FROGBOX

The 2008 - 2012 (early) are all the same as far as brakes go. You should be able to upgrade any Journey to the bigger brakes found on late 2012 & 2013 models. All the parts bolt up. Check my other post for more details.

As mentioned, 16" wheels will not fit. 17" wheels will fit no problem. I will be running winter wheels and had to look for 17" wheels knowing I was going to do this upgrade. You need to find wheels with a 5 x 127mm bolt pattern and a 71.5mm centre bore. Calipers float on a slider pin so that they can move with brake pad wear. There are several variations depending on the manufacturer. Some pins bolt to the bracket and the caliper floats on the pin. Some pins bolt to the caliper and the pin floats in the bracket. On the journey, the caliper bolts to the slider with the 13mm bolt and the slider floats in the bracket. The 15mm wrench is there to hold the slider pin so you can unbolt the caliper from the pin. Without it, the pin would just spin as you loosened the 13mm bolt. Here is a diagram from a different car, but the function is identical: As mentioned above, 16" wheels will not fit. As for the ABS, I have driven the Journey for about 50km so far and no issues at all. The ABS light has not come on indicating a problem. I do not know for certain, but I would imagine the ABS controler is adaptive. Meaning, it senses the wheel spin with the sensor at the hub. Once that wheel stops spinning, it reduces the brake pressure to release the brakes slightly, then reapplies it. It is constantly making adjustments every millisecond based on the speed of the sensor. The control module just learns how much pressure to release and/or apply to prevent brake lock up. Different factors determine how much grip you have, such as brake pad or rotor condition, road condition, tire condition, etc. The ABS controller has to adapt to each situation differently. I don't think changing the brakes affect anything. The rear brakes on the newer Journeys are also bigger. The 2008-2012 have 305mm rear rotors and the late 2012-2013's have 328mm rear rotors But I am not too concerned about them at this point. I just installed a fresh set of Powerstop rotors & ceramic pads to reduce the brake dust. But the front brakes do the majority of the braking and are the most prone to warping. As for ESP & ASR, it would be similar to my ABS explanation above. The computer that controls it should be able to adapt to the conditions and learn how much brake pressure to apply given the circumstances.

Since the OP is talking about brake shudder, it is not likely a tire or balancing issue. When a rotor is out of round, it will cause the shudder you are feeling. There could be several reasons for a rotor to be out of round. Since the issue occurred during a wheel change over, my fist guess would be an over torqued wheel. By over torquing the lug nuts, it puts extra pressure on the rotors and can cause them to warp ever so slightly. That will certainly cause a shudder. Another possibility is when the wheel is off the car, there is nothing holding the rotor flush against the hub. Its possible while swapping wheels, the rotor separated from the hub slightly and a piece of rust or debris got trapped in between the rotor & the hub. When the wheel was tightened again, the foreign object is preventing the rotor from being true and this can cause a runout. The rotor doesn't rotate on the same plane and sort of wobbles as its rotating. This, just like a warped rotor, can cause the brake shudder you are feeling. Lastly, the Journey brakes are complete pieces of crap and need replacing once a year due to them being undersized for the weight of the vehicle. Consider getting higher quality parts, or upgrading to bigger brakes to prevent this from happening again.

I successfully completed the big brake upgrade on my 2011 Crew today. For the write-up with pictures, have a look at the thread: http://www.dodgejourneyforum.com/topic/4974-successful-big-brake-upgrade-on-2011-crew/

Here are some before & after pictures: Old caliper: New caliper: Old with wheel (wow, they look tiny inside a 19" wheel ): New with wheel: That's about it. Just a couple of things before I go..... Be advised that with these bigger brakes, you will need a minimum of 17" wheels to clear. So some Journey owners with smaller wheels will have to budget for new wheels as well as the bigger brakes. Parts list: Part Part number Qty Pads 68159579AC 1 Rotors 04779712AA 2 Caliper (L) 68144161AA 1 Caliper ® 68144160AA 1 Carrier (bracket) 68159578AA 2 Pin Kit (sliders) 68144165AA 2 Spring kit (pads) 68159523AB 1 Dust shield (L) 04779907AA 1 Dust shield ® 04779906AA 1 As mentioned before, to save some money, you may be able to find the pads & rotors aftermarket. The calipers, brackets, pins and backing plates are probably dealer only items, but can be found cheap on line at the following sites: www.factorymoparparts.com www.moparoverstock.com Tools required: 11mm wrench for the bleeder screw 13mm wrench or socket to remove caliper 15mm wrench to hold slider pin 21mm socket to remove bracket bolts vice grips or a clamp of some kind to crimp the brake hose.

