Front disc Brake Problems

[RoadWarrior]

I hear about so many brake rotor issues these days !!! Is it that the pads are so darn hard or is it that the brake rotors are not the quality of steel that they use to be? or both?

I just had front brakes installed at a garage they said they where ceramic pads but a week latter I'm already getting grinding noises again and I'm sure these rotors will be warped and grooved up again in less then a month again. They tell me they just have to wear in! I also get plenty of black dust! Seems the only people that arent getting rotor warp are those driving the more expensive cars.I spoke with people who drive BMW's. Mercedes or Lexus vehicles and they don't even know what I'm talking about!!

And it seems the garages can always get out of the service waranties due to the find print in the contract!

[jeepgal]

Yes, I had the same problem on my 09 journey. I needed an entire brake replacement at 23k miles. Sucked!!! Warranty doesnt help-

they will tell you its the way you drive.

[scott4751]

Same here - 22K Brake Pad & Rotor Replaced. Dealer stated there was not enough material on the rotor to re-surface. Needless to say, 22K miles from now, I will be sourcing 3rd party replacements...

[krwJourney]

Yes, I had the same problem on my 09 journey. I needed an entire brake replacement at 23k miles. Sucked!!! Warranty doesnt help-

they will tell you its the way you drive.

[krwJourney]

Same here at 30K, lot of good the warrenty did? Sucks!!

[jerzyboy14]

I have a 2010 Journey R/T AWD with about 10,000 miles on it and am already noticing grinding and squishy pedal feel when braking, especially if braking hard. I also notice more brake dust on my rear tires than front so I think I may be wearing my pads/rotors out in reverse order. My one concern when purchasing this vehicle was the reviews I had read on the brakes wearing out to quickly. I see alot of owners here share my concerns and frustrations with the brakes on this otherwise pretty well built vehicle. Does anyone know of another option to solving this brake issue other than a complete brake system replacement every 20k? Is there an aftermarket rotor or maybe OE brake parts from another dodge vehicle that could possibly be used to replace/upgrade the Journey's sub par brakes?

[mdewitt71]

I got 20,500 miles on my 2010 and the front are worn pretty good and the rotors are thin.

I will not make the mistake of going OEM parts but, I have found these -

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=390230993086&viewitem=&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWAX%3AIT

MIght have to give them a try, I don't think they could be anything worse then the OEM parts.

[oneframe]

If they tell us it's the way we drive, but we're all experiencing the same issue on the same vehicle....then why can't we collectively bring this to Dodge/Chrysler to tell them it's the way they MADE THEIR VEHICLE.

[jeffyboyy]

Hey,

I have a Dodge Journy 2010 and got the warranty letter about 40k. I notified them at around 36k and asked them to check brakes (because of letter) and they did not even look at them - they stated it was only if i was having issues. Now at 42k I am can not drive Journey without grinding.

Today, i am taking the dodge for oil changing and I will be asking them to fix the brakes too. I will let you know how it goes. I suspect them will argue since i am over the 40k mark.

I have spoken with 2 garage mechanics and both state that a new vechicle should not need to have brake pads replaced at 42k.

fingers crossed

[Dre]

2011 Journey RT - Just had to get all brakes and rotors replaced at 33K - My dealership was nice enough to pay for the parts and only charge me labor though so I got a bit lucky compared to some of the members here.

[Woodsey]

I had the front rotors relplaced under warrentee at 14K and because of the 1 year parts warrentee had all four rotors replaced at 28K. Problem is that I was back three consecutive weeks because the front rotors were warping within the week...the dealer said one time is was a defective rotor...the second time my guess was due to the fact the dealer over torqued the wheels (130lbs minimum)...ont he final time they through in pads as well. With a 1 year parts warenttee...my guess is I will have free brakes for life!

[NiceTrip]

I just had my third brake job in 64000 miles. Having done the first two myself, I took it to the dealer this time so I could complain about the excessive brake wear. They informed me there was a TSB out, with redesigned pads and rotors that is supposed to cure the problem of rapid brake wear. We'll see.

I'm a bit skeptical because when I was rotating the tires and had the front wheels off the ground, I noticed that they were quite difficult to spin. This makes me think that the brakes are not releasing fully and are dragging slightly. This would actually explain a lot - overheated/warped rotors, excessive dusting caused by rapid pad wear, etc.

The dealer said the new pads and rotors would fix all of this - but how can the pads help the brakes release?

Anyway, I have to replace both inner tie rod ends soon, and when I raise the front end, I will check for dragging brakes again.

Has anyone else, mechanic or DIYer, noticed any signs of slight brake drag on the front wheels?

[eurojet]

Mine now is going in for the 3rd time, front rotor replaced just last week and now they are grinding bad(just got the call from my wife) Woodsey and I are neighbors and get to experience all these fun things together. This is a complete waste of our time having to keep bringing the vehicles back.

