Hello.

I have a 2011 Grand Caravan. At 32000km my rear calipers seized and I needed new rotors. Now I am at 36000km and my mechanic told me my front and rear rotors need replacing because the pads are not making contact. So not only do I need the rear rotors replaced again, but the front ones, too. My Dodge dealership told me there was no warranty on doing all four because rotors are wear and tear. Anyone had similar issues? So much for the new rotors lasting more than 4k.

 

Get R1concepts Premium rotors, cryo treating is extra but will insure against warping.

And do brake jobs yourself! Calipers brake jobs are an easy DIY job!

http://www.tirerack.com/brakes/brake...Standard+Model

http://www.buybrakes.com/p-640-stopt...0Disc%20Brakes

http://www.lxforums.com/board/f58/r1...oupbuy-222359/

http://forum.chryslerminivan.net/sho...slotted-rotors

 

New rotors will last 50K miles unless the brake system is defective or pads are not changed before wearing down to the backing plates. If the brake system is defective, a new rotor may only last a few hours or 4K mi. Clearly the rotor is not the problem. Your brakes are dragging or stuck on due to a mechanical defect. If you do a search on my username you will find multipage threads on this subject. Find a shop with a technician who knows how to do more than just throw pads and rotors at your van. The root cause is not being addressed.

You are clearly not talking to the right person at your dealership. Dodge will not make a customer eat the cost of rotors every 4K mi. The root cause of your problem was clearly not addressed when the work was done 4K mi ago. I can assure you the cause isn't the rotors. The only way rotors could go bad in 4K mi and pads not make contact would be if they put new rotors on old pads and the van sat outside, rusted and they never were seated/bedded. Is this the case?

 

If it's a stuck calipers problem causing rotor warping then can't the OP get a calipers replacement through the warranty?

 

The OP said nothing whatsoever about warping. I am guessing they put rotors on ot under warranty and reused the old pads which had a bad wear pattern from overheating caused by brake drag. The pads weren't sweeping the rotor surface and it wasn't driven enough to grind the pads level. Then the rotor surface rusted, game over.

This situation requires an owner with a loud mouth and some technical knowledge to get it fixed for free.

PS: NOBODY in the SCCA runs cryo rotors except for a handful of folks with deep pockets. They offer 5% longer life for double the money. It makes absolutely no sense from a financial standpoint. It only makes sense in full competition racing. Track enthusiast who run track a lot just buy premium rotors at Advance Auto or Autozone with the warranty. They work great and last longer than rotors with slots or holes drilled.

 

In a nut shell would swap shops/mechanics if I could not do the job my self.
Pads not touching the rotors? Pretty strange.

If not a parts failure - As described it has all the indications of the caliper pins and their bores were not cleaned and repacked with the proper lube.
Putting the pins back in correctly can be critical also. After assembly one should be able actuate across them freely.
Lots of stuff to go wrong there. I have seen where an air impact wrench was used at assembly. Ugly.

Some shops see brake jobs as an easy fast buck that can be done quick and without too much skill.

On warping, we rarely warp rotors as much as we transfer pad material to the rotor unevenly. This makes for a pulsation in the pedal when pressed. According to how much material as to how much pressure is applied before we feel it. I have seen deposits small enough that a light humming vibration was heard and felt only during pretty hard braking.

If the rotors are really physically warped the pulsation and front end vibration would be constant. Get your brakes hot and spray them with cold water and let them sit. The part under the pads not getting the water is how the warpage is created.

Cyro treated rotors. For the extra $10.00 or 15 I give it the go ahead.

Good Luck

 

Thanks for the replies. I will check out the other threads as noted above.

 

Not at all. This is an incredibly common screw-up for rookies. The mechanic did not properly adjust the caliper to the new pads using the piston retracting tool. He simply retracted the piston all the way to the full reset position causing the auto-adjuster to go over center. The piston must be in contact with the pad backing plate or the caliper mechanism will malfunction. This piston adjustment step has been necessary since the 1970's when Kelsey Hayes rear disc brakes with integral emergency brake debuted on domestic cars. They clearly have never done a rear disc brake job before on a system with screw-in pistons for e-brake function. When all else fails, read the service manual lol.

OK, so you're willing to pay more for the 5% more lifespan that cryo offers. This is an industry-recognized track-proven statistic, by the way. But the cost differential is not just 10 or 15 bux (which would equate to a whopping 25% more cost for 5% more life). It's more like 2x more cost and up.

You can get premium name brand rotors with 2 yr warranty at most local parts stores for under $50. Rockauto sells bendix for $23 front, $19 rear.

Good luck finding genuine premium cryo's for a few bux more. UPS Ground shipping for 2 rotors is about $30 alone. A cryo'd premium rotor with warranty is absolutely not $65 with delivery. And for the record, fleabay sellers are selling Chinese-sourced junk with spray-painted hats that they stuck in their freezer overnight lol. They will fail quicker than the cheapest rotor bought at a chain store. Don't get sucked into that farce.

cryo Stoptech rotors for Grand Caravan at the tirerack are $115 and up plus shipping. That is 5x more than Bendix at Rockauto.

This comes to 500% more cost for 5% more life.

Let me know if you find genuine premium brand cryo's for cheaper than tirerack lol.

I've bought and gone thru 100+ rotors in 35 years of street driving and 50K HPDE, BMWCCA and SCCA track miles, so I know what I'm speaking about.

 

It was not seeking your seal of approval. As we say around here.... "Aint you somthing".

 

Happy 4th of July!!!