How to Do a Front Brake Job on a Dodge Ram

The front brakes on a Dodge ram use a rotor and caliper assembly to slow the truck down. Hydraulic fluid is forced through steel lines connected to a caliper assembly at each wheel. The caliper assembly contains two brake pads, each clamping down on a disc, called a brake rotor. The rotor is connected to the drive axles of the truck so that when clamping force is applied to the rotors, the entire axle and wheel slow down with the rotor. When the pad material in the caliper gets to be approximately an eighth of an inch thick, you will need to replace the pads and check the rotor for wear.

Instructions

1

Break the lug nuts loose using a tire wrench. Turn the lug nuts a quarter turn counterclockwise but do not unseat the wheel from the wheel hub. You only need to loosen the lugs just enough so that you will be able to remove when when the truck is off the ground.

2

Place the jack under the Ram's front crossmember and jack up on the truck. Never jack up on any part of the truck that is not a structural member. For example, never jack up on the transmission, engine or any of the body. Only the frame and subframe will support the full weight of the vehicle.

3

Place jack stands under the front pinch welds located directly under the driver and passenger side doors.

4

Continue to remove the lug nuts and pull the wheel off the wheel hub assembly.

5

Remove the Dodge Ram's upper and lower bolts holding the caliper on the caliper mounting bracket.

6

Pull the caliper up off the Ram's rotor and secure it to the coil springs above the brake assembly.

7

Check the brake rotor for excessive scoring, pitting or warpage. If the brake rotor is damaged in any way, slide the old rotor off the hub assembly (it will slide right off) and slide on a new brake rotor.

8

Tap the brake pads out of the caliper assembly using a rubber mallet.

9

Placing the face of one of the old brake pads over the piston, force the pad against the piston with a C-clamp. The piston will collapse back into the Dodge's caliper housing. The piston has a boot surrounding it. Be sure not to damage the caliper piston boot in any way during this process. The piston boot should collapse into the caliper in an accordion-style manner.

10

Insert the new brake pads into the caliper assembly and reassemble the brake assembly. Make sure that you torque the caliper bolts to the correct torque specifications listed in the vehicle service manual for your specific year of Dodge Ram. Not all years have the same torque specification. If the bolts are not tightened properly, your brake assembly could come apart during normal driving.

11

Spray the entire brake assembly with brake parts cleaner. Make sure that you remove all traces of oil (from your fingers), dirt and any other debris from the surface of the brake rotor and pads.

12

Re-mount the wheel on the wheel hub and tighten the lug nuts.

13

Lower the Dodge Ram to the ground and torque the wheel lug nuts to 100 foot-pounds using a torque wrench. Set the dial on the torque wrench to 100 foot-pounds and turn the lug nuts clockwise until the wrench clicks indicating that the correct torque value has been reached.