1]

Yep, grease the slides. Also time to look at them ball joints and front axle u- joints.

 

[David_Kb7uns]

Have an 2005 Ram 3500SRW with around 75K miles had local well known tire place do the front brakes as a preemptive measure as I do heavy towing and brakes had no issues. When coming down the mountain with the toy hauler had one caliper stick with smoking brakes, slight drag as other people had mentioned. Had brakes redone by same tech, have known him for years and trust his work. Did some around town driving with the equipment and dump trailer to get the brakes broke in as the first time they said they were not broke in first time. Had trip the next year coming down the hill from the coast range with toy hauler and had another one stick big time with another doing the same to a lesser extent. Some people have tried to say the trailer brakes are not doing their share but having towed 4 different heavy trailers and keep them adjusted up tight and use a Prodigy P2 with very good brake synchronizing. Took truck down to have them look at it after the second time then they start blaming it on contaminated fluid the phenolic pistons swelling and heat checked rotors and the now well know problem of the Dodge Ram brake hoses collapsing. To redo their failed work for the second time they wanted more for the labor then all the parts to do the job and they still would not warranty it unless they replaced everything with marking everything double. I can hang parts and guess just as good as they can do. Went down to Oreilly's and got the better rebuilt calipers and the heavier rotors along with the better carbon pads and replaced the hoses just be safe. Have not had any more problems and reamed a wire through the old hoses with no chunks coming out totally flushed out all old fluid from lines and master cylinder. I am thinking it was the phenolic pistons as the truck has dual piston calipers and am wondering if brake fluid or something is making them swell. Have not had anymore problems and I think one needs to use the better grades of parts if you are doing heavy hauling. Some people have discussed greasing the slides, but with little corrosion problems out here the slides were free and easy.

Had some sticking calipers on the 2004 Town & Country, and friend did some other brakes freeze up, so beginning to think that pushing pistons back or allowing brake fluid the has absorbed moisture may be doing this

David Kb7uns

 

[bigdeano]

One front brake on my '90 taurus started dragging and heating up a few years ago. After measuring the piston and caliper bore it seems the phenolic piston had swelled up a little. I chucked it in the lathe and sanded it down about .002". It's worked fine.