I have a 2003 Ram 1500 Quad 4X4, my problem is that when pushing on the brakes sometimes it goes nearly to the floor before brakes start working. Other times I can push brake pedal a few inches and they apply immediately. Today I was driving and noticed that it felt as if my brakes were on with no application to the brake pedal. When I stopped at home I could smell the hot brakes. Why would my brakes feel mushy one time and be super sensitive the next?

 

I think it might be a master cylinder going bad. You may also have a caliper leaking which could cause air to enter the system causing the brakes to grab due to expanding air in the system when they get hot-----definitely get it checked out----either one or both could be very dangerous.

 

i had that prob on my 04 2500, the pass front side was sticking, heating up and smokeing i just took everything pretty much apart took the calipers off and the caliper mounting bracket, and the rotor, (easily done on a 2500 4x4) and cleaned the bajesus out of everything lubed up caliper bolts with some grease and put back together, i had alot of mud n such caked up on all of the parts tho, also on the rear i figured out after changing the pads, my rear pad was stuck sideways? the top of the pad was touching and the bottom wasent so maybe thats a prob also, good luck!

 

I'm experiencing the same prob on my '05 1500 4x4. I just put new pads on last nite, we'll see if that helps. When I did a quick test drive, I didn't think it fixed it, but this morning the pedal seems to grab quicker, whereas before I could press almost halfway down sometimes before the brakes would catch. It's almost like you had to pump up the pedal, and then the brakes were fine.

It definitely looked like the calipers were sticking some. The outer pads were worn much worse than the inners. I lubed up the slides and caliper bolts with some brake grease when I did the pads. Hopefully my problem goes away.

 

A lot of guys claim to have done a "brake job" on their trucks when all they have done is litterally, changed out the pads.
What you must remember is, that the caliper slider bolts and all the dirt and debris around the entire brake assy caliper rotor etc, must be cleaned and importantly the caliper sliders must be greased if they are dry after having been checked, with the proper grease.
All the rubbers must be inspected (excuse the pun) and that the pistons in the calipers slide freely in and out. If any of these things isn't done, especially with the correct torque settings on the bolts etc, then the "Brake job" hasn't been done.
Hope this helps?
Al.

 

Yeah, I definitely clean everything up when I do brakes. I usually spray some brake cleaner, then brush any stubborn debris, then rinse with some more cleaner.

And I recently became aware that you need to use brake grease....just something I never really knew to do regularly before...but I made sure to do it this time around.

As far as pistons moving freely, not too sure about that when they're staticly loaded, but I've always been able to compress the piston so that you can reinstall the caliper.

I'm hoping my problem is gone, as the driver's side pad was almost gone, and the passenger side wasn't much better. For some reason it felt like the caliper piston was retracting and pulling the pad away from the rotor, so when I applied the brakes the piston had to move back out again before the pad would make contact with the rotor. My understanding is that piston brakes aren't supposed to do that, they should release their pressure, but the pads should always be in a light drag against the rotors.