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4TH generation brake pad and rotor life

7K views 24 replies 19 participants last post by  mmahamm 
#1 ·
How many miles should the brake pads and rotors last on these vans?
 
#3 ·
Totally dependant on driving habits. When I bought my '01 with 24,000 miles, the front pads were down to the metal. Now at 60,000, or 36,000 miles later, the replaced pads have still have over 50% left. Never turned or replaced the rotors.
 
#4 ·
Sunvanse is correct. There is no right answer for everybody. You can drive 100 miles on the interstate and never touch your brake pedal. You can drive 1 mile in the city and be on and off your brake pedal constantly. That makes a big difference in brake wear. I inspected my original brakes on my 2003 T&C at 65,000 miles and I figured they were good for at least another 15,000 miles based on my driving habits.
 
#6 ·
Coworker of mine just finished replacing the front brake pads on a 2005 GC SE at 21K miles. They were down to the rivets. Rotors were OK though.

We're coming up on 22K miles with our Caravan--and the brake pedal is feeling "spongey" to me. Uh-oh. Maybe I can scrape all the black dust off of the front wheels and glue it back onto the pads. Should be good for a few thousand more miles.
 
#7 ·
Mine are at 40,000 miles and still have about 1/3 of the pad left. I got it used with 29,000 so i don't know if the pads were replaced or not, but they are OEM pads judging by the dust.
 
G
#8 ·
2001 T&C Ltd...............86,000mi and and still going strong! My Mazda pickup went 125,000mi before front pads needed changing. Avoid ping-ponging the throttle and brake..............When you see the red light way up ahead, let up on the throttle and coast to the stop. Your brakes will last much longer and your mpg will go up as much as 30% according to studies.
:beerchug:
 
#9 · (Edited)
Dust it Up

I like my tires & brakes to give their lives quickly & effectively - doin' their job, stickin' to the road & stopping my ass. Then it's on to new & better gear...

Tires, rotors, pads, - wear and make dust. It's what they do, how they work. I'll trade away service life for more coefficient of friction, every time.

-----

First maximize "stop, steer & stable" - then go for more "go".

-Jim
 
#14 ·
Has anyone else had a problem with squeaking with Raybestos pads? I replaced the pads at around 90,000 miles with their best product short of the ceramic (because I heard that ceramic pads tend to squeak - ain't that a b**th!) and now get periodic squeaks at partial pedal pressure. I've chamfered the pads, had them off 3 or 4 times to break any glazing (little, if any), the rotors were new when the new pads went on. If I wasn't so cheap, I would have chucked the old ones and bought new. But that's the next step unless someone has another suggestion.
 
#16 ·
Has anyone else had a problem with squeaking with Raybestos pads?
We did, initially (also Raybestos QuietStop Ceramic pads). They squeaked a little bit with light pedal pressure, and were heavy dusters initially. Both symptoms went away after a few hundred miles of driving. It will still occasionally squeak just slightly in reverse, but nothing noticeable with the windows up.
 
#15 ·
I put Brembo front rotors and Akabono ceramic pads on the front of my PT Cruiser and mini-van. The rear of the PT Cruiser got standard pads at the same time because no one makes rear ceramic pads for that application. The OEM rotors had some wear, about 1/8 to 1/4 of an inch at about 30,000 miles. Today on the PT Cruiser at 90,000 miles, the front Brembo's look like new, little wear, no squeak at all, and it stops to perfection. The OEM rotors on the rear look good but show over 1/4 wear.

My conclusion is that the OEM rotors and pads tend to wear a bit faster than the Brimbo rotor Ceramic pad combination. While the OEM rotors on both vehicles felt like they had a warp by 30,000 miles the Brimbo's on both applications still feel and perform like new well past the 30,000 mile mark. Perhaps there is a quiality difference for the slight increase in cost.

Richard.
 
#23 ·
Satisfactory Brake Equipment

Brembo rotor Ceramic pad combination.
Richard.
Some time ago, Richard recommended the Brembo rotors, standard cast, no special cross drilling of sort. Those rotors in conjunction with Akebono ceramic brake pads were installed on my '03 Sport. They have been on there for about a month now and I am quite pleased. The brake pedal feels firm, smooth action all the way to a complete stop. There is very little dust now compared to the original brakes.

I like working on Dodge brakes, they're so easy. 1989 Dynasty, 1997 Dakota, and 2003 Caravan have been very easy to service as far as disc brakes.
 
#21 ·
If it has steel wheels and wheelcovers, I would be willing to bet it has drums in the rear. I still believe that most of the rationale for equipping these vans with rear disks is because Honda and Toyota do it and it looks cool to have rear disks. If you can't see them, you don't get them, so if you have steel wheels and wheelcovers, you probably have rear drums.
 
#24 ·
I went with this combo on the fronts Brembo front rotors and Akabono ceramic pads and after almost 3000 miles we still have sqeeks when we do soft pedal pressure, and seems to be worse if we are also turning. Almost to the point I might get rid of the ceramics.

Oh, we replaced or OEM's at 26000 miles.
 
#25 ·
I have had ceramics twice on the front, and both times there was no squeaking. First time it was Mopar ceramics, second time I do not know the manufacturer.
 
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