Brake Disc Caliper problems of the 2011 Dodge Journey

Break calipers lock up when driving. They have been replaced and continue to do this.

My car has 132k miles and I'm replacing the brakes on the front for 8th time and the back for the 3rd time. Can't seem to get more than 15-20k miles out of a set of pads and rotors. Last two times I needed service the brake calipers had seized shredding the fairly new rotors which were so hot that I feared the car would catch on fire.

Since I have purchased the vehicle 4 years ago, I have had the brakes replaced 4 times due to premature ware. The calipers have also been replaced due to rear brakes not releasing and pads wearing and heating. One mechanic showed me where they were stressed from the high heat of this issue. Now my rear drivers side brake pad is gone completely unlike passenger sdie, though replaced at the same time including calipers. I believe it isn't releasing again.

The contact owns a 2011 Dodge Journey. The contact stated that the front suspension failed. The front end shook and vibrated out of control. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic who diagnosed that the front end tie rod, brakes, calipers, and rotors were prematurely worn. The reason for the failures was unknown. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was not notified. The failure mileage was 61,653.

We have had our brakes/calipers/rotors/brake lines checked and/or replaced "3 times" over the past 4 months. Each time the mechanic was not comfortable with me driving the car in that condition - so he kept the car each time until it was fixed. Back in July - the brakes sounded horrible - grinding and squealing - and very very hot. In July, our mechanic said - brake pads were gone - rotors shot, caliper shot, so we paid over $400 to have all of that repaired. So, new rotors, brakes and calipers on the rear of this car. . . . . We thought the problem was fixed (although we are still puzzled at why the brakes/rotors/calipers were so bad). Well, 2 months later (September) the problem was back and worse this time. The rear driver side brake was insanely hot, you could hear it ticking with heat and could feel the heat from a foot or two away - the squealing sound was back and even worse. That we have had the same problem (brakes/rotors/calipers shot) 3 times in a four month period. Again in November, needed new brakes, calipers and it even ruined the brake line with the heat!!! the caliper "broke", the brake pads were worn down again - in only 2 months!!! our mechanic researched the problem and said Chrysler put the wrong brake system on the Dodge Journeys (years 2009-2013 I believe) and corrected it in 2014. The current brake system is not adequate for the weight of the vehicle. He said there is a class action lawsuit right now - but no recalls as of yet. He said it would be $400 for a new break system. Our mechanic also said auto zone will not longer keep replacing our brake pads for free (they did this 3 times as we thought it was faulty brake pads/calipers at first) as there is nothing wrong with their product - the problem is with the brake system in the Dodge Journey. Please help! how do we get Chrysler to replace this brake system to make it safe to drive?.

We were on our way to church and the steering wheel started shaking at about 55 mph so we slowed down and it stopped. As we continued on to church the wheel started shaking again and we drove a little faster and then slower. We made it to church and as we parked the car we noticed a burning smell. When I got out of the passenger side of the car there were metal plates popping out of the wheel. I noticed the cap on the wheel was melted. The metal plates were too hot to pick up and the wheel was extremely hot. We did some research on the internet and found complaints on lemonlaw. Com. There are also 12 reported complaints on carcomplaints. Com. If Dodge knows there is a problem like this; why isn't there a recall? I just had the oil changed at the Dodge dealership and they did an all point check up. The only thing they recommended was a tune-up. No problem was found with the brakes. The mechanic told me that the caliper got so hot it damaged the ceramic brake pads and rotor. He said the caliper could have locked up and we could have gotten in accident. We are fortunate that did not happen however it certainly could have. The repairs were over $400. I should not have this expense on this new of a vehicle. This is the first Dodge I have ever owned and loved this vehicle until now. Now I am not sure I will ever own another one. Very disappointed to say the least.

The contact owns a 2011 Dodge Journey. The contact stated that while driving the vehicle, he began to engage the brakes and the steering wheel began to shake violently. The vehicle was taken to the dealer for inspection and stated that the calipers were too small and it would heat up the rotors. As a result, the calipers and rotors needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified but provided no assistance. The failure mileage was 2000.

I live and bought the car in guadalajara, mexico. But since it is essentially the same as those sold in the USA, and other countries I hope my experience with the car problem I am describing below, helps other owners. Only a few months after we bought a brand new 2011 Dodge jouney noticed a strong steering wheel vibration when braking from any speed. Car stopped ok, but annoying and felt unsafe. Took to dealer, they found a warped left front rotor and prematurely worn front pads, had to fix on my expense. After only 5000 or so more miles same failure again, this time took car to a specialized brakes shop, they again found warped rotor (replaced new), worn pads, etc. Again after another 6k miles, same failure. Took the car to the same brake shop. They were so puzzled by the repeating failure and low mileage in between that this time they did a very thorough disassembly and inspection of the brakes system. This time though, we successfully found the root cause of the problem: warped and worn pins where the calipers sit and slide to grip the pads when braking. This, under some conditions apparently caused caliper to "stick" (due to warping and noticeable indentation from excessive wear), causing some permanent braking on rotors with obvious overheating, rotor wear, warping and excessive (and notoriously uneven) wear of brake pads. So, the pins were replaced along with the pads and rotor, I am happy to say that at least in my car this completely solved the problem for good, this last time I had the brakes serviced the pads lasted over 14k miles prior to replacement and no vibration was felt again, (we live on a hilly area and use a lot of braking downhill, so 14k miles pad life is acceptable and comparable to other cars we owned). Hope this helps the hundreds of owners experiencing this same problem as seen in many forums over the internet.