Does anyone have a pic of what the newly installed brakes should look like? I replaced the brake pads on the driver front side...But the the other side has the tabs of the brake pads and the caliper seperated by the stationary part of the caliper on the top and resting on the bottom. When I installed the driver side the caliper fits in the bottom and and not on the top. If someone had a pic of what it should look like it would be easier to explain. I bought a manual but the pics are bad and I cant see what I need to see

 

Sorry to bump an old thread, but this is the exact issue that I am having with my 98 Caravan.

I have tried two seperate sets of brake pads, one cheapo and one premium. Both for a 3.0L 98 caravan. One set from Lordco, one from Napa.

It seems as though the caliper should go in the grooves on the top and bottom, but the pads stop it from doing so.

- The front left (drivers side) groove on the bottom slides in, but the top wont, the pad hooks rest on it.

- The front right (passenger side) groove on the top slides in, but the bottom wont, it seems to just sit on the pad hook?

Anyway does this sound right to you?

 

lets see some pics of your pads and show a picture of the caliper and how it looks on the vehicle

 

ok, I'll do that tomorrow.

 

I have a 97 & a 2000.

BOTH my GC's front brakes are the same way. There must be some kind of reasoning -mechanically opposite sides- why one side rests on the bottom of the knuckle & the other rests on the top.

I found them to be that way from the beginning and have been putting them back on after every brake job I do the same way and have never, ever had any issues.

So, it is NOT your brake pads. This is the way it is supposed to be!

 

I should clarify a little since this sounds to be your first diy brake job on this car: the 'pivot' point is reverse on the passenger side.

- On the driver side, you place the caliper at the bottom of the knuckle first and then swing the caliper up and inside in place (make sure to pull back the caliper pins).

- On the passenger side, you place the caliper at the top of the knuckle first and then swing down and inside.

It is a simple swing motion (assuming you have pushed the caliper in all the way) and the caliper pins should easily align. If they don't, remove and reposition.

 

INSTALL

1. Lubricate both steering knuckle abutments with a liberal amount of Mopar® Multipurpose Lubricant, or equivalent CAUTION: Use care when installing the caliper assembly onto the steering knuckle, so the seals on the caliper guide pin bushings do not get damaged by the steering knuckle bosses.
2. Carefully position caliper and brake pad assemblies over brake rotor by hooking lower or upper end of caliper over the machined abutment on steering knuckle. Then rotate caliper into position at the top of the steering knuckle. Make sure that caliper guide pin bolts, bushings and sleeves are clear of the steering knuckle bosses.
3. Install the caliper guide pin bolts and tighten to a torque of 41 N·m (40 ft. lbs.) Extreme caution should be taken not to cross thread the caliper guide pin bolts.
4. Install the wheel and tire assembly.
5. Using a torque wrench, tighten the wheel mounting stud nuts in proper sequence until all nuts are torqued to half specification. Then repeat the tightening sequence to the full specified torque of 135 N·m (100 ft. lbs.)
6. Remove jackstands or lower hoist.
7. Before moving vehicle, pump the brake pedal several times to insure the vehicle has a firm brake pedal.

 

Thanks for responding guys. It was my first time.

My sister has a 99 Caravan and I looked at hers, and it is in fact correct. It just didnt make any sense to me that it only fit into the one groove. The Haynes manual I bought wasant very specific either.

I also did the back brakes, then took it into the shop for an adjusment. $20 later and I think I saved myself a bunch of money.

One other thing. My new brake pads didnt come with any lube. Odd because the last time my brother did my brkaes for me it was there.

Down to the store to get some and put some on. The lube is just for sqeeking right? Because they were completely dry when I took the old ones off.

 

it is imperative that you ONLY use genuine Mopar multipurpose lubricant... there really isn't an exact equivalent, as Tizzy specified