hemihustlin
Senior Member
twice in the last month and a bit when it has been in excess of 35c ambient temperature I have had my rear drivers side brakes start smoking in the middle of a trip.
the first time I was on the way home from work, 15 minutes in to a 30 min drive I was on the highway and it smelled like brakes but there was lots of traffic and I was ha thats for sure not me! no dragging or loss of power and the smell slowly went away.
get into town and its smelling again so I stop in the closest parking lot and get out to do the old touch your wheels test and sure enough the left rear was too hot to touch and a fine wisp of smoke was coming from the pads it seemed. all others normal.
I was like **** me Im going home! less than 5 mins away at in town speeds.
bring it back to work the next morning cause I dont have a garage at home. went fine.
after work i removed the caliper from the disc, nothing was jammed. the pads were as free as can be ( I do a full brake service every spring) the piston was perfect, no signs of corrosion in the bore. I lubed it up and compressed and extended a few times nothing out of the ordinary. I then deglazed the disc and pads. once cleaned up the pads were in great condition considering what had happened (wagner severe duty)
I buttoned everything back up and road tested and it was great, braking well and not sticking, which was a good thing because I was taking a 500km+ road trip the day after and it didn't stick at all no problems.
The only thing I didnt do was remove the disc to see the parking brake assembly. I tested the parking brake with the truck in neutral on the jackstands and it worked perfectly. I also use it every day. I never thought about it being the culprit I was sure it was the caliper but I never found anything conclusive.
fast forward a month and bit more than 1000km later during a longer weekend road trip with sudden stop and go traffic on the highway (construction zones, idiots in general) about 1 hour into the trip I get that great brake smell again! I was about 15 or 20 minutes away from my target gas station and when I got there it was hot but not burning hot. you could tell the rotor had been blued again and there was a faint brake smell. I carried on to the destination another half hour away then went 160km home and everything was fine, aside from reduced rear brake power but no sticking.
that was last weekend and its been fine since. I am going to parts shotgun this one because I have to do it one shot. will order 2 new calipers, discs, pads and parking brake shoes, just incase.
Im thinking out of round caliper piston that only sticks when super hot. this is just a theory thats where I want you guys to help me haha, what could cause this intermittent sticking?
Thanks for reading!
2021 classic 1500 cc warlock 4x4 hemi 77k kms
the first time I was on the way home from work, 15 minutes in to a 30 min drive I was on the highway and it smelled like brakes but there was lots of traffic and I was ha thats for sure not me! no dragging or loss of power and the smell slowly went away.
get into town and its smelling again so I stop in the closest parking lot and get out to do the old touch your wheels test and sure enough the left rear was too hot to touch and a fine wisp of smoke was coming from the pads it seemed. all others normal.
I was like **** me Im going home! less than 5 mins away at in town speeds.
bring it back to work the next morning cause I dont have a garage at home. went fine.
after work i removed the caliper from the disc, nothing was jammed. the pads were as free as can be ( I do a full brake service every spring) the piston was perfect, no signs of corrosion in the bore. I lubed it up and compressed and extended a few times nothing out of the ordinary. I then deglazed the disc and pads. once cleaned up the pads were in great condition considering what had happened (wagner severe duty)
I buttoned everything back up and road tested and it was great, braking well and not sticking, which was a good thing because I was taking a 500km+ road trip the day after and it didn't stick at all no problems.
The only thing I didnt do was remove the disc to see the parking brake assembly. I tested the parking brake with the truck in neutral on the jackstands and it worked perfectly. I also use it every day. I never thought about it being the culprit I was sure it was the caliper but I never found anything conclusive.
fast forward a month and bit more than 1000km later during a longer weekend road trip with sudden stop and go traffic on the highway (construction zones, idiots in general) about 1 hour into the trip I get that great brake smell again! I was about 15 or 20 minutes away from my target gas station and when I got there it was hot but not burning hot. you could tell the rotor had been blued again and there was a faint brake smell. I carried on to the destination another half hour away then went 160km home and everything was fine, aside from reduced rear brake power but no sticking.
that was last weekend and its been fine since. I am going to parts shotgun this one because I have to do it one shot. will order 2 new calipers, discs, pads and parking brake shoes, just incase.
Im thinking out of round caliper piston that only sticks when super hot. this is just a theory thats where I want you guys to help me haha, what could cause this intermittent sticking?
Thanks for reading!
2021 classic 1500 cc warlock 4x4 hemi 77k kms