Now, on to the procedure.... The first step is to jack up the truck and remove the wheels. If you need instructions for this part, perhaps you should consider getting someone else to help you or pay to have this done . Once the wheels are off, remove the calipers. You can remove them as complete unit with the brackets, but I chose to do it seperately as there is more clearance for the bracket bolts with the caliper out of the way. The first thing I did was to remove the brake lines. I used a small pair of needle nose vice grips to clamp the hose so you don't loose too much fluid. Put a bucket under the caliper to catch the fluid that leaks out. You need a 15mm wrench to remove the banjo bolt holding the brake line to the caliper. Once you have the line off, you need a 15mm and a 13mm wrench to remove the caliper from the slider pins. With the 2 x 13mm bolts removed, the caliper should wiggle off. Now, you can easily access the 2 x 21mm bolts holding on the bracket: I needed a breaker bar to get enough leverage to brake those bolts loose. If you don't have one in your tool box, they are not expensive at Princess Auto (Canada) or Harbor Freight (US). You could also use a pipe on your ratchet handle too. Once it is broken loose, finish with ratchet: Next step is to remove the rotor. I had to pound mine off with a rubber mallet. It had rusted to the hub. These brakes were changed 1 year ago and 16,000 km (10,000 miles) by the dealer. I was surprised at how stuck they were. To prevent this from happening again, clean & lube the hub before reinstalling the rotors. I used a wire wheel on the end of a drill to clean up the rust on the hub: I then applied some anti sieze to the hub to prevent the new rotor from rusting to the hub again. You will be glad you did this when you go to change your brakes again. Coat the entire mating surface: The next step is to reinstall the new components. Install the rotor first. I like to use a lug nut to hold it in place while I attach everything else so it doesn't wobble around. I use a wrench as a spacer as the stud is too lung and will bottom out in the nut before it gets tight. Then, attach the bracket and caliper. It fits the original spindle with no issues at all. You can also change the backing plate as well. They are not expensive, but I didn't in this case as I was just test fitting the parts I had before spending money on new plates. I will replace my plates when I do my next brake job. Here is the new caliper installed: At this point, you will need to bleed the brakes. I don't want to go into too many details on that. I'm sure there are enough tutorials on the web & you tube that you can figure out how that works. Basically, you need one person in the vehicle to pump the brakes to pressurize the line, then, while holding down the brake pedal, you crack the bleed screw to allow the air to escape. the pedal will sink to the floor, then close the bleed screw and repeat till there is no more air coming out of the caliper, only fluid. The bleed screw is 11mm: I use a piece of clear hose to help direct the fluid into a bucket to keep the work area clean. You can also see the fluid passing through it and can tell if there is any air coming out as well: Once all the air is bled out, tighten the bleed screw. It does not have to be really tight. Just snug it up. if you make it too tight, it may snap. Cap the screw with the rubber boot, replace the wheel and repeat on the other side.

Well, I said I would do it, so I did. I was going to source all the parts new, but I was able to find a wrecked 2013 Journey and bought the calipers, brackets, rotors & pads for $150 total. That saved me about $350 from buying new and made it much less of a risk if it didn't work. First, the disclaimer...... PLEASE do not attempt this upgrade unless you know what you are doing. Use common sense when jacking & supporting a vehicle, they are heavy and can move. Always use jack stands. And most of all, be careful. First, here are some comparison pictures to show the huge difference between the brakes. As you can see, the calipers are much bigger. And, they are dual piston calipers too, meaning you get more pressure on the pads for better braking. The rotors are also much larger. The old ones are 302mm and the new ones are over an inch bigger at 330mm: I did want to replace the pads & rotors, but since these brakes are so new being available only on 2013 & late 2012 cars, the aftermarket availability is limited for replacement pads & rotors. So if you can wait to do this upgrade till aftermarket parts are available, you can save a few bucks. I will be throwing on a set of new ceramic pads & rotors next year. I hate the brake dust created by the OEM pads.

