2001 Caravan- fast wearing front brakes

[vtt121163]

I have a 2001 caravan with about 87,000 on it and ever since I changed the original front brakes at about 25,000 miles I cant seem to get more than about 7-10,000 miles out of them. I have already been through the cheap roter BS and I have changed over to american made rotors on it now and some decent quality pads from Autozone, yet it still has problemswith premature wear. There seems to be alot of dust on the hub caps as well. They also have a grinding feel just before you stop. I have pulled the brakes and find nothing wrong with the pads or rotors that are mared or any evidence of metal to metal contact and there is about 1/2 of the pad left . I have replaced both front calipers as well thinking that they were bad, but not a change in the wear. Does anyone have a clue what could be causing this feeling in the pedal and the premature wear? Thanks to all of you for any assistance you can give me.

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[RickMN]

If the brake light switch is out of adjustment, it can keep the pedal from returning all the way and that prevents the rod in the master cylinder from going back all the way too. That slight extension of the rod covers the vent ports and keeps a small amount of pressure on the pads at all times. Great way to wear out a set of pads. Easy to check. Just pull up on the pedal and see if there's any play.

[jubadah]

What are the rear brakes like? If there is no wear on them then that may be the reason for your pre-mature front brake wear.

It could be a problem with the rear brake proportining valve. Also called a smart valve. This valve reduces the amount of fluid going to the rearbrakes during panic stops to prevent rear wheel lock-up. On Caravans this valve(s) is controlled by ride height. When the rear of the vehicle is loaded and sits lower more fluid is allowed to go to the rear brakes than when the vehicle is empty and riding higher. During panic stops when weight transfer causes the rear of the vehicle to rise the fluid is reduced to the rear brakes depending on how high the rear end rises. This valve(s) is located on the frame ahead of the front attachement for the left leaf spring. It is adjustable. If it is adjusted wrong it will not let enough fluid to go to the rear brakes and the front brakes will wear prematurely. This same condition can result if the valve(s) (There are acuatly two separate valve in the assembly - One for the left rear and one for the right rear) are stuck closed due to corrosion.

Also, if you have drum brakes on the rear check the adjustment of the rear brakes. My automatic adjusters do not always do a good job of keeping the rear brakes adjusted. I have found that it helps to clean the star aduster threads on a wire wheel and then lightly coat them with anti-sieze coumpound. I check my rear brake adjustment every time I change oil.

[vtt121163]

I did just install some load leveler shocks, as I do haul a pop up camper in the summer, but this was happening before I did this. How do I adjust these valves? I was told by someone that when I replaced my calipers that I might have thrown the proportioning valve off center, but I am not sure how to adjust that or get it back in center. I will look at the valves later. Is there a special way to bleed abs brakes to flush the system?

BTW I did check the brake light actuator to make sure my pedal was going all the way up and it is.

Thanks all for all the replies

[jubadah]

If the new shocks make your Caravan's rear end sit higher when empty, the proportioning valve will limited the fluid that would go to the rear brakes during normal braking.

A description of the proportioning valve operation can be found athttp://www.babcox.com/editorial/bf/bf40124.htm
Be sure to see pre-mature front brake wear in the table at the end of article.

Steps for adjusting the proportioning valve can be found here
http://www.autozone.com/az/cds/en_us...rInfoPages.htm
Good Luck!