hey guys and gals i really need some help. I've bought my Dakota brand new since 06 put about 19 000 miles on her already and i've had to replace the front rotors 3 times cause of warping and just use. Now that it's outta warrenty i would like to find a solution for this problem. I dunno what i am doing wrong but i checked with most of the aftermarket companies and they don't seem to have any thing aftermarket for my dakota. Specs are V8 2WD and we tow a camper. We make about 2-3 trips a year with the camper and the rest of the time it's just daily commuting please help us thanks henry and yes they are starting to show signs of wear again

 

For starters, buy some good quality rotors......Chrysler has been guilty for years of using a substandard metal in their rotors. You can check virtually any of the sections on this forum and see complaints about the rotors....

My suggestion is that if you're paying less then $50 for a rotor, you're getting what you pay for. Should you have to buy high performance rotors? Not at all, but you should be spending about $200 for a set of front rotors. I'd also suggest buying a good quality brake pad. Hawk pads are good quality and arent going to break your bank. You can also go with those green pad brakes as well..


Once you've done that, I'd suggest having your rear brakes checked and possibly adjusted. Your front brakes do roughly 65-80% of your braking, and they will wear out faster. I'd also make sure that when you put the front wheels back on, that they are torqued down properly. Tons of places, including dealerships and tire/rim places, will often over-torque the lug nuts on the wheels. This causes the wheel to not sit level on the rotor, thus helping to warp it.

I've had 2 Dakotas, both 2nd gen models, and did this exact thing to both. I never had any issues with my rotors, and these vehicles had developed the exact issue you're describing shortly after I got them.

 

Devil, can you recommend a certain rotor? I've written down the pads you suggested. I don't have any problems with my 06' (other than the rear shimmy when breaking at highway speeds), but its good to know someone knowledgeable with getting a good set of rotors and pads. Thanks for the info!

 

http://store.summitracing.com/partde...533+4294859634+

These arent bad, EBC usually has quality brake parts.....they're a bit more then I'd want to pay for, but that's the problem with having the newer Dakotas.....

EBC makes the really popular Greenstuff brakes....and those are on par with Hawk brakes in my opinion....I'd go with either.....

http://store.summitracing.com/egnsea...p;autoview=sku

For around $300...you'd have good quality parts on the front end.....expensive perhaps, but this is what I've done and recommended to a lot of people with the crappy OEM rotors...

 

Thanks again for the info! I'll have to shop around or really save up. $300 for rotors is too steep for me now, but I appreciate you looking it for me. The green pads I can do and will. Thanks.

 

idk what ur talking about, we just go to the auto store and spend $150, max on rotors and pads, and we get the good pads, and we have never had that problem, (3 dakotas, 1 durango), except when we tried to have the rotors cut instead of replaced, big mistake there

 

ohhenrygs,
I agree with the 'you get what you pay for' comments and that our rotors are the worst you could buy. You can get good rotors from EBC and/or Stillen. You should also replace the pads with EBC pads or another good brand especially since you are towing.
You need to look at the rear brake thread(s) because your 'shimmy' at highway speeds in exactly the situation that is covered by warranty and I think someone said it would cost $1,000 if you do it after your warrantee is done.

 

I think I have that shimmy, my dealer has informed me though that Chrysler's warranty on things like warped rotors or drums is only good for 12,000 miles or 1 year, hopefully the issue in that post would be covered under the longer warranty. They're looking at it today so hopefully I'll find out soon.

 

I thought we discovered that the rear end shimmy is normal... or atleast a design flaw...??

 

Then you're probably one of the lucky few.....

I dont ever recommend buying the cheap $35 rotors at like Autozone....the cheapest I would go is the OEM replacements from like Napa which are usually about $65...

The biggest thing is just making sure you are buying a quality rotor...