I’m new and seem to be having some trouble with my phone so I’m sorry if this is a duplicate post. I have recently bought a 2001 Dakota, V8 4.7L automatic 2 wheel drive. It has a hella bad ‘bounce’ when I apply the breaks but I can’t find any odd wear on the drums and the pads are worn but not showing the rivets yet. I’m not really sure what to look for to know what the problem(s) might be. I’m new to drum breaks.

 

Do you feel the bounce thru the brake pedal? Might be warped rotors/drums. Not something you can see by eye.

 

Is it a bounce, as in like going over a bump, or a wobble you feel thru the brake pedal?

 

It’s definitely a bounce, not a wobble. I could feel it through the whole truck, bouncing when I applied the brakes. I went ahead and put new pads on the back today and now it feels more like a rotor on the front end, can feel it in the steering wheel as well. Like I said, new to this truck, new to Dodge and new to drums so I’m really just ‘feeling’ my way through it with what I know but am very grateful for anything ya’ll can tell me.

 

What kind of shape are your shocks in? I've seen them bad enough to cause the tires to skip when you hit the brakes.

 

I know the front struts are a bit squishy and were on my list of things to replace but the shocks on the rear look ok. No oil leaking or slack/movement in them. They could still be bad though...

 

Did you have the drums and rotors turned when you did the brakes? (or, replace them.....)

 

My boyfriend took the drums in to have them done and I believe my best bet on the front rotors will be to replace them with the brakes. I would rather replace the drums as well but he’s a penny pincher so we’ll try this first.

 

When I did that kind of thing for a living, I would take a couple thousandths off of NEW rotors as well...... I hated doing the job twice, and you never know how long those rotors have been layin' on the shelf.....

 

Your boyfriend better be careful before Penelope or you slaps him. (Why yes, I DO have an odd sense of humor. ) Seriously, you can pull the wheel and drum and bolt the drum on inside out and watch it. Just don't touch the brakes. You can see the wobble if there is one. One thing about rear shocks, there isn't much weight when empty so they may seem fine until under load. I always replace all 4 shocks at the same time. This way they are all the same brand and all the same age.

A bit of digression here, the 1993/94 Ford Explorers were the point of numerous lawsuits because of tire failure roll overs.I had a ;93 Explorer. I don't think it was either Ford or Firestone's fault as a single cause for the crashes. The few photos I saw had roof loading. Numerous TV shows and magazines tried to recreate the crashes. None could do it. The reason, at least in my opinion, was the testers were experienced, it was under controlled conditions and they were expecting the blow out when the tire was punctured. In the field, the crashes were usually the result, again in my opinion, of a combination of too much load high on the roof, maybe going too fast, inexperienced drivers, distracted drivers (texting, talking to people on the phone or in the car) and so on, not being trained to recover from a mechanical failure and numerous other factors. My 1993 Explorer had bad shocks when I got it. They looked okay, but it was a hand full for me to drive before replacing them. I've had my license for 50 years and drove long before that on tractors and farm trucks. When I replaced the shocks, it became a docile and well handling car.

I'm well known as a cheap skate. I even bought a Mazda CX-5 because it has Scottish Brakes. (It'll stop on a dime, and pick it up). Don't cheap out on shocks, tire or brakes. The fact that your boyfriend is chea...er...thrifty, is good. There are some things you pay a little more for safety. I know how it is when you don't have much money. He may prefer to spend the money on you. Safety is more important.