Hope that someone can help with this problem, we replaced the front disc brakes onmy dads 03 QC dakota w/ 3.9L v6 and when he took it to work thought that the brake pedal was being pushed too low before it engaged and started stopping, and the brake assembly was stiff, its not the regular brake assembly its a 2 piston (per side) set up that has a seperate slider for the pads to mount in, and then when going down hill and trying to slow down the brakes pulse like the abs is kicking in, but we dont think that it has 4 wheel abs in it, only the useless RWabs, what could be causing these symptoms???

p.s. after doing the brakes he forgot to push the pedal down to adjust the pistons the first time when we took the old pads off

 

warped rotors most likely

 

warped r otors possibly, my first step would be bleed the brakes first, could be air in the lines... does the pedal feel spongey?

 

pedal goes down and engages, and stays engaged, but when going downhill to just slow down it shakes like you would not believe, but we got the rotors turned so i doubt thats the problem, it doesnt slowly move down after they engage, they engage like they are supposed to, they just engage closer to the floor than they are supposed to (or at least than we are used to them engaging)

 

did ya put ur caliper bolt in? lol

 

yea we have taken the whole thing apart, recompressed the pistons and put all of the bolts back in each time, thats not the problem, i will suggest to him that we bleed the brakes, but expect him to laugh at me and say "its too much work" yea the caliper bolts are both back in place, and so are the two bolts that hold the sliding unit on, ill try and get a picture of the unit up tomorrow when we try some of this stuff on the truck so that you can see what they look like and if you recognize any of it

 

you can do the bleeding ursellf get a piece of hose about 2 foot or so and pump away

 

Also check the outerpad tang to make sure its in the right spot.

 

yea everything is in the right spot we already checked that, and i can just go ahead and bleed the brakes bc its my dads truck and he would most likely kill me but i will suggest it to him

 

bleeding the brakes is easy as anything..

LOW PEDAL: If a low pedal is experienced, pump the pedal several times. If the pedal comes back up worn linings, rotors, drums, or rear brakes out of adjustment are the most likely causes. The proper course of action is to inspect and replace all worn component and make the proper adjustments.

SPONGY PEDAL: A spongy pedal is most often caused by air in the system. However, thin brake drums or substandard brake lines and hoses can also cause a spongy pedal. The proper course of action is to bleed the system, and replace thin drums and substandard quality brake hoses if suspected.

PEDAL PULSATION: Pedal pulsation is caused by components that are loose, or beyond tolerance limits. The primary cause of pulsation are disc brake rotors with excessive lateral runout or thickness variation, or out of round brake drums. Other causes are loose wheel bearings or calipers and worn, damaged tires.

PEDAL FALLS AWAY: A brake pedal that falls away under steady foot pressure is generally the result of a system leak. The leak point could be at a brake line, fitting, hose, or caliper/wheel cylinder. If leakage is severe, fluid will be evident at or around the leaking component. Internal leakage (seal by-pass) in the master cylinder caused by worn or damaged piston cups, may also be the problem cause. An internal leak in the ABS or RWAL system may also be the problem with no physical evidence.

HARD PEDAL OR HIGH PEDAL EFFORT: A hard pedal or high pedal effort may be due to lining that is water soaked, contaminated, glazed, or badly worn. The power booster or check valve could also be faulty.

^ all taken from the manual