so today i started to change my front pads and rotors cause my brakes are spongy, got under truck to find out i dont need front brakes so took those back, and got shoes, springs, and wheel cylinders (we thought one died).

found out they gave me the wrong ones cause they thought i had 11in brakes i have 9in so i take them back and get the right ones, which turns out the threads on the new ones weren't large enough which is really confusing, the brake lines wont go into them, so i put the old ones back on. im gonna return the shoes and stuff tomorrow, but when we put it all back together the brakes seem a litttle worse

we bled them and everything, this is making me think it the master cylinder or something, im gonna have the dealer just look at it tomorrow if i can get in cause they'll do that for free

but my main questions are when i was looking at the front end i noticed that the sway bar is split in half at the end, and looks like it has been welded back together, as well as it looks like the sway bar end links might be broken






but all this crap with my brakes and now my sway bar is really starting to get annoying

 

By the looks of things you will need to get a new sway bar anyway the boot look like it is tore and the base. With the brakes, i worked on a ford f-350 7.2 powerchoke it had a similar problem it was the rubber brake line would expand that is what was causing the brake problem. Thats just something to think about

 

so i went to dodge today, and on my way noticed that i had pretty much no brakes pedal would go straight to the floor.
got to dodge and they said i probably needed to replace the wheel cylinders, which needs done we popped the seal on one of them yesterday.
they gave me a quote of 500 DOLLARS which is wack things only cost 10 bucks.
i just toldem to put it back together, they did bleed the brakes which i was expecting, but that did put my brakes back to the way they were before this entire situation started.

so im prolly gonna try a different brand of wheel cylinders and see if they will work and get my hands dirty with those frickin drum brakes again. i might call my local brake shop and if they charge around 100 to change those ill prolly do that cause drum brakes suck *****

 

eww drums... makes me glad mine are 4 wh disc around.. i always had issues with drums with any vech i drove.. but im curious... since u have a 02.. have you had any wheel bearing issues ive gone thru 3 of them on right side luckily while warranty was on and dealer replaced but my extended just ran out had the truck from 3 miles new to now at 99k curious if youve had any issues on your 02....


schuey

 

i think the one on my driverside is starting to go, but its not bad right now, ive had the truck since oct 2008, and put 25k mi on it havent noticed any major problems with those or balljoints

 

I have an 02 and had one wheel bearing replaced under a recall for my truck, I have put on over 100,000 miles and it is now starting to go out again but that is after I slid off the road and hit something hard enough with the tire to damage the rim of the truck. Other then that they are working great and I have not had to do any work on them.

 

Josh if you feel like making the drive, My wife says she'll do them for ya for $70.00.

 

yea thats a drive lol, i actually think my wheel cylinders are fine cause when i was taking off the drums the first time i remember that everything was dry and didn't have any brake fluid on it, ive been monitoring my fluid level and it has been the same, which means no leaks, so im thinking its eathier thats the way the brakes on the dakota feel or my master cylinder is starting to crap out

 

You should have a pretty decent pedal feel though. And not trying to be a dick or anything but a set of brake spoons, spring pliers and a spring compressor makes drum brakes a LOT easier. I Have dealt with a lot of them whith all my volkswagen beetle stuff through the years and in the shops around here. Trust me, check up on it a little bit and give it a shot with the right tools. It's well worth the $100.00 you'll save.