I have a 2010 Grand Caravan that has 45000 KM on it. I am now on my 3rd rear brake replacement. The first one was at 19000 KM, the second was at 27000 KM and my third is now at 45000 KM. The cause was that the "pads are binding in the adapters". I asked the service what I should do and they said that I have to get a brake maintenance at 25000 KM (?????) but obviously that won't help me since the longest my brakes have lasted is 19000 KM. They also said to do it at 1 year BUT the first was at 1 year 2 months, then next was 8 months later and the next (now) is 1 year 4 months so even every year I would be down over 75% of the pads and rotors. Does anyone have any suggestions for me? Dodge is very clear that there is no defect that that this is very normal. Including the replacement at 8000.

Also a note, I am still on my original front brakes and they say they are in great condition to the point that they asked when I had them replaced. I have not, they are the original.

 

porterfield racing makes great compounds and high quailty products. they make a good shoe for the rear.

http://porterfield-brakes.com/manufa...akes/R4-S.html

they arent listed, just call and ask.

td1

 

If your dealership/mechanic told you the "pads are binding in the adapters" and just stopped at changing out the pads then you need to find a new dealership/mechanic. If there is indeed anything "binding" then that is a safety issue that could compromise your brake system; it is not just a part lifetime issue, and the fact that they could tell you there is a problem like this with your car without doing anything else to diagnose or fix it is alarming.

If there was indeed "binding" of some sort, e.g., brake pads in the hardware, parking brake cable, or caliper slide pins, then there should have been other symptoms such as uneven brake pad wear, pulling to one side while driving, or rear wheels hot to the touch after an appreciable amount of driving.

I actually started a thread here about a similar issue I had with my '08. I seem to have fixed the problem by using ceramic pads on the rear and the pads still look great after more than a year. If I recall correctly, the Mopar OEM pads are semi-metallic on the front and non-asbestos organic on the rear (not sure if that's still true for your '10).

Hope that helps, and good luck!

 

Just had my 3rd seat of rear rotars and 4th set for fronts one installed on my 2010 Dodge Caravan. Bought new from the dealer, never used the van to tow anything, never been overloaded. Just turning 80,000km's. By the time this thing turns 81,000 km's it will be sitting in someone else's drive (or lot).

 

No, racing pads will do nothing for a sticking brake system problem aside from burning his rotors to a crisp and increasing the friction coefficient. He will be using deep throttle for steady state cruising and getting 5mpg until breakdown. Porterfields have high carbon and metallic content with high friction and bite which will seriously overheat and destroy the factory solid rear discs. They are designed for a low friction coefficient mild organic compound. Smoke plumes must be emanating from the rear wheel wells like an out-of-control truck on a long hill lol. This "fix" would be like buying a NASCAR quality race helmets for your family because you know your brakes are defective.

To the OP:

A flawed factory brake design is causing your brakes to stick in the ON position and drag 24/7. This is unsafe and your gas mileage is surely terrible. You probably need the throttle to go down hill.

The fix involves replacing the backing plates with aftermarket to increase pad backing plate clearances to proper value. This will allow the pads to retract/reset when you release the brake pedal and it will let the free-floating caliper design to work as intended. An experienced mechanic would be able to see that your pads are literally stuck firmly against the rotor and would require serious prying to loosen them. Buy replacement parts at rockautodotcom, not the dealership. Two new brackets with hard parts kits, soft parts, brakes rotors and pads will cost you under $150 total. I can't guess which parts have been worn out since your last repair because your brakes are chronically dragging. Be sure the mechanic greases the sliding pins and springs between the pads and backing plates.

Search for my prior posts on the subject. The new parts should be taken to an independent shop for install. The dealer will want to install the same junk as before.

