OEM 2002 Dodge Dakota Brake Caliper

2002 Dodge Dakota Brake Caliper Parts and Q&A

• Q: How to Effectively Service and Repair a Brake Caliper on 2002 Dodge Dakota?

  A: To fix your brake calipers, make sure the master cylinder reservoir and filling openings are clean, take off the reservoir cap and empty about a quarter of the fluid with a suction cup. Raise the vehicle, then remove the front set of wheels and tires. Use a big C-clamp to insert the pistons down into the bores. Place the clamp frames against the caliper's rear face and screw the clamp onto the trailing brake shoe. At the caliper, unhook the brake hose and throw away any aged or spoiled brake hose fitting washers. With a screwdriver, pry the caliper up and unfasten all of its brakes at the same time. Empty the caliper of any leftover brake fluid into a pan and next pull out the piston dust boot with a screwdriver. To stop the piston from being damaged, stuff at least 1 inch of shop toweling between the caliper exterior and the shoe side at the inside. Then use short hits of compressed air through the fluid inlet, never using strong air pressure as that can break the piston. To prevent scratching the piston bore, use a wood pencil or plastic tool to take out the caliper piston seal, plus the caliper slide pin bushings, boots, bleed screw and cap. Wipe each caliper component with clean brake fluid or brake cleaner and finish by drying them with either clean towels or compressed air, because leaving gasoline on them can cause damage. Look at the piston to see if it is clean and unblemished; change it if you find any cracking or scraping and do not try to repair a scored surface. When you need to replace the caliper piston, always go with one that is compatible so you don't mistake phenolic resin for steel. Just run a brake hone over the bore for slight scratches, but if the bore has deep corrosion, replace the caliper or stop if polishing increases its diameter more than 0.025 mm (0.001 inch) beyond the original. While assembling, first clean and dry the area, grease the caliper piston bore, new seal and piston with brake fluid, grease the caliper bushings and bushing boot insides with silicone grease and finally install everything. Put the bushing boots into the caliper, insert the bushings and push them home. Take the new piston seal and lay it into the seal groove with your fingers and place the new dust cover on the piston and seat it in its groove. Press the piston into the caliper bore with one hand, turning and pushing it down and confirm it is sitting at the bottom of the bore. First, bring the dust boot into place in the caliper with the help of Installer Tool C-4842 and Tool Handle C-4171. If the caliper bleed screw was removed, reinstall it at the end. The brake shoes should be placed in the caliper first, after which you install the caliper and the shoes on top of the rotor onto the steering knuckle's ledges. Apply torque of 30 Nm (22 ft. lbs.) to the caliper slide pins, turning them a little by hand so they don't become cross-threaded. Put the caliper spring into only one caliper hole, then hold it down with your fingers as you seat it into the second caliper hole with a screwdriver on the other end. With new seal washers, set the brake hose onto the caliper and secure it with a tightening of the fitting bolt to 24 Nm (18 ft. lbs.). Release the brake fluid, install the tires and wheels again, remove what's holding up the car and lower the vehicle. Fill the brake fluid reservoir, use the brakes to press the brake shoes and keep checking you feel a solid reaction before advancing.