sullivan
Senior Member
- Joined
- Feb 12, 2011
- Posts
- 1,929
- Reaction score
- 101
- Location
- Houston, Texas
- Ram Year
- 2016
- Engine
- 5.7 Hemi
Brakes are quite easy to work on however a lot of people skip this. A lot of money can be saved!
I can't give a full how to, but these are some tips that will help and clear up some things.
I suggest purchasing a manual for your truck if you haven't already. You can do so at your local auto parts store. This will give you step by step instructions.
Pads:
Changing the pads is very simple to do. For less then $100 you can get new pads all the way around, just visit your local auto store.
When replacing your pads I suggest buying new hardware kits for the front and rear, these consist of metal clips that hold the pads in place and new boots for the pins.
I recommend using:
CRC/4 oz. (118.294 ml.) high temperature disc brake quiet (05016) | Brake Lube | AutoZone.com
This is applied on the ends where you install the clips and prevents unwanted noise. I have had great success with with product and have had zero noise while braking.
The caliper hardware kits also include the slide boots which the caliper slides on. I recommend using this product for the caliper slide pins and boots:
CRC/8 oz. (226.796 g.) brake and caliper synthetic grease (05359) | Brake Lube | AutoZone.com
Rotors:
You have a couple of options here. If they need to be machined your local oReillys will provide this service for very cheap.
You can purchase new ones for appx. $25 a peice. Again you are saving lots of money doing an entire brake job yourself.
Calipers:
Calipers have many components that cause typical brake issues. Typically the most common are rotors that have been heavily used and overheat causing damage to the caliper.
This includes damaging boots, pistons, burning brake fluid, and these all contribute to air getting in the lines also which you don't want.
Calipers cost anywhere from $120-$160, they are fully rebuilt and ready to go. But you can rebuild your own for a mere fraction.
3rdstrike Performance on here sells the rebuild kits, as well Rockauto. I got all mine from rockauto for about $12 each shipped.
Below I will show a few photos of me rebuilding a caliper, there isn't much to it.
First things first, you need to make sure to buy plenty of DOT 3 Brake Fluid. I purchased 3 quarts of Prestone Synthetic DOT 3 Brake Fluid. Reasons being that its synthetic and you will have plenty of fluid to flush your lines and finish the job with some left over.
Below is a caliper I painted, with the two pistons, rebuild kit, 1 quart of dot3, cpress, bleeder bolt and brake line bolt.
The rebuild kits are very simple as they are only rubber boots, you have to install it a special way on the front calipers so pay attention in the next few photos.
The boots for the front calipers get sandwiched in a way by the pistons and the caliper. The boots have a bottom lip that goes inside of the caliper.
In order to do this you have to install the boots towards the bottom of the piston and then pop that lip into the caliper. From there you try to start pressing the piston into the caliper.
The pistons need to be pressed straight in, and not at an angle of any sort!
I found the best way to press the piston in with normal tools is with the cpress and a junk socket.
You inert the socket into the piston, and it goes straight in every time. Please use caution when first attempting. Press them in slowly.
Stripped and painted all of my hardware:
Installed, from here you bleed your lines of air. I will include a video below of how I learned.
This is a great video to learn how to bleed air from your brakes.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LgxMfQUMdJY
I can't give a full how to, but these are some tips that will help and clear up some things.
I suggest purchasing a manual for your truck if you haven't already. You can do so at your local auto parts store. This will give you step by step instructions.
Pads:
Changing the pads is very simple to do. For less then $100 you can get new pads all the way around, just visit your local auto store.
When replacing your pads I suggest buying new hardware kits for the front and rear, these consist of metal clips that hold the pads in place and new boots for the pins.
I recommend using:
CRC/4 oz. (118.294 ml.) high temperature disc brake quiet (05016) | Brake Lube | AutoZone.com
This is applied on the ends where you install the clips and prevents unwanted noise. I have had great success with with product and have had zero noise while braking.
The caliper hardware kits also include the slide boots which the caliper slides on. I recommend using this product for the caliper slide pins and boots:
CRC/8 oz. (226.796 g.) brake and caliper synthetic grease (05359) | Brake Lube | AutoZone.com
Rotors:
You have a couple of options here. If they need to be machined your local oReillys will provide this service for very cheap.
You can purchase new ones for appx. $25 a peice. Again you are saving lots of money doing an entire brake job yourself.
Calipers:
Calipers have many components that cause typical brake issues. Typically the most common are rotors that have been heavily used and overheat causing damage to the caliper.
This includes damaging boots, pistons, burning brake fluid, and these all contribute to air getting in the lines also which you don't want.
Calipers cost anywhere from $120-$160, they are fully rebuilt and ready to go. But you can rebuild your own for a mere fraction.
3rdstrike Performance on here sells the rebuild kits, as well Rockauto. I got all mine from rockauto for about $12 each shipped.
Below I will show a few photos of me rebuilding a caliper, there isn't much to it.
First things first, you need to make sure to buy plenty of DOT 3 Brake Fluid. I purchased 3 quarts of Prestone Synthetic DOT 3 Brake Fluid. Reasons being that its synthetic and you will have plenty of fluid to flush your lines and finish the job with some left over.
Below is a caliper I painted, with the two pistons, rebuild kit, 1 quart of dot3, cpress, bleeder bolt and brake line bolt.
The rebuild kits are very simple as they are only rubber boots, you have to install it a special way on the front calipers so pay attention in the next few photos.
The boots for the front calipers get sandwiched in a way by the pistons and the caliper. The boots have a bottom lip that goes inside of the caliper.
In order to do this you have to install the boots towards the bottom of the piston and then pop that lip into the caliper. From there you try to start pressing the piston into the caliper.
The pistons need to be pressed straight in, and not at an angle of any sort!
I found the best way to press the piston in with normal tools is with the cpress and a junk socket.
You inert the socket into the piston, and it goes straight in every time. Please use caution when first attempting. Press them in slowly.
Stripped and painted all of my hardware:
Installed, from here you bleed your lines of air. I will include a video below of how I learned.
This is a great video to learn how to bleed air from your brakes.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LgxMfQUMdJY
Last edited: