Good day, I just joined this forum and hope to find an answer...

So, this morning I went to back-up from a parking (after driving for a while), but the truck was hard to back-up, like if it was on the parking-brake, but it wasn't. After couple minutes of driving, I had to use the brakes and to my surprise the pedal went to the floor and I had no brakes. After that incident, brakes worked a bit (when not pressed hard), but I have none now (had to use lower gears and parking-brake to slow down the truck). What could be the source of the problem ?

Dodge Ram 1500
2006
4x4, Standard transmission
(I had transmission problems in the past)

Thanks you,
Amqui

 

For starters, check the Master Cylinder and see what level the brake fluid is. If it's way down, then look under the car for any leaks. You could have a blown hose or brake line. Could be a bad caliper seal as well. You did not mention the mileage but if it has a lot of miles, their could be an issue with worn parts.

 

The master cylinder is low but not empty and I didn't see any leaks on the ground. I'll check again tomorrow morning, it'll be easy to see since the truck is parked on white snow.

What would explain the fact that I couldn't back up properly tough ?

Thanks you,
Amqui

 

This morning, after pumping the brakes couple times, I found leak from the front right caliper. I'll see more when I remove the wheel.

Thanks you,
Amqui

 

Just took the wheel off, one brake was missing and the two cylinders of the caliper are broken off, I guess I found the problem.

Thanks you,
Amqui

 

scary

 

yeah, very scary. Luckily there was no accidents or anything. If your truck does have high mileage I'd certainly be pulling off all the other wheels and doing a thorough inspection of all the brake hardware including lines.

Oh yeah, just incase you don't already know, when you replace brake hardware on one side, you need to replace the other side - well at least the brake pads on both sides.

Also check for any other signs of damage around the wheels and steering components to see if something may have caused the failure of the brake caliper.

 

After doing my brakes the past weekend, I think I'm getting a set of speed bleeders and replacing all the lines. Lots of rust and the rubber lines seemed fairly brittle after 180k.

 

Recommendations. If you are replacing all the hardlines ensure you get all the rubber lines too. Also don't purchase individual sticks of brake line, get one or two spools of these http://www.napaautoparts.com/Catalog...473_0006384159 If you're doing the whole truck you'll need it. Also, get a good bender if you don't have one already. I used this one when I redid all the hardlines on my 01 a few years back and it worked like a champ http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_1...1&blockType=G1 The key to getting factory like lines is patience and taking the old lines off without messing them up (I was pretty successful on my 01). I then just figured out how far the offset of the bender was for bends and used a sharpie marker and just went to town. Left alittle extra line on the ends so I would have room to flare and put on the fittings. Speaking of fittings.

Also, I know on my 01 I had a surprise when got to the fittings. The lines from the Master cylinder to the ABS block used the metric bubble flares with metric line, not your standard American 45 degree double flare. It looked like 3/16 line but it was actually 4.75 mm metric line (looks very very similar). Not to mention most of the metric lines you get in the parts stores anymore are actually 3/16" lines flared to the metric standard (ask me how I figured that out LOL) The kit needed to make the metric bubble flares isn't the cheapest nor the easiest to get ahold of, and the flanging bar is designed for true metric lines not 3/16" line. Long story short the metric 4.75 mm lines are very close to the same size as the standard 3/16" line we use on everything American and the metric fittings will fit onto a 3/16 line, but the metric stuff is slightly smaller in diameter so if you are trying to create a flare and you put a 3/16" line into a 4.75 mm flanging bar, in my case I tore up alot of line and made some really ugly flares before I figured out what was going on. I ended up modifying my metric flanging bar so it wouldn't tear up a 3/16" line, and then just used the tool like you would on any other metric line.

I also had alot of luck reusing my old fittings for the most part. I just made sure the mating surface wasn't damaged at all and I cleaned up the threads of the fitting by running them through a die to clean up the threads. I only ended up having to replace 3-4 fittings that I didn't trust.

If you need any additional help let us know.