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During my 8 hours of driving today, a few new handling related issues made themselves known with my 255,000 mile Dodge Ram.
1. My front driver side rim is covered in brake dust. I noticed a little bit before, but there’s alot of it now and whenever I brake, there’s a vibration and a scraping sound. Is my brake pad gone or what? The front brakes are only 8 months old. The brakes don’t feel weak.
2. When I turn the wheel far to either side while moving slowly, (not that you would do that while driving fast, lol) it binds a bit and makes a grinding noise through part of it’s range. Under any other circumstances, it’s fine. This happened once or twice in the past, but now it’s quite common.
Until my engine was fixed, these were secondary but now that it’s running properly, of course these problems got worse. Any input is greatly appreciated.
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check the pads see if one side is worn more than the other. if they are your caliper isnt releasing properly. could be stuck. or the noise could jusst be a rock.
the steering could be the pump going out, or binding in the tie rod ends or rack and pinion depending on year and make of car.
Second. It’s a 1999.
According to the Chrysler flow charts, it could just be low fluid so I’ll check that when it stops snowing.
You may have thrown a pad. If you pull a trailer alot you may want to get a trailer with brakes and/or upgrade the brakes on your truck.
As far as the turning issue, if it’s 4 wheel drive check the fluid in the front and rear diff. I would also check and lube your ball joints.
Let us know what you findNever pulled a trailer, don’t have one. But I’ll look into them anyway. It is 4WD but the 4WD wasn’t used recently. The diffs aren’t leaking, does that fluid ever need serviced normally?
Yes it does need to be serviced periodically. So does the fluid in your transfer case. There are alot of miles on that thing. You could have a bad bearing making your brakes wear prematurely. You might want to look into that before it causes any further damage. One indication of a bad bearing would be deep grooves in your brake rotors.
I would just remove the wheel and check the braking components. If you used cheap parts prior, that may explain premature wear.
If not, make sure the caliper piston is not frozen as stated before as well as checking the guide pins.
Usually there will be some play if you have a bad wheel bearing or they will make a growling noise when they start to fail.
As for the steering issue, have an assistant rotate the steering and see if you can visually see anything wrong or binding while the vehicle is idling in park.
Just to throw this out there, if it’s a four wheel drive you may not be able to detect any bearing problem by wiggling the wheel. I did some brake work on an older Chevy 4 wheel drive last month. When I went to pack new grease in the bearings I found that on the driver’s side, the outer bearing race was completely shattered. So I would recommend Pulling the hub assembly off and triple check those bearings, and make sure you follow the proper torque-ing procedure when reinstalling them. Also Change the front and rear diff fluid. It’s cheap to do, easy, and with 250,000 miles you could be chewing up you diff gears and bearings.
Well I posted a reply but it seems to have disappeared. In short, both front brakes are shot. The pads are more or less gone. Metal on metal. The calipers are sticking as well, which explains my bad mileage and the fact that they are making objectionable sounds now even when the breaks aren’t applied. Oh, and they’re getting weak! I almost had an accident and had to run a red light on the way home because I literally could not stop in time. Needless to say, I’m not driving it anymore until it has new brakes, because that seems suicidal at best. I’ll keep you guys posted.
i would replace pads rotors and calipers. Would be a good time to flush the system too with new fluid. never take chances with braking system. i always thought if i screwed up something n the engine it wouldnt go, but if i screwed up the brakes i or someone else could die.
Definitely check those bearings and change the diff fluid, unless you wanna run the risk of having to do this all again. With that many miles even if the bearings are good they are going to need to be re-packed with new grease. Ignoring simple maintenance like that can create a potentially deadly situation.
There’s a few things going on here: and they could be serious.
From what I understand you just did your brakes not that long ago and they are already worn. That is probably not your fault it that is the case. You probably bought an organic pad material. They are quieter, but make more dust and wear faster and are generally softer. That is my first assumption. Replace them with a ceramic material. They are OE equipment on most cars and trucks. Try this part number on http://www.RockAuto.com : QC369 (for a 1999 1500 dodge ram) If you chose a semi metallic pad they have good life but chew up rotors because they are more abrasive. They are recommended if you tow a lot. (I read that you don’t do much towing)
Secondly, check the shims: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WsaEtMaW6Qw they could be causing the noise.
thirdly, Check your ball joints, tie rods, idler arm, pitman arm joints for wear or torn boots, they could be causing your steering noise, Replace them even if you suspect them to be bad!!! They cannot be over looked. If you think they are fine, Grease them with a grease gun. This should be done every oil change. If you decide to replace them remember to get an alignment after too.
Fourthly, Change your diff fluids! it is an easy process and is preventative maintenance. If you look at your owners manual it will say how often to change them. Hopefully you still have it. Look for Eric’s video coming out this week for the procedure.
Also, check your tire pressure, that can cause uneven steering resistance and cause the steering pump to work harder, causing noise.
I would recommend checking these first. These are the inexpensive parts and if they good, then change power steering fluid (which you may choose to do anyways, check your owners manual if they require you to change ps fluid) If you are still having steering noises, your power steering rack may be to blame, lets cross that bridge when/if we get there. I hope this helps!!!
Good Luck in your adventure with your truck!
Just so you know, no matter what anyone tells you do not use rtv or any gasket sealant on your diff gasket. Just make sure the surfaces are clean and dry.
I really appreciate all the information guys. My dad had the front brakes done in April. (We share this vehicle, he likes to have maintenance done professionally and I like to do it myself when possible) That was roughly 20,000 miles ago. He doesn’t know what kind of pads were used or anything. I bet they were cheap ones though. Just from the symptoms, I think I have a shim that cut through a rotor like in the video. I haven’t taken the wheel off to check since I don’t have the tools, which is why I can’t do it until Monday when I’ll have access to them. I’ll be sure to update when I know exactly what happened.
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