Yes, the parts fit. I just did this upgrade today. Posting pics in a new thread later tonight.

Well, I'm going to give it a try. I found a wrecked 2013 journey and I'm getting the calipers, adapters, pads & rotors for $150. Not a lot to spend to experiment. If it works, I'll post up more info. If it doesn't, I can always sell the parts on E-bay. I pick up the parts next weekend and hope to do the conversion on Monday September 23rd. Stay tuned.

I'm not sure what diagrams you were looking at, but I just did a parts comparison between 2011 & 2013 Dodge Journeys on the same factorychryslerparts.com site and here is the list I came up with: Sources: 2011 parts 2013 parts Part Part number 2011 Part number 2013 Caliper Left 68003707AA 68144161AA Caliper right 68003697AA 68144160AA Rotors 68032944AB 04779712AA Adapters 68038077AA 68159578AA Clearly very different part numbers. The knuckles also have different part numbers and you are right, that would make the swap much more expensive. BUT, the only difference in the part number is the 2 letter suffix. The main number is the same. That usually means a revision on a part, not a different part altogether. I am pretty sure the knuckles do not need to be changed. The rotors are larger, so definitely are different. The adapters have to be different as they determine the placement of the calipers. The larger the rotor, the further away from the center of the rotor they have to be, so would certainly have to be larger too. Theoretically, the pads could be the same. But since the calipers have different part numbers, the pads may not fit in the new calipers. I will make a trip to my local dealer to confirm the parts. I want to do the swap in the next few months. Once I have the parts, I will document the swap with pictures and a definitive list of parts.

If it was a stuck caliper, then it is a defect and should have been replaced under warranty. The calipers are covered for 3 years/60,000km I beleive? I am in a similar situation. I took the Journey in for an oil change and they tell me my rear brakes are worn and need replacing. I only have 34k on it, so that is way too soon for rear brakes. They quoted me $400 for aftermarket parts, or $500 for OEM. I declined as I can do that work myself. When I left the dealership, I looked at my brakes and one side had a lot of pad material left on it and the other side was very low. So it looks like one side might be sticking???

Just to update this thread with my experience. After 4 trips to the dealer for this same problem, they changed the radio unit. All seems to be working now. History: 1st trip: Brought in to fix loud volume at start up. Software flash done. No change. Problem still remained. 2nd trip. Software flash done again. Fixed volume issue, but lost ability to control rear climate from front (icon missing from screen). 3rd trip: Tried to get rear climate control function back. They flashed the unit again. Got my climate control back, but the full blast volume issue returned. 4the trip: Radio replaced. No issues.....so far.

I had the Journey in for service recently, and asked them to update the 4.3s unit while I was there as I was having intermittent issues with the radio coming on full blast at start up. It is a common problem and was supposed to be fixable with a firmware flash of the 4.3s unit. Well, I got the update, and so far so good. No full blast radio when starting the truck. BUT, now the dash display no longer allows me to control the rear climate. I was able to do it before the update. With 2 small kids, I want the option to be able to control things back there without having to reach back over my head while driving (dangerous) to turn it on/off or adjust the heat/cool and fan speeds. I am guessing they gave me the wrong update? Perhaps for a journey that was not equiped with rear climate, so that is why my dash unit no longer allows me to control it? Anyone else have this problem?

$77 to pull the vehicle into a warm shop and let it sit for an hour? That is some expensive indoor parking. LOL With only 800 or so miles how can the dealer claim its your fault??? Its not like you filled it with water. It came from the factory like that.

Yes, I have the 4.3S. Perhaps the GPS antenna is integrated into the sat antenna then? So I should just need parts 1-3 listed above. I can't wait to get this thing and install it.

Instead of posting the same info twice, have a look at this thread: http://www.dodgejourneyforum.com/topic/3062-12s-with-awd-have-bigger-brakes/page-4 It discusses the bigger brakes now found on some 2012 model Journeys and possibly all 2013 models??? If you want to upgrade to bigger brakes on your older Journey, it looks like the parts can be bought for around $500. I JUST had my crappy smaller brakes replaced by the dealer under warranty, so I am not ready for a set yet, but will certainly be upgrading the next time it happens.

