Brake Disc Caliper Problems of Dodge Dakota - part 1

Driving on take off heard a piping on right side. Front took tire off seen where bolts on caliper pop out from spindle knuckle ## VIN passed ## ##.

See all problems of the 1999 Dodge Dakota 🔎.

The contact owns a 2005 Dodge Dakota. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, the vehicle vibrated, pulled to the right, with a burning odor coming into the cabin of the vehicle. The contact inspected the vehicle and diagnosed that the caliper had failed. The calipers had been replaced six times; however, the failure persisted and became more frequent. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 25,000.

See all problems of the 2005 Dodge Dakota 🔎.

Driving to the grocery store about 30 mph needing to brake and the front brakes were gone. Right front caliper bolt broke thread and the caliper came off the spindle, steering caused more grinding and then I thought of the emergency/parking brake. I have replaced the same spindle before, but parts are not available now or before. I can';t find a used/new spindle to repair it and it just passed inspection.

Brakes came apart when applied, no brake. Rattle on rotors, pad damage. Bolts that go through caliper stripped threads from spindle freeing caliper to bounce on rotor I have replaced with used part once hoping for recall, bad news dude!!!.

The contact owns a 2002 Dodge Dakota. While driving various speeds, the brake pedal was applied and began to grind and squeak. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic who diagnosed that the front driver side brake caliper and brake pads needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired, but the failure recurred. The dealer was not contacted. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 160,000.

See all problems of the 2002 Dodge Dakota 🔎.

The contact owns a 2002 Dodge Dakota. While driving various speeds, the front passenger side brakes seized without the brake pedal being depressed. In addition, the contact noticed smoke coming from the front passenger side where the brake was located. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic who diagnosed that the calipers or the brake lines needed to be replaced. The contact independently replaced the brake lines, brake calipers, and brake pads; however, the failure recurred and the contact noticed smoke and fire coming from the front passenger side where the brake was located. The contact was able to extinguish the fire. A police report was not filed. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 165,000.

Right front brake caliper stuck, brake got hot, smoke came out of the wheel well. Had to have truck tower to dealer.

Right front brake caliper stuck, brake got hot, smoke came out of wheel well.

My front brakes keep sticking. This is the third time it's happened. I've replaced the pads, calipers, discs and lines twice now. I just finished that repair about 5000 miles ago because of the same problem. Last week, smoke pours out of my front right wheel well, and the truck is pulling and vibrating. . . . . Same issue. Why does my truck keep doing this?.

See all problems of the 2000 Dodge Dakota 🔎.

Both caliper bolts on the passanger side front spidle of my 2002 Dodge Dakota 2wd stripped out causing the caliper to move out of place causing stoppng difficulty to stop and damage to the caliper, rim and brake pads.

I bought this 2005 Dakota new. I have spent thousands in repairs and there is always something wrong with it. I've also never seen anything rust like this truck. This particular issue I am fighting now. At speeds between 55 - 75 intermittently the truck will begin to vibrate. If you take your foot off the gas it gets worse. If you then apply the brakes the steering wheel begins to shake almost violently, and the brake pedal pulses. If I slow down to about 30 mph it stops and may happen again quickly or may not happen again for a while. I have replaced the rotors and calipers and tie rod ends and gotten an alignment. Still the issue exists. I have new michelin tires. I have also already had to replace lower ball joints and front wheel bearings. I have replaced the rotors and calipers 3 times already on this truck. It has less than 65k miles on it. No one seems to be able to figure out what the problem is. I will never, ever buy another Chrysler / Dodge product. This was my first and will be my last.

The contact owns a 1999 Dodge Dakota. The contact stated that while he was replacing the front passenger's side brake pads when he removed the caliper pin and noticed it was stripped. The contact replaced the pin three different times however, the failure was recurring. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic for diagnosis, who stated that the steering knuckle would have to be replaced. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The approximate failure mileage was 185,000.

Was driving at low rate of speed on side road. Began to smell burning tire smell. Pulled over and right front wheel was extremely hot, smoking, dripping burning white plastic looking material onto disk. Got back in and drove to mother-in-law's house, approx three miles. Still hot and appeared close to bursting into flame. Tire and wheel smoking and stinking. Brother in law hit caliper with a hammer to make it release. Has not recurred.

See all problems of the 2011 Dodge Dakota 🔎.

I was involved in a crash where I was traveling at 45 mph and pushed my brake pedal to stop as I was approaching an intersection. The driver's side front brake locked up and there was approximately a 50-60 ft skid mark only from that wheel reducing the speed from 45 mph to approximately 35 mph during the skid while the other 3 wheels failed to brake. The failure of the anti lock braking system, which was an uneven distribution of braking pressure, caused my truck to fail to stop in time. The distance was well within normal braking distance for the speed. And until now, I had never had a similar problem. The brakes, caliper, and rotors had been replaced in September of this 2012 with new parts. They had been installed correctly and I have documentation to prove that. During the crash, the airbags failed to deploy. The accident was one where my Dodge Dakota rear ended another vehicle. No injuries had occurred, however the truck sustained approximately $5000. 00 worth of damage to the front end and is considered totaled due to the cost of repairs vs the value of the truck. The mileage on the vehicle is approximately 206,500 miles and all maintenance was current and preventive maintenance (as required when under warranty to 100,000 miles) work was completed at both a dealership or an authorized auto repair shop. After the 100,000, work was completed by an authorized repair shop or routine maintenance was performed by myself, owner, who is experienced in auto repair/maintenance procedures utilizing oem / oem approved replacement parts. According to the NHTSA item # 10016024 there had been a recall due to and ecu failure for vehicles produced just before mine was. I do not know how to tell if my ecu is the replacement one or should have been included in the recall, but wasn't. Photographs of the skid marks and damage are available upon request and I have truck at my home.

See all problems of the 2006 Dodge Dakota 🔎.

Its poor quality of Dodge. This is 1 of countless brake problems. If I could afford to get rid of pickup I would. Applied brakes after coming home from hospice where my mother is with stage 3/4 breast cancer. Applied brakes at traffic light, lucky no cars infront of me,rolled though light, pulled into shopping center to stop. At 60000 front right caliper burst replaced both front. Have replaced ranger that had 105000 miles with no problems, replaced brake shoes once, turned rotors at 92,000.

Have had steering knuckles replaced twice on my truck because the caliper bolts strip out and cause my truck do dive left or right upon braking. Also caused by brake pad rails wearing too muck and not letting the calipers move the brake pads to apply the brakes. Almost caused accidents multiple times but dealer says its not an issue.

Brakes locked and smoked when going over 50 miles per hour on the highway on my Dakota. I had to pull over to the side of the road to stop. The brakes smelled like they were burning. I waited for about 10 minutes and proceeded to try to get to the next exit. However, the shaking continued. I pulled over once again and waited for another 30 minutes. At this point, I got back in the car and it didn't do it anymore. When I went to the dealer to have this checked, I was told I needed to replace the calipers, pads and rotors. . Read more...

See all problems of the 2008 Dodge Dakota 🔎.

Driving within the city limits of fort collins colorado and stopping for a traffic light the front brakes on my 2001 Dodge Dakota pickup truck locked up and would not release until the vehicle was allowed to sit for several minutes. I had the vehicle towed to a repair facility, where I was informed that the front left wheel bearing, both rotors and pads needed to be replaced due to excessive heat and wear. After the repairs were completed I proceeded to drive the vehicle for approximately 15 miles when the brakes again locked up after coming to a stop at a stop sign and began to smoke from excessive heat build up on the left front rotor. The vehicle was towed back to the repair facility where left front caliper was replaced and the vehicle was test driven, at which time the right front brake locked up in the same manner as the left front had. The repair facility researched the problem further and discovered via identafix. Com that the hydraulic lines and calipers on both the right and left front brakes had to be replaced in order to fix the problem. This was not the only occurrence of this problem and it appears to be happening at around 70 to 80,000 miles. Had this problem occurred while I was towing my travel trailer, which I had just done, and when going down a long or steep grade at the very minimum it would have been a very dangerous occurrence. This is a safety defect that Chrysler corp. Needs to address under recall for the affected models.

