Hi guys, Just signed up and am trying to find some info on brakes. Got 2001 2wd dakota with 1950 B2 pilot house dodge truck body on it. Bought the truck 6 months ago with a bad engine. Well I replaced engine, runs great. While replacing engine I noticed the front discs and pads were gone so I got new ones. Brakes work good, also flushed out old brake fluid with dot 4. Bedded in new pads and rotors.

My question is, after driving 10 minutes you can smell brakes and they are smoking. I jacked truck up and I cant turn the front wheels, that's how hard front brakes are on. I'm very unfamiliar with these trucks, am I missing something, pedal feels great and stops very well. Both rotors are very hot. Thinking maybe abs system? Also was having a hard time just searching for brake threads? Brand new guys so be easy on me, lol. Thanks for any info

 

Welcome to the forum.

It's most likely not the ABS.

Could be several things. How old are the front brake hoses? Old hoses can fail internally and act as a check valve so that the pressure is never fully relieved. A failing booster can also apply the brakes.
How are the calipers?

 

x2 on failing softlines. Had it happen on a dually once. not fun.

 

00dakdan, thanks for responding. Brake hoses are probably stock. Calipers looked good and seemed liked they worked fine and weren't seized at all, Also it's both driver and passenger sides are hot . The brake booster seems like it's working good. Besides brakes not releasing, it's STOPS very well. Literally drove it 5 minutes, got gas drove back to the house. 1 mile before house you can smell the brakes pretty strong. I'm just wondering if it was the proportioning valve or something weird like that. Back brakes seem fine or are not an issue.

 

Thanks guys I will inspect brake lines tomorrow, hopefully that's the culprit.

 

Look at the pad/rotor alignment. Is the rotor offset to the inside or outside pad? Same on both rotors? minor offset or major offset?

Are the calipers held by 3/8" slide pins, or is there a pair of 5/8" bolts holding a giant caliper bracket to the spindle?

What is the VIN on the chassis? Should be a sticker on the drive side about 3 feet behind LF tire, if it wasn't painted over.

1) Curious if it's the 01-02 brake package or upgraded 03-04 brake package (very common upgrade.. 01-02 is single piston, 03-04 is dual piston with a 3/4" bigger rotor)

2) Curious if they are actually dakota or durango spindles. The rotors, calipers, and spindles are slightly different.

 

Magnethead, I have single piston caliper with the 2 Allen bolts holding it. I think I might have figured it out, I did some more digging. I believe where pads move on caliper bracket are slightly worn, remember seeing it when I installed, I greased them when I installed, but I believe that is the culprit, I let you guys know tomorrow, thanks for all the leads guys

 

That was a horrible design. It's super easy to strip out those 2 slide pins (my truck had 3 out of 4 replacement oversized). The 03-04 brake upgrade is so much worth it, hardest part is finding the spindles in a junkyard. I spent 2 days and about $250 scouring for a set, another $150 on new caliper/pad/rotors, and had a nice premium brake upgrade. I also went to PTFE soft lines.

You can smooth out that fixed caliper bracket with a sanding roll on a die grinder or dremel.

 

UPDATE 12-16-20 It's been a while since I've posted, I did find the original problem although i still believe the notch in brake pad runners were a part of it. The frame and running gear are a 2000 dodge dakota with a 1950 dodge pilot truck body on it. Whoever built the truck never completely figured brakes out as no matter what i did with the brake pad runners, brakes still stayed on and got hot! So i figured I'd take the brake booster off and look at the adjusting rod. Anyways I adjusted 1/8" in and BOOM, fixed the issue that i had been fighting for 3 months, lol. Its the wife's truck and she's happy.