Here is the list of parts that I think is needed for the upgrade: Part Part number Price Qty Total Pads 68093323AB $136 1 $136 Rotors 04779712AA $96 2 $192 Caliper (L) 68144161AA $100 1 $100 Caliper ® 68144160AA $100 1 $100 Carrier 68159578AA $31 2 $62 Spring Kit 68003705AA $16 1 $16 Dust shield (L) 04779907AA $5 1 $5 Dust shield ® 04779906AA $5 1 $5 Grand total = $616 Info source: Mopar Overstock EDIT: A quick Google search using the listed part numbers was able to find cheaper prices than the ones listed above. You may also be able to get aftermarket pads & rotors as well to reduce the costs even more. The calipers & carriers would likely be dealer only items. I added all the above items to my shopping cart at www.factorymoparparts.com and the total came to $506 for OEM parts: DISCLAIMER!!!: This info is provided based on an internet search and has not been verified on a vehicle. DO NOT assume these parts will work on your Journey.

I have done big brake upgrades on several vehicles. My Current other vehicle is a VW Jetta and like the Journey, came with brakes that were too small for the weight of the vehicle and warp easily. Upgrading to bigger brakes is quite easy if you can get the parts cheap enough (from a wrecked car preferably) as new parts will be very expensive. I just had my brakes done under warranty because they were warped with less than 20k. I doubt Dodge will flip the bill for the next set I need, so will be looking to do this upgrade the next time I need brakes (probably in another year). Hopefully by then I can find some wrecked R/T's in the junk yards. To upgrade to the bigger brakes, you need to change the pads (2), rotors (7), calipers (9) and caliper carriers (10). You may possibly need a bigger dust shield too (13) if it interferes with the larger rotor???

Awesome. Thanks for the info. I have found a donor vehicle, but it is about a 3 hour drive one way, so I want to make sure I get all the required parts because I don't want to have to go back. My 4.3 did not have GPS. Is the antenna built into the new head unit or is it something else I need to pull from the donor vehicle? What other things do I need? 1) Head unit 2) 8.4"screen with bezel 3) Lower panel with SD card slot??? 4) GPS antenna??? Thanks.

So I am thinking of doing this upgrade. I currently have the u-connect 4.3 with auto climate & bluetooth. So from what I have read so far, I should be OK to simply swap the head unit & screen from another Journey and not encounter the temp control issue others have reported. The 4.3 keeps having issues (full blast volume at start-up at least 3-4 times per week). The unit has been flashed by the dealer and still doing it. The wife is getting upset now, so I thought I would give this a try. My question is, do I need a code from the dealer? I know many manufacturers code their radios to the car for theft deterrent. Will the radio work, or will I have to visit a dealer to have it coded to my vehicle? Thanks. EDIT: I found this .pdf of a service bulletin from Chrysler that indicates starting in 2012, there will be an anti-theft code in Chrysler vehicles. So does that mean my 2011 doesn't have it??? http://www.sequentialtaillights.com/dodge/SB_PDF/TSB_LC_0805111.pdf

I had the software update done back in August. It seemed to last for a few months, but the problem is back again. It is now worse than ever. Almost every day either my wife or I get in the car and the volume is full blast. Very annoying and potentially dangerous if it startles the driver. I will mention it when the Journey goes in for its next oil change.

I have issues with my brakes. Pulsating pedal (probably from warped rotors) and an endless problem with brake dust on the wheels. The pads are probably too soft and wearing down too fast, creating lots of dust. I wanted to change the pads myself to a good aftermarket set of low dust pads, but if Chrysler is going to do a brake job under warranty, I will wait till I am out of warranty to do the upgrade. Can you scan & post the letter you got regarding the brakes for us please? I am the original owner of our Journey and have not gotten such a letter, so would be nice to have somthing official to show the service guy when I show up and ask for new brakes. Thanks in advance.

I had a similar issue a few months ago. Turn on the car and no radio. That also means no climate control either. I had to remove the fuse to reset the unit. No problems since.