See all problems of the 2001 Dodge Dakota 🔎.

The contact owns a 2004 Dodge Dakota quad cab. While driving 35 mph, smoke emitted inside of the vehicle. The contact drove to the side of the road, while inspecting the vehicle he noticed smoke coming from the front driver side wheel. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic who stated that the failure was related to defective calipers. The vehicle was in the process of being repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the problem. The approximate failure mileage was 98,000.

See all problems of the 2003 Dodge Dakota 🔎.

2001 Dodge Dakota has had front brakes drag/lock up. Has happened twice, both times the calipers/rotors got extremely hot and smoked. After first time, truck was taken to dealer, they found nothing wrong but could see that rotors had gotten extremely hot. After allowing car to sit for several hours, the problem seems to go away.

The contact owns a 2002 Dodge Dakota. The contact stated that the front passenger side brake caliper needed to be replaced. The caliper was replaced once in the past because it would fail to release completely after the brakes were engaged, allowing the brakes to overheat. The caliper would not release until the vehicle was allowed to cool off. The vehicle was taken back to an authorized dealer after the second occurence where it was not repaired because the failure was no longer covered under warranty. The failure mileage was 17,000 and the current mileage was 32,000.

The contact owns a 2008 Dodge Dakota. While driving approximately 55 mph the brake system locked. The contact drove onto the emergency lane and the vehicle was towed to the contacts home. The vehicle was inspected by an independent mechanic who stated the front passenger side rotor, caliper, and brake shoe needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The approximate failure mileage was 18,575.

The entire front brakes {rotors, caliper, pads} required replacement at 33k miles, in addition several hard brake lines were severely rusted and needed replacement. This is totally unacceptable on a truck!.

This vehicle was purchased 11/07 new. The corrosion on the drive components is incredible. You can chip the rust off . The brakes have seized up four times. The first time it was just past the three year warranty at approximately 22,000 miles. I called the dealer at the time, and they said there was no warranty. The last time was Friday 3/23/2012, at 4 1/2 years old at 28,000 miles. It burned up the front pads. This is the fourth time I have had to redo the front brakes. I have redone the rear brakes once for the same reason. I called ram customer assistance, and at first their representative said they would buy the replacement parts. After talking with them a second time, a different representative refused to help me and said the case was closed. The steering column is falling apart, the muffler and driveshaft are ready to fall off, the front axles, ball joints and the struts are extremely rusty. You can chip the rust off of these components. I dismantled the brake system again, and the caliper pistons were frozen solid. Upon removal, I found the caliper pistons full of rust and pits on the inside. The body itself has no corrosion at all. I am looking at $2000 to $3000 thousand in parts alone. This truck has never towed a boat or been on a boat ramp. I live in an area where they rarely use salt or solution on the roads and have maybe 1-3 inches of snow a year. I need help as this truck is going to fall apart within the next year or so. I have documented all of this with pictures, and I have a case number with Chrysler.

See all problems of the 2007 Dodge Dakota 🔎.

2005 Dodge Dakota club cab 4x2 s 105,636 miles have just replaced front sway bars, front upper and lower ball joints, right-front brake caliper.

One front brake failed to release resulting in excessive heat and smoke, difficult steering and stopping. Will replace calipers, pads and rotors.

The contact owns a 1998 Dodge Dakota. The contact stated that the driver was traveling 32 mph when he attempted to stop but the brakes failed; as a result, the vehicle rear ended the vehicle in front. The contact experienced the brake failure several times. The local repair shop replaced the calipers and brake pads five times. The vehicle was taken back to the repair shop and the mechanic stated that the abs could be the cause of the failure. The vehicle had not been repaired again. The VIN was unavailable. The failure mileage was approximately 58,000 and the current mileage was 58,882.

See all problems of the 1998 Dodge Dakota 🔎.