 

yes, sticking calipers is a totally different issue. ANY pad will overheat the system if calipers are sticking on pad.

wrong. i have been using porterfield R4S pads on the FRONT rotors ONLY on my 96 ES and they work GREAT.....increased braking in an otherwise anemic brake system (which is why i installed them in the first place)....we travel allot with full loads up and down mts. i have over heated OEM pads in same conditions. the R4S is a life saver, period. front OEM rotors are in great shape as well....and no smoke....well....except for this.....


and yes, helmets are required on our road trips....as are 5 point harness, must pass tech inspection.

 

Sticking brakes is THIS issue, not a totally "different" issue. We are discussing how to best address the issue with the OP's vehicle, not your experience with a set of R4S front pads. Now that's a totally different issue lol



Wrong???? I don't think so.


This thread is about sticking REAR pads due to excessively tight clearances on the adapter plates. Dodge is aware of the problem and has released a TSB fix specifying newly-revised adapter brackets with wider clearances. This trouble causes brake drag, pad and rotor over heat and imminent brake system failure. In my prior post, I specifically recommended against putting Porterfield pads with high metallic content on the REAR because it will NOT fix the OP's problem. It will only make matters worse because the rear rotors are solid and will fail even more quickly if the pad coefficient of friction is further increased. The rear pads should be low friction organic or low friction ceramic only, not semi-metallic or higher carbon. Throwing high friction pads on the rear of a 2008 and up GC with solid rear rotors will throw the factory f/r brake bias off, causing the rear brakes to be grossly overworked and the fronts to be underworked. The rear pads should be low friction organic and the fronts should be a higher friction carbon metallic. The solid rear rotors lack cooling vents and will overheat if they are asked to do more work.


Your experience with Porterfield R4S on a front vented rotor has no applicability whatsoever for this rear brake sticking issue. Positive experience with Porterfield R4S absolutely does NOT make them suitable for use on the Grand Caravan's solid (non-vented) rear rotor package.

 

therein lies the problem (thinking)




NS.

tight tolerances? have porterfield shave the pads a bit to get the desired clearance. they make custom pads you know.

regardless, his rear brakes are not my problem. im talking about the front system. dont like the bias? (who says the OEM system is "good" anyway?...they are the ones that designed a defective brake system of too tight tolerances to begin with) ....FI, put in a bias control valve to achieve the brake balance one likes, its a matter of preference and driving style.


huh? the front man, THE FRONT ONLY! get it together man!

if i had rotors on the rear of my ES i would run R4S on the rear as well. if im not happy with the bias, install bias valve. duh. there will be no overheating, because the system will be designed correctly.

alas i have drums on the rear and achieved the desired braking with R4S on the front only. sheesh.

 

Sorry, But i don't understand the purpose of your off-topic solo party. You responded to this thread as if you had some useful advice for Gen 5 owners with sticking rear pads. The advise you provided was totally counterproductive.

With 50K road track miles under my belt as a racer and instructor, I'm not hearing the porterfield recommendation sounded too silly. A wise person wouldn't get custom porterfields with non-standard pad backing plates for $200 a pop. Some racers build caliper adapters themselves, so why have some proterfield tech handle that duty while guessing how much to remove or taking your van out of service to ship faulty adapters to match up? Why modify a wearable part like pads to fit bad adapters when the adapter plates cost $40. If you modify the old ones they only needs clearanced once and you're done!

I was running race pads before you were born and clearancing parts myself.

These Gen 5 vans don't need more rear or front bias and installing more aggressive pads with a bias valve would not be the least bit helpful. Bias valves only help near threshold braking. Bias needs to be maintained under lighter pressures and that is only possible through piston and brake sizing and pad compound. These vans try to swap ends in the snow or rain under braking as-is. They don't need more front pad either. The stock brake setup & bias is fine so long as the rear brakes don't stick from bad clearances.

 

you need to come for a ride sometime with me in the hippievan, pops.

not if you stay on the throttle. ive never swapped ends in the hippievan..."drive thru it old man"



wrong again.

put a load of gear and people in that machine, drive it down a grade and you run out of brake.

i can see that you and i are going nowhere in this conversation, so enjoy the rest of it with yourself.