I had the misfortune of having to use max braking on my 2012 Ram 1500 with 20" wheels when an ambulance entered an intersection in front of me. I stopped before the ambulance but I was not satisfied with my brake performance and had some questions.

First, I didn't feel the anti-lock brakes engage. Do the RAM anti-lock brakes function like other where you can feel the shuttering of the brake valve?

When I did my test drives before I decided to buy a RAM, I was impressed with the brakes during normal driving and thought them a plus. However, in this situation I continued to apply pressure and the pedal went almost to the floor. In my past experience with brakes, when a pedal continues to go down like that, the calipers are not rigid enough and are flexing, different rotors or pads will not help. Are there any caliper options like using calipers from an SRT or other performance calipers?

 

Did you skid? The ABS wouldn't engage if you didn't.

 

There were no skid marks. The road was dry, the tires (and truck) are new, the pedal was to the floor (I was standing on it). If those conditions don't cause anti-skid to engage then the braking system has insufficient capacity for the weight of the vehicle.

If when the RAM anti-skid engages you can feel/hear the shuttle valve pulsating, then my anti-skid did not engage. That is the essence of my first quetions. Does the RAM's anti-lock braking system pulsate?

If my anti-skid didn't engage under these conditions, then the brakes on the RAM are inadequate (I know those are fighting words to some). I've had vehicles before that the pedal continued to depress/go to the floor under max braking conditions with no increase in braking effectivenss and it was flexing of the calipers. When I changed out the calipers for stiffer units, the brake pedal remained firm and immovable under max braking. It was a dramatic difference.

I'd like my brake pedal to not get soft under max braking which is why I'd like to search for alternatives/options.

 

The RAMs ABS has the typical pulsation that you are describing when activated. I hear it all the time on slippery MN winter roads. :-) Especially when I had the stock Goodyear tires on it.

Frankly, I think the ABS system sucks on the RAMs. When I'm on an icy road and I can modulate the pedal without activating ABS the truck decelerates noticeably faster then it does once ABS engages. It seems like the 'off' cycle time is way too high when engaged. I find that if I back off enough to disengage it and then modulate it myself I can again get back to a reasonable deceleration rate. When ABS is activated on an icy road the rate of decel is startlingly slow.

Couple that crappy ABS with the fact that my brake pedal has always been able to be pushed to the floor with constant pressure (when stopped) and I am not impressed overall. It stops the truck just fine in anything other than icy conditions, mind you, but I'm just not impressed.

Rob

 

Did some initial searches. Other than rotors and brake pads, there aren't many options for the Gen 4 RAMs for SS Braided brake lines and alternative calipers.

 

I checked my neighbors 2012 RAM 1500 4WD. They both have the same calibers by part number but the 4WD has a different brake line. My 2WD had a longer brake line that comes into the caliper from bottom where the 4WD's brakeline was shorter and came down from the top.

My on-line search for SS brakelines for 4th Gen RAMs struck out which surprised me. I also put my hand on the brakeline when pressure was applied and there was very little swelling but the SS brake lines might help make the brake pedal firmer.

So an easy upgrade of brake pads and SS brakelines may be more difficult than first thought.

 

You can order custom stainless steel brake lines from a variety of places. You usually just need to measure the length and specify the types of fittings on each end.

 

My two cents, imo the stock goodyears wrangler hps that came on my 2009 sucked big time.....and take away from braking ability.Im running nitto terras, drilled and slotted rotors, and napa dual friction pads.......braking is pretty damm good, i would like to upgrade the brake lines though, and at 75k i let the dealer do a brake fluid flush, a well spent 110 bucks.....BTW, what calipers did you use?

 

Because the stock Goodyears are not one of the better tires, the braking system should have had the capability to over power the traction of the tires causing the anti-lock braking to engage (which it did not).

I have stock calibers and it doesn't look like there is a reasonble option for an alternative. I will look into ss braided brakelines and better pads. My neighbor has a 2012 4WD Hemi. Below is a picture of a 2WD caliper from my 4.7L compared to his. Both have identical calipers by part number but the brakelines are different. The 2WD brakeline (on the left) is longer and comes from below where the 4WD (on the right) is shorter and comes from above. Not sure why they wouldn't be the same brakeline that the 4WD uses for all applications. I should be able to get some ss brakelines similar to the 4WD.

 

Sorry if i'm hijacking your thread, but has anybody noticed the rear brakes wearing faster than the fronts. I just did a brake job and the rear pads and rotor were finished, but the front still had more than half left on them. I was just assuming that the front would wear faster, i just find it odd.