Brought 2002 Dodge Dakota into dealership a total of 6 times since may 2010 because of problems with the front brakes. The first time the brakes were shuddering so bad when braking on a hill, it was difficult to hold the steering wheel straight. The dealership recommended replacement of the rotors and pads to resolve the problem in light of the fact that they supposedly visually passed inspection, and had plenty of pad surface remaining. The day following replacement, I took the vehicle out and noticed a distinct clicking below the brake pedal when braking. I took it back to the dealer, where they kept it for a day, told me they thought they fixed it, and returned it to me. As soon as I drove into my driveway, the passenger front was seizing and smoking. I called the dealership and they came to pick it up. It remained at the dealership for a few days until they disassembled the slide on the caliper, cleaned and regreased it, and resurfaced the new rotor. The problem reoccurred again within two weeks, when I had to return it again. This time I brought it in while the brake was pouring out smoke. They kept it for a week, and then decided the brake line required a replacement. Less than 3500 miles later, I was out of state visiting family. As soon as I arrived in that town, I could smell the brake burning again. Took it to the Dodge dealership there where they said it was apparent that both front calipers had been sticking for some time and required replacement and well as the rotors resurfacing due to the heat. There is obviously some problem with the brake system or materials Dodge uses now for their vehicles. . . Too many failures amongst too many people. While brakes seizing is preferable to them not working at all, this is just not acceptable. These are brakes, not brain surgery. . .

Front brake calipers,brake lines,brake pads,and rotors had to be replaced. Brakes were binding up and would not let the brake pads to release.

The contact owns a 2001 Dodge Dakota. While driving approximately 55 mph, he heard an abnormal rattling from the front of the vehicle. The vehicle was not taken to the dealer for a diagnosis of the failure. The failure persisted and progressively became worse within one year. The vehicle was taken to a local repair facility where the mechanic advised the caliber brackets were stripped. The mechanic re-drilled the caliber and bracket and installed a large bolt with a lock nut on both sides of the vehicle. The failure mileage was 85,000 and the current mileage was 96,000.

Front brakes locked up while driving. Occurred once, was able to pull to side of road without causing an accident. Had to replace front l&r, rotors, calipers, pads, hoses and fluid.

The contact owns a 2000 Dodge Dakota . The contact stated that while driving 50 mph, the front wheels locked up. The front calipers needed to be replaced the failure mileage was 140,000 and the current mileage was 165,000. Updated 04/22/11.

Caliper bolts separating from spindle causing caliper to fall on to brake rotor. Loss of braking to wheel, difficulty steering vehicle. Spindle (steering knuckle) had to be drilled out and re tapped and threaded. Heli coils (9m) installed to hold caliper bolts. New calipers and rotors installed. Further inspection determined that upper ball joint failed. All ball joints will be replaced since the upper ones are not serviceable and I do not trust the lower ones. There has been no recalls for model year 1999 Dakota however there are several TSB's #050399, 0200600 and several thousand complaints on the internet. Why hasn't this safety issue been addressed by the NHTSA?.

Two years ago I purchased a 1999 Dodge Dakota 4wd pick up truck with approx. 63k miles. At 68,500 miles I replaced the brake rotors, pads and calipers. The caliper bolts pulled out of the spindle on each wheel and allowed the caliper to drop down onto the rotor causing the brakes to pull to the left side and overheat. When I removed the calipers the bolts were removable by hand and the threading in the spindle was rusted out and would not hold new caliper bolts. I contacted two Dodge dealers (parts dept) and they stated they knew of no problems with the spindles. I checked on the internet and it seems that there has been an ongoing problem with the bolts pulling out of the spindles on this model of Dakota's and durango's. This is clear cut safety problem that should be the responsibility of Dodge and the NHTSA should be forcing them to make the repair or at least provide the parts for a solution. Please note that the left front wheel did begin to overheat and actually began to catch on fire which required me to stop the vehicle and allow it to cool down and temporarily adjust the caliper in order to get home.

The contact owns a 2001 Dodge Dakota. While driving approximately 60 mph, there was a pulling sensation and an odor was present when the brake pedal was depressed. The contact immediately pulled to the side of the road and observed that the wheels were excessively hot. The vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer on two separate occasions. The technician stated that the failure was related to the calipers locking up, which damaged the rotors. The vehicle was repaired. The failure mileage was 59,776 and current mileage was 59,876.