phi delt reefer

Great post! I too was having problems with the brakes on my Journey. The rear rotors warped badly after about 1 year. I usually repair most of my vehicles myself, however I decided to take this to dealer as the vehicle was only about a year old. The ensuing line of BS I received from the service staff was ridiculous. When I pointed out the premature wear on the pads and warped rotors I was told, and I quote "the brakes on these vehicles are built that way". Are you F@*#$*& Kidding Me !!! Keep in mind the rear went before the front ???? Anyhow, I found your posts and set off to do they same.

I located a set of calipers from a 2015 Dodge Journey RT at a yard and went to work. Everything went smooth as silk, except the caliper mounting bracket / 'adapter' for the 2015 RT model is different from the 2011 and 2013 (it changed after 2013). So I had to purchase 2013 caliper 'adapter' / brackets, which cost more than the like new calipers I picked up from the wreckers. Brakes work great!

I went back and picked up the rear calipers from the same 2015 DJ RT and installed them recently. Again, everything went smooth except the splash guards with cover the back of the rotors need to either be replaced or removed to allow for the larger disc rotor (303 mm). Also the flexible brake hose to each caliper has to be replaced as the original is too short because the new calipers are bigger too. The dealer will gladly 'hose' you for $50 a piece for these. Anyhow, all done and installed, and the vehicle brakes nicely, BIG difference.

I am assuming there will be no more premature rotor warping now that the larger rotors can handle the vehicle's weight and shouldn't over heat...but according to Dodge thats not the cause for the premature wear / warping, its just built that way!

THANKS AGAIN FOR THIS POST !!! Truely a life saver!

Ian

Ian,

i had a similiar issue with my rears - Dodge redesigned the adaptor the pads sit in, so if you keep the stock brakes and use the new adaptor you might get better mileage from the rears.

I had dodge comp me the brake job after i found the dealer swapped out the adapter when i had them do the brake job. I investigated further and they admitted the new design reduced binding. What's interesting though is the new design comes with new anti-rattle clips which aftermarket brakes DO NOT come with. The pads are also a slightly different design. When i redid the brakes this year i had to switch back to the old design pads (no one in the aftermarket world has this new design) and get new "old design" clips. Not sure if that will result in premature wear again but i find the new pads fit very snug and didnt move very freely. I greased them heavily but i think maybe grinding some of the contact points would improve the action and improve life.

just did my big brake conversion on '11 R/T.

took about 4 hours only because I'm an idiot and didnt think things through but i did the entire job myself. I went through two sets of rotors up front and three in the back.

for those who are looking to change the rears, dont. Instead get the latest caliper/pad adapter for that generation of brakes and swap it in (keeping the same caliper) - they have been re-designed and my rears haven't warped like the last two times. They just need a quick grind to remove some grooves.