I have a '99 Durango with front ABS brakes. The front brakes lockup all of the time. This usually happens if you have to hit the pedal quickly, if you apply very slow pressure to the pedal it doesn't happen as often, but the front brakes seem to squeal a lot.

When the brakes lock, the pedal seems to go down farther than normal and stays there until the vehicle has skidded to a stop. The ABS light does not come on when this happens, nor can I feel the brakes pulsing.

I bought this vehicle used so I'm not sure how the ABS system is supposed to work, but I do know that on my GM vehicles with ABS, it is nearly impossible to lock up the front brakes or skid and you can feel the brakes rapidly pulsing when the ABS is working.

I have had the front and rear brake lines replaced, including the rubber hoses. The brakes have been bled and adjusted and the fluid replaced. The pads, drums, and rotors all seem to be fine and never seem to wear much, but I have had to replace the front tires because of all the skidding stops. The problem seems to be worse in wet weather, but does not neccessarily happen on the first stop of the day, it just happens when it feels like it.

I'm hoping someone has a solution this this problem because it is very dangerous situation.

 

I moved this thread to the correct section.
FF

 

How are you figuring you have 4 wheel abs? It sounds like you've only got rear abs to me.

 

I didn't say I have 4 wheel ABS, I said front ABS. The rear brakes have drums, so I would assume they are not ABS. To me it wouldn't. make sense to have only rear ABS since the front brakes provide 70% of the stopping power.

 

You may have an RWAL ABS system, I would need the last 9 of the vin to tell you. Make sure the self adjusters in the rear are working/adjusting. And clean the rear brakes and use sand paper on the brake shoes. Either replace both rear drums or have them resurfaced. The rear drums will lock up before the fronts.

 

The last 9 digits of the VIN # are 0XF643634. The rear brakes have been cleaned and adjusted 3 times, once every Summer for the last 3 years, the front brakes still lock up after this is done. I am not having a problem with the rear brakes locking up.

 

There is no such thing as front only abs on these trucks, you either have rear wheel or 4 wheel abs. Having drums has nothing to do with whether you have abs or not. It actually does make sense to have rear only abs because the back end of trucks is very light and the rear brakes can lock up very easy. They came out with rear only abs at first to keep the back end from getting away from you. Having driven older trucks with no abs I can tell you this is a huge improvement, especially in winter on snowy roads.

 

Okay, Here is the ruling. You durango has for brake codes (BGJS) which means you have an RWAL brake system. For those who don't know what RWAL means. Rear Wheel Anti-Lock brake system. I checked for TSB's and there wasn't any for the brake system. I would still look at the rear brakes and check the front end for loose calipers or upper control arms. Also anytime if you are not sure about brake systems or transmissions, Let me know.

 

Thanks for all of your help and explanations about Dodge ABS. I will check the calipers again and check the control arms. I will probably replace the calipers just to see if it helps.