2002 Plymouth Voyager Minivan