[joe8918]

I have just turned 55,000 miles on my 2010 Journey R/T and am still on the original rotors and pads with no signs of excessive wear. I drive a majority on the highway and just don't drive / brake aggressively. Easy on the pedal and live a long life. I would not have thought they would have made it this far with the notice mailed to me about extending the to 36000 miles, etc. Remember....easy on the brakes

[raincoast]

On our 2010 Journey, we received our second set of all four brakes at 10,000 km or 6k miles due to warping. we just changed out the second set at 40km or 26000 miles, however, they did have 30% left on them. unfortunatly, they were noisy, so they had to go. after complaining the first time, we got a free set, but the second time, they said no more warranty, even though the vehicle has 7 year 115km warranty. apparantly that warranty doesnt cover the brakes.

Complaining just makes these local folks uneasy, I dont like to fight for a cheap fix, so we're trying out cross drilled brake rotors from ebay, made in Canada, with G3000 grade castings. the whole job front and rear brakes delivered for $205 and $125 installation makes sense to us for total of ~$330.

If these brakes are also terrible, I will post again

[Easy]

No problems with the front brakes here: 60,000 km with the original pads and rotors, still 30% of the pads left. I've had them serviced at 40K. No excessive dust, no noise during normal driving conditions. I did experience slight pulsating and some noise when braking hard at say 130 km/hr on the highway. That is precisely the reason why I intend to upgrade to 2013 brakes (pads, rotors and calipers) when I'll need to replace the existing ones. They are considerably larger and fit like a glove on 2011 R/T (there is another thread posted here on this upgrade).

Surprisingly enough, I needed to replace the rear pads and rotors yesterday! Usually the life span of the rears should be at least double (often triple) that of the front ones, especially since I rarely carry passengers or cargo in this truck. Weird, I know! There could be a number of things to have caused the premature wear of the rears and I'll keep an eye on it in future. The dealer just shrugged their shoulders as usual, of course.

Still, 60K on original brakes... not bad.

[jkeaton]

On our 2010 Journey, we received our second set of all four brakes at 10,000 km or 6k miles due to warping. we just changed out the second set at 40km or 26000 miles, however, they did have 30% left on them. unfortunatly, they were noisy, so they had to go. after complaining the first time, we got a free set, but the second time, they said no more warranty, even though the vehicle has 7 year 115km warranty. apparantly that warranty doesnt cover the brakes.

Complaining just makes these local folks uneasy, I dont like to fight for a cheap fix, so we're trying out cross drilled brake rotors from ebay, made in Canada, with G3000 grade castings. the whole job front and rear brakes delivered for $205 and $125 installation makes sense to us for total of ~$330.

If these brakes are also terrible, I will post again

Don't waste your money on cross drilled rotors unless you are racing autocross or something like that. They eat pads and they will eventually crack. Get some quality aftermarket rotors, raybestos, brake best, etc. After having the dealer replace both front and back rotors on our 09 within 15,000 miles, the next time I just replaced them myself and never had another problem. Brakes were still fine at 80,000 when we traded it in.

Edited November 21, 2013 by jkeaton

[Jay Sixspeedrt]

Yep, DIY is the way to go. It's VERY easy work - I changed the fronts (pads and rotors) in about 1 1/2 hrs in my garage, with just a floor jack. Parts are about $100 for rotors and pads per pair. If you have decent tools, and are somewhat handy, you'll KICK yourself for having paid someone else 400 or 500 dollars for a pair of brakes.

Make sure you BED THE BRAKES properly immediately after installation - so often this is NOT done but it's important for maximum brake life.

My rotors and pads came with instructions on how to do this- 5 consecutive moderate to hard brake applications from 45 mph to 10 mph, spaced together as quickly as possible (hard acceleration back to 45) followed immediately by 5 moderate brake applications from 35 mph to 5 mph, again, spaced as closely together as possible, then drive the vehicle 5 minutes without stopping to let the rotors/pads cool.

[2late4u]

my 2011 had warped rotors at about 10k and the dealer turned them, wasnt to happy about that but didnt complain to much, then at 28k had the journey in for a oil change and told them the rotors were warped again and they said well it was past the accepted milage for replacment under warrenty and we got in a heated discusion so he said if id pay for parts they would do the labor, they wanted about $250. for the pads and other parts. i told hell no i could do it for alot less and get new rotors and pads aftermarket. by the time i got home he called me up and said they would do a 1 time goodwill gesture and do the whols job free i asked are you going to turn or replace the rotors and he said replace since they had already turned them once. so i let them do it. so far so good have 66k on the car and minus the 28k= 38k miles on this set and no warped rotor and i just pulled the front wheels and the inside pad looks like it still has 50-60 percent pad left on them. the one thing i have notice that with the mopar pads when going thur a really heavy rain when stopping the pads make a loud noise first time when pressing them it happens very rarely has it has to be a real downpoor, dont every really remembering any of my other vechiles with different pads doing that.