groaning brakes
 

so I have noticed that when I'm at a stop and take my foot off the break, or when I put in park and take my foot off the brake and it begins to roll forward I get a groaning noise. I was thinking stuck calipers but wouldn't be burning up every time I drive

When was the last time you have the brakes checked? And do you have 4 wheel disc or just front?

I put new pads and rotors on last year, just discs in the front

drive a couple miles then coast to a stop, don't brake if you can. get out and feel the wheels and see if you have more heat on one side vs the other.

I went to the parts store and they needed to know if I had steel or ????phelonic???? cylinders in the calipers

Are the pistons in the calipers steel? Most minivans don't have steel pistons.

Never really looked...the guy at the parts store told me, yeah I know...listening to the kid at the parts store blah blah blah..., that if I use the caliper with the wrong piston material that it will screw things up big time. Is there any truth to that

I doubt that piston material has anything to do with noise. Pistons just push to the brake pad - that's all, but they do not touch disks.
Just take the wheels off, take off brake pads, clean them and put them back. Don't forget to apply brake paste between pad and piston. Also, check the clips - the little metal clips on which brake pads slide to the disk and back. Each brake pad has 2 clips. Sometimes if you are missing one clip - brake pad does not disengage from disk and thus the noise.
Hope this helps. That's for the front disk brakes. As for the rear drum ones - they can also be the source of noise. Where is the noise coming from front or rear?

It is the front left caliper. Had the wife press and release the pedal as I grabbed and turned the rotor. Now I just need to figure out what kind of cylinder it is

Send me the last 9 of your vin and I'll be able to look up the mopar part for you.