Brakes and Steering

[LJ11194]

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.

Topic

[Daniel]

Remember to consult your dealer for the fluid types and capacities.

[LJ11194]

Of course. I have a manufacturer service manual but surprisingly it does not mention what kind of fluid to use. Thanks Chrysler. I hate calling dealerships, they’re so difficult.

[Lord Ihcalam]

autozone or oreillys can tell you what to use. but its probably SAE 80W-90 gear oil in the diffs. dont forget the attitive if you have a Limited Slip posi ATF is common in transfer cases.

[Jeff]

Hey, I like the success story! Nice work

Here is a few tips.

1. I HATE calling dealerships. Email CBarker@royalpurple.com your make and model and ask him which kind of diff lube to use. You don’t have to use royal purple but at least you will have the correct lube to use. Email him and he will get back to you in a couple days, hassle free 🙂

2. Your vibration problem: usually comes from the rotor or drum. They can warp and it can be so small it is undetected by the eye. My guess is that the other front wheel rotor is warped. It is always a good idea to replace brake parts in pairs but I understand money is a factor too. Possibly when you get some extra funds replace that rotor and you should be vibration free. I wouldn’t recommend turning just one rotor. Since the other was replaced, replace the other one with a brand new rotor too.

Brake dust: my guess is the side with the normal caliper was wearing less so it was creating finer dust particles. The stuck caliper could have been creating heavier, larger dust particles that were just sinking to the ground. Just a guess.

I have a question for you tho: What kind of brake pads did you use out of sheer curiosity?

Thanks. Hope this helps.

-Jeff

[EricTheCarGuy]

Good find on the brakes. Actually the brake dust you saw is normal in that situation. The caliper that was working was doing almost all of the braking therefore you got more dust on that wheel. The reason the pads on the bad caliper were worn so much is because the caliper piston was not returning and therefore every time you stepped on the brake it would move slightly closer to the rotor and not return. This slowly wears down the (usually) inner brake pad. Because of the ‘slow’ wear the brake dust was not as visible.

[Author]

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