Anytime I had taken my vehicles in to a shop such as Canadian tire, I would always scoff at the brake inspection, feeling it was just a money making scam. It may very well be a scam with minimal or no work being done at times in certain garages, but the need still exists. Review of brake issues such as making certain your pads have life remaining, are wearing consistently and evenly, and ensuring they move effectively in the slides are just part of the inspection. Without question the need for taking a hard look at your brakes, especially if you tow on an annual basis is invaluable. Some people aren't comfortable doing this, so find a good shop and make them show you what they are doing including movement of the pads, removal of any rust/dirt accumulations, inspection of the brakelines, quality of your brake fluid, etc. Having them looked at is good sense. Look at the recent spate of rear backing plates coming off. This is the sort of thing that could be caught.

 

This is a good thing to do. I now regularly rip apart the brakes on my vehicles, new ones included. You inspect everything and yes, add antiseize to bolts/nuts, mating surfaces to make it that much easier down the road to inspect and repair. All 3 of my vehicles had their brakes inspected, adjusted and or lubed this spring.

I use a silicone grease similar to Silglyde for the slider pins. I had run into issues with my somewhat new to me 1993 GMC C1500. Had a pull on moderate to hard braking. Pulled the slider pins, dry as a bone and the iron on iron caliper slide rails (lack of a better term) were rusted and grabbing. After some TLC the brakes were like new. Cost me an hour.

On my 2006 Trailblazer, I had let the rear brakes sit for too long and when it came time for pads/rotors 2 years ago, I had to sledge and air chisel the rear rotors off. Took a pile of time because everything was seized in place. Reinstalled with antiseize. Last month I pulled them all apart to inspect and adjust the parking brake. They popped apart like butter.

Did this on my 2017 Ram 3500 just a few days ago.

Also a good time to clean and crack the bleeder valves. Keeps them from rusting in, allows you to inspect the color of fluid and see if any air bubbles come out. This is the best preventative maintenance one can do it costs next to nothing. I bought that silicone grease 2 years ago for around 15$ and have used very little. Brake fluid is dirt cheap as well.

 

......I had to sledge and air chisel the rear rotors off. Took a pile of time because everything was seized in place......

..
. Ah , the good old days , in that particular situation , use a saws-all to cut the rotor , make sure you don't cut the good stuff ,
or go too deep and cut the end of the axle hiding under the rotor ,
..
once you have a weak line in them they cannot resist anymore , 30 years the hard way with bigger sledgehammer until I tried that method ,
that saws-all is also excellent under the cars when messing with exhaust .

 

Skip the puller or sledge hammer ball peen hammers are where its at. Worst case you can use the sledge on the ball peen hammer. Hit right on the stuck part of the rotor aka between the studs.

 

Always a good idea to grease the area where the calipers slide. I always use anti seize on the front and back of the rotors and is much more important on the fronts especially if you have aluminum wheels as the dissimilar metals will “fuse” together in short order.

 

Just did mine too... my rotors were not seized at all. 125000km of salty Ontario winters and they were loose on the hub. Unfortunately, the rears have the parking brake inside the rotor like a drum brake. Those brake shoes can catch on the lip of the drum and the rotor will not come off. What a pain in the butt! I wish I had thought to use a saws-all, would have saved some pounding.

 

Just a note on tight brake pads ...

I have NOT worked on the Ram, but on my Silverados I would grind a bit of the pad's metal backing, just where they mount in the carrier. Yes, the pads would rattle a little bit, but not enough to be annoying, and they'd never stick and wear unevenly.

NOT a recommendation ... just relating how I solved the uneven wear issue on my Chev's.

EDIT :: and yes, I also used antiseize, etc.

 

You want to know how to handle brake jobs in the great rusty north? Try out New York State where applying salt brine to dirt roads in the summer is considered a good idea.

 

Nice video but I had to turn the sound off.

 

you are spot on with your descriptions, I also make it an annual routine to take all my brakes off, clean them and lube the sliders. I had the same problem with my rear brakes and took a long time to get the disk/drums off even after releasing the emerg brake, also put anti-seize on there, so hope next year won't be this hard! Great advice!

 

Anti-Seize is your friend.

Once you get that rotor off, i always apply a light coat to the rotor seat. Rotors come right off from then on with ZERO issues.

I also put a very light coat of Anti-Seize in the grooves where the pad slides into the caliper mount. This keeps them free from sticking and wearing unevenly. works well. DO NOT use alot. just a light coat. don't want that stuff fouling your pads.

 

i'm in ontario too, I know the rusty feeling!

With the rear brakes, if you remove the little rubber plug, stick a flat head screwdriver in the hole and there's a dial you can rotate to release the parking brake (brings the pads in or out so that you can remove the rotor / drum). It took some playing to figure which way to turn it, but I did eventually manage to get the drum off. Just don't forget to reset the pads afterwards...