Losing faith in Napa's calipers

[diesel4life]

Had just left the house on a 300 mile round trip. Got about 8 miles down the road travelling 55 mph when all the sudden the steering wheel started shaking. It got worse by the second, so I immediately began slowing down to pull off to the side of the road. As I slowed, I started smelling a very strong brake smell, and by the time I got to a stop the smoke was rolling over top of the hood . This is the second time this has happened to me in the past year. I replaced my original rotors almost 2 years ago as they were due for replacement and while I was in there put new Napa calipers on. They lasted 8 months before the left front siezed up on me. Luckily I was only going up the road to my dads and didnt go far enough to cause any damage. Fast forward to a year later,same caliper freezes up. I couldnt even push the piston back in with a large c clamp, with either caliper. Somethings not right here, and Im quickly losing faith in their calipers. Yes theyre lifetime warranty but calipers are relatively cheap compared to the havoc that can be caused when one locks up. It warped the hell out of my $250 dollar set of rotors, and with my luck may have cooked the grease in the wheel bearing. And Im not dealing with slip on rotors either, so its a job in itself just to get them off. Im slightly frustrated at the moment.

[dorkweed]

Have you replaced the rubber brake lines from the hardlines to the calipers??? Sometimes the insides break down and act as a "check valve" when you apply the brakes. When you release the brakes, the fluid cannot flow back due to the obstruction in the line, thus causing the caliper not to release.

[Mopar1973Man]

Calipers are not to blame. I noticed the 285's tires in your signature. Then I got to ask about you normal driving speed? What is happening is if your a high speed driver that possibly tailgates and constantly grabbing the brakes in city traffic. What happens is since you got the 285 on the tires they place more leverage force against the the rotors so it takes more clamping force of the caliper to slow down like a 265's tire would so there is more heat generated in the calipers. So after awhile the piston start to grow in size from the cooked brake fluid. This is another reason why brake fluid change should be done every 30K miles and the calipers opened up and inspected. I normally don't see the caliper piston problem till about 100k miles. I've use my exhaust brake for most of my stopping...

[diesel4life]

City driving......live nowhere near one, 95% country road and highway drivingTailgating people.......never in my life, I always give plenty of room between me and the next carHeavy braking.....strike 3 I always slow gradually unless in an emergency Im a very cautious and frugal driver.It has nothing to do with my driving skills and with the larger tire deal I know people who run larger sizes with zero issues. Actually I put close to 100k miles on my 00 with 285s and had zero brake issues. My brake fluid was changed out and completely flushed as well as my rubber hoses changed out the first time I had a caliper failure, less than 20k miles ago. Now I understand an exhaust brake would take the stress off the service brakes, but these braking systems were designed to stop the truck with no exhaust brake so thats not a factor in my situation, either. My trailer brakes work very well so there is no time Im taxing my brakes more than I should be.

[dobienut]

I too have had a past issue with Napa calipers. I'm not hard on my brakes and have had the same rotors for about 8 years now, still vibration free. I have replaced all my calipers at one point in the past eight years, the Napa one is one I had to do over again in a little over a year . Maybe it was just luck of the draw Just my

[diesel4life]

Took my caliper in for exchange and was talking with the guy at the counter. He quietly conceded they have been seeing some higher than normal warranty claims on the HD pickup calipers. For the most part Im a NAPA loyalist the only other options are Autozone and Advanced Auto 30 miles away. The guys at NAPA are more knowledgeable and I like supporting small town buisiness. But this has got me thinking about going another route. Maybe time to go with caliper upgrade now that Im running 4th gen wheels... The plot thickens too. While under my truck I noticed my lower ball joint has quite a bit of play in it. really surprises me as the truck drives straight as could be with no tire wear. Im starting to get the feeling Im peddling backwards today

[Mopar1973Man]

Well I don't know what to say...

That is the only reason I see calipers bind up and freeze. It typically has to to do with heat generated during braking. Once the pistons get hot they collect harden brake fluid and grow in diameter. There is nothing else I know of that causes that. After about 100k miles I get the same thing where the piston bind up and have to polish the pistons to fit again. I typically use 600 grit sandpaper and fine tune the pistons to fit. Yes I've seen my own to the point that 120 PSI (air) would not push them out. When the one jammed piston came out it was with such force it busted the top where it hit the caliper.

