How to Change the Brake Pads on a 95 Dodge Ram

The 1995 Dodge Ram was available in three different sizes--1/2-ton, 3/4-ton and 1-ton. It also came in both two-wheel drive and four-wheel drive varieties. Starting in 1994, the Dodge trucks (including even the smaller Dakota) began using Delco sliding calipers. These calipers differed in size, appropriate to the size of the Ram they were on, but universalized the replacement of the front brake pads. The Rams back then employed rear drum brakes with brake shoes as friction material.

Instructions

1

Apply the parking brake and then loosen the front wheel lug nuts with a tire nut wrench.

2

Raise the front of the Ram with a service jack and place it safely onto a jack stand rated for the weight of the vehicle.

3

Remove the wheel lug nuts and then remove the front tires.

4

Use a large C-clamp placed over the caliper to compress the caliper piston inward. Position the top of the clamp on the inner caliper housing and the driving bore of the clamp on the outboard pad. Tighten the clamp until the piston is fully seated inside the caliper bore.

5

Remove the upper and lower caliper mounting bolts with a 3/8-inch hex-head socket bit and a ratchet.

6

Remove the caliper and support it to the chassis with a bungee cord so it does not compromise the flexible brake hose.

7

Remove the outer pad first. Use a small pry tool to unseat one side of the retaining spring from the outer caliper housing and then pivot the pad away from the caliper. Remove the inner pad last by simply pulling its retaining clip up away from the inside of the caliper piston.

8

Clean the mating surfaces of the steering knuckle and caliper with a stiff wire brush and then apply a coating of high-temperature, multi-purpose grease to the cleaned areas.

9

Install the replacement brake pads into the caliper housing. Remove the caliper from the bungee cord and replace it over the knuckle and rotor assembly.

10

Lubricate the smooth portion of the caliper mounting bolts with the high-temperature grease. Insert the bolts into the inner caliper housing and tighten the bolts to specifications of the size Dodge Ram you're working on, using a torque wrench and the 3/8-inch hex-head socket bit.

11

Replace the brakes on the other side of the front axle. Replace the wheels and lug nuts. Tighten the nuts snugly to the rim and then lower the truck to the ground. Torque the nuts to the specifications appropriate to your Ram in a star or crisscross pattern (depending on how many lug nuts on the weight series Ram you're working on).

12

Apply the brake several several times until it feels firm and normal. Release the parking brake and then test-drive the Ram for braking operation.