Seems like everybody's talking about brakes this month, so here's one more
question...
I bought a '01 Dakota (V6, 4x4, manual trans, LSD rearend) earlier this year.
It has just under 95k miles on it now, and the brakes just don't seem to be
all that great. They work, but they don't seem to really want to grab. It's
kinda hard to explain.
It may be just that I'm used to the other cars and trucks I've driven ('91
Isuzu Amigo, '01 Caravan) lately, but in the Dak it seems like stepping on
the brake pedal works ok, but there doesn't seem to be a whole lot of pedal
feel to it. It's not sinking down or losing pressure (had leaking brake lines
on my old '73 Buick, so I know what that's like), but it's also not like I
get the feeling that if I stepped down any harder that I could lock up the
wheels or anything. It seems to stop ok, it just doesn't seem real agressive
about it.
Empty bed, or 300lbs. of water softener salt in the bed didn't seem to make
any difference in braking feel. I haven't moved anything heavier than that
yet.
I have replaced the shoes and pads with NAPA parts. Not their top of the line,
nor the "economy" ones, the ones in the middle. The front calipers are not
siezed up and float fine on their sliding bolts. I also replaced the brake
fluid and bled the system.
I also have some occasional braking shimmey, which I assume is the rotors
needing to be turned or replaced. It's not consistant, though, which makes me
think that one side or the other could be grabbing? Could that be a master
cylinder symptom?
I prefer to do my own work, but I'll have to have a shop do the rotors and
drums. Is there anything else I need to be looking in to here?
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