Caliper are basic hydraulics principal. There is only the piston and 1 seal.

So something is creating excessive heat and causing the brake fluid to cake up on the piston to the point of jamming...

I'm exactly like you... I live in the country, drive slower, but do use a exhaust brake much more. But I still get the same problem but typically around 100K miles.

[MoparFreak1988]

I will not agree or disagree with anyone here last year I had the same problem look hard enough you may even find the old thread. In short to fix the problem everything was replaced the same day from lines to rotors to the pins. I don't like some of the quality coming from Napa as of late but its still better than most other than the bumper to bumpers (those guys are good and have not one complaint). That being said the heat issue is a real problem and its not the driving habbit Mike is OK cuz he uses his engine to slow the truck but for those who don't do that, the brake are way under size period. My facts the pads and rotors and callipers are the same as my stock 1994 chevy 2500 I know because I bought pads for both on the same day and they were the same part number. That being said empty that truck with a gas motor weighs 4500 pounds with one driver on the local scale mine weighs 6900 empty one driver they both can carry the same. But when you think about a 4X4 versus a 2wd tire size weight rolling friction... so on not to mention the 2400 pound weight difference how could anyone expect these brakes to last and not have heat soak problems.

What I am about to tell you you must do at your own risk as bad things can happen when changing how your brakes work. I have been searching a solution with no avail one thing that helps is a brake proportioning valve. Put one tons out back and a proportioning valve on the front lines and force a higher psi to the rear. it helps not a fix though my two cents

[diesel4life]

The single piston calipers are definitely not sufficient. Looking at Mikes pics above, they must have went to the dual pistons when they did the axle change in 00. Ive heard a little bit about people doing the 3rd gen brake upgrade, I think Im going to look into it further when I get my front end back together and a couple other projects tied up. Of course, if the upgrade includes going to a larger caliper, Im pretty well screwed because I cant upgrade to the newer style rotors :banghead:

[JAG1]

Both OEM rear calipers locked up on my truck. Both about 5,000 miles apart and the truck only has 75,000 miles on it.

[Mopar1973Man]

Both OEM rear calipers locked up on my truck. Both about 5,000 miles apart and the truck only has 75,000 miles on it.

Same here mine was later but the same issue. It not a caliper problem it the simple fact of the brake fluid caking up on the pistons. I'm still running the same factory OEM caliper rebuilt them twice now and the same issue both times is the piston caking up with heated brake fluid.

That picture above was during my second rebuild of the calipers it cost me a total of $130 bucks for...

[*]brake pads for front and rear

[*]Turn the rotors

[*]Seal and boot rebuild kit for front and rear.

Like I said calipers are such simple devices and as long as the piston freely fits the bore without seals there is absolutely nothing wrong with the caliper.

[Tmc1986]

NAPA is one of those places that always has what i need but im never happy with any of it and end up going somewhere else in the end. ive been waiting for either my tires or my brakes to wear out so i can do a 3rd gen conversion on at least my front brakes. i wont be using NAPA parts

[angus]

Same here mine was later but the same issue. It not a caliper problem it the simple fact of the brake fluid caking up on the pistons. I'm still running the same factory OEM caliper rebuilt them twice now and the same issue both times is the piston caking up with heated brake fluid.

That picture above was during my second rebuild of the calipers it cost me a total of $130 bucks for...

[*]brake pads for front and rear

[*]Turn the rotors

[*]Seal and boot rebuild kit for front and rear.

Like I said calipers are such simple devices and as long as the piston freely fits the bore without seals there is absolutely nothing wrong with the caliper.

Mike have you ever researched different brake fluids?? I have never given much thought to it before, but I know there are high dollar fluids designed for racing, and heat resistance? Just:2cents:

[Mopar1973Man]

There is different DOT grades. http://www.tccoa.com/brake-fluid/ DOT3 and DOT4 are the common stuff. I typically use DOT3 brake fluid from WalMart with zero problems. Just every 100K miles I end up doing a caliper rebuild service. Basically taking them completely apart cleaning and reassembling. Nothing more than that.