Hi all,

After driving around my 92 Dak with 4 bare steelies and a single tire in the bed (no weight at all) a problem I've kind of dealt with has become bigger. This light truck doesn't like to stop. At all. The pedal feels firm, brakes have been bled before, but I get nothing other than occasionally a locked up rear wheel but even then, my 5000 pound lifted Wrangler on 35's stops harder than this thing. I've looked at RockAuto and see R1 concept brake kits listed, I have no personal experience with them but I've heard good things about them, though I run PowerStop on my Jeep and I like how low dust, quiet, and strong they are and would like to run them on my truck. I see that they are not available for a first gen, but they are for a second gen. Do the parts interchange? Or if not, does anyone have any experience with R1 or any other brand? I want to run drilled and slotted with ceramic pads so I can have the benefits listed above.

 

I don't have the answers you ask for but mine squealed when I got them I just replaced the rotors pads and bearings hoses up front and did the cylinders and new kits with shoes & drums, hoses for the rears. They stop fine for ten years now. Some guys replace the hard pipe too.

 

Yeah my brakes have squealed since I bought it too. Previous owner said they did brakes just before they sold it, which was true for at least the fronts, the rears were metal to metal. I'm assuming they used chinesium brakes as they already squeal or those pads are just naturally loud, but I plan to replace literally everything from the booster to the wheel cylinders/calipers, and everything in between, but for now I just want the ability to be able to panic stop with 100 pounds in the bed lol. I think it would help when I have 1000 pounds in the bed and need to do the same thing.

 

Are the front brakes doing anything??

 

There is a metal tang on the pads for the front that makes a squeal noise to let you know its time to change the pads. I didn't find damage, but they sure worked better when I changed everything.

 

They definitely are because when I hit the brakes, it can throw you into the wheel, but I can never get them to lock up, and it's never enough to be comfortable emergency stopping like I said.

I've had the wheels off when I replaced the ball joints and I peaked at the pads and rotors and there was still plenty of meat on them, though funny enough the brand new rotors are already warped, but I also don't have a dragging issue. I'm familiar with those symptoms because it's happened to me six times on my Jeep lol, but pad wise they're still good.

 

here's a closeout sale page for RA. It says 94 v6 dak but most of the stuff is for all 1st gen's. There are some reasonable priced rotors for sale.
https://www.rockauto.com/closeouts/?carcode=1087578

 

Wanted to revisit this thread so I don’t need to create a new one. Recently had a very alarming issue occur and from my limited searching, I can’t find anything recent.

I was driving down the road at about 45, this was after driving about 5 miles at 55ish, was about 70 degrees and dry. Tires weren’t hot, but definitely weren’t cold. I was about maybe 10 car lengths behind the car in front of me but due to the weird angle I was at I couldn’t see through their car and they were texting or something because coming up to a downhill light they slammed on the brakes to not hit the car in front of them, obviously leading me to also hit the brakes.

There was a difference though, they were able to stop, I was not. I was practically standing on the pedal and all it did was lock up the rears and I ended up needing to swerve off the road to not slam into them.

As stated above I did research about a proportioning valve and they seem to be discontinued but I was curious if they were at all adjustable? The previous owner of the truck in the listing said it “tows like a bigger truck” leading me to believe they messed with something so they wouldn’t die while hauling lol.

The fronts haven’t been touched but are newish, plenty of meat left on the pads. The rears were completely redone everything short of the cylinders. At this point I honestly don’t think the fronts are doing anything. When I hit the brakes, especially at the light that I almost rear ended the person in front of me, it feels like I have no brakes. (This is a light where you are going down a pretty steep hill at at least 45mph).

 

Proportioning valve isn't adjustable. At one time, Dodge had a 'load sensing' valve on the rear brakes, that would limit pressure when there was no weight in the rear. Those didn't work out so well, and dodge recommended just disconnecting/disabling them. Don't know if yours would have one, but, I don't think that's the issue anyway.

In an unloaded truck, it is incredibly easy to lock the rears, simply because the pressure directed back there ISN'T regulated by loading. It gets worse on 'less than ideal' surfaces.... (snow, rain, ice......) Generally, that's what the rear ABS is for. (assuming your truck has it??) If you do, it apparently isn't working.

That said.... I would be tempted to jack up the front of the truck, and TEST whether the front brakes were doing anything or not. Keep in mind, it won't take much pressure to stop YOU from spinning the tires.... but, a 4000 pound truck can exert a LOT more force... Check and see if the pads/rotors are glazed as well. That can dramatically reduce friction, and can lead to the symptoms you are seeing. Also make sure the calipers move freely on their mounts. If the caliper won't move, then you are only getting about half, or less.. .. of your braking power there.

If pads/rotors ARE glazed.... I would be real tempted to replace them, and possibly the calipers as well. (a 'just in case' kind of thing.)

 

I believe I have ABS at least to some degree as whenever I turn the truck on theres an "anti-lock" light on the dash and I can hear a clunk coming from somewhere toward the rear of the truck whenever the light turns off. If it is there it definitely doesn't work however lol. I think I might replace the front brakes even if they aren't glazed but if they are that would make sense. What is a good brand for calipers that won't lead me to having issues? I've had a lot of bad luck with reman calipers for my Jeep and I think it's a pretty common issue across the board, not specifically for Jeep.

Physics would lead me to believe that with switching from a 3.9 to a 5.9 the extra weight up front would help the front tires naturally have more grip when braking but if anything it seems like its worse than it was before.