First off, I also have a 97dakota v6 but with an auto. it's a CC so more
weight along with an added sound system and fiberglass tonneau.
my rotors shimmied like hell around 30-40k miles. I just lived with it and
drove with it shimmying, so to counterreact the problem. I just BRACED for
impact before I stepped on the brakes.
oh well, 50k, I decided to spend some $$$ so I bought napa rotors for 68
bucks a piece. slapped those on with new napa "tru-stop" pads, and it worked
great. until 60k miles. shimmy was back upon braking.
I have concluded that it has to be 2 things...
1) the front upper control arm bushings on mine are shot (so are MANY other
dakota owners') this causes the wheel to have some freeplay while braking and
causes the rotor to warp, or give the driver the feeling the rotors are
warped.
2) I have some crappy luck with brakes
On to the point, you said how "crappy" the mopar brake design is, but believe
it or not, this is the newer design on the market, the inside pad will be
pushed in by the piston, and it'll cause the WHOLE caliper to slide right,
making the outter pad catch, thus both pads ARE effectively being used. You
are correct about the inner ones wearing out much faster, because the outer
one doesn't grab as quick as the inner one. Oh well, can't win em all..
-Dester
<< 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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