I've had warped rotor problems on both my '94 DAK and '95
Chrysler Cirrus.
Dwight
----- Original Message -----
From: "Davidson, Kevin" <ked@iti-oh.com>
To: <dakota-truck@buffnet.net>
Sent: Thursday, July 20, 2000 11:58 AM
Subject: DML: front brakes and rotor warpage - long one!
> Hello all. I'm new to the DML, but I've perused the
archived posts off and on over
> the past several years. Forgive me for the length of this
post...
>
> I decided to go ahead and join the DML in hopes of getting
some feedback on
> the Dakota's front brakes. I haven't had time to stay
current with reading the posts
> for some time now, but I do remember a while back that a
lot of people were
> having problems with their front rotors warping. Forgive
me if this topic has been
> rehashed or repeated.
>
> I bought a 97 Dak cc, V6 5sp, brand new. I've been very
satisfied with it, except
> for this brake problem. Here's a quick summary:
>
> 20k - Front rotors warped badly; entire truck shudders
when braking. Took to the dealer,
> they machined the rotors and said "highway driving will do
that". !?!?!?!!!! This got me
> off on the wrong foot...
>
> 40k - Front rotors warped badly again. I had read on the
DML that a solution to this
> problem is to replace the Chrysler garbage rotors with
plain old aftermarket parts. So,
> I personally replaced the front rotors with a set from
napa.
>
> 60k (now) - Front rotors warped badly.
>
>
> Ever since I drove the truck off the lot, the lug nuts
have been installed exclusively with
> a proper torque wrench. I very rarely haul heavy loads or
tow, and my driving is about
> 75% highway, 25% city. I use engine braking when
practical.
>
> When I pulled the calipers off to replace the rotors at
40k, I was VERY surprised at what
> I saw. Now I don't claim to be an expert mechanic, but I
have done brake jobs on a handful
> of cars before, and I've never seen anything like this
before - and that is, the outboard brake
> pads are FIXED!! Every other brake system I've ever seen
is designed such that the rotor
> is sandwiched between the inboard and outboard pads, which
can both move and squeeze
> the rotor from both sides. NOT ON THE DAKOTA. The
outboard pad is fixed, and is not
> free to move at all. I might be out in left field, but to
me it looks like one of the following
> happens in this brake design:
>
> (a) The inboard pad pushes out against the rotor, and the
rotor BENDS slightly outward from
> the applied force, until it comes into contact with the
outboard pad. The rotor warps from the
> constant flexing (as the rotor turns, the location of
deflection movies circumferentially)
>
> ...or...
>
> (b) The inboard pad pushes out against the rotor, and the
fixed outboard pad just sits there
> and does absolutely nothing. The rotor warps from intense
heat and pressure applied to only
> the inside of the rotor.
>
> In either case, it looks to me like the front brakes on
this truck are essentially ONE PAD per
> wheel, and that the rotors are bound to warp due to this
setup. When I replaced the rotors on
> my truck at 40k, the pads had plenty of meat left on
them - but the outboard pads had
> considerably less wear than the inboard pads. This tells
me that a combination of (a) and (b)
> above probably defines what happens when we press the
brake pedal.
>
> Now - I'd like to know, how many people have had rotor
warpage problems? Again, forgive
> me if this topic has been driven into the ground already.
>
> The reason I want to know this, is that I sent a complaint
to DaimlerChrysler about this,
> and they replied by saying "there has been little
complaint from customers about the Dakota
> brakes..." (I'll send my complaint and DC's answer in a
seperate post).
>
> My point is that we should all let DC know of this
problem. I'm sure they know it's there, but
> they aren't going to do a thing about it unless we let
them know we don't like it. Will they
> change the design? Doubt it, not just because of us
anyways. But it can't hurt to give
> them some feedback. One way to give them feedback is at
the following address. In my
> opinion, everyone who's had this problem needs to let them
know about it.
>
> http://www.dcanswers.com/contact/
>
> Please let me know how many of you have had this problem,
and also let me know what you
> think of the brake design and my description/concerns.
>
> Thanks
> Kevin
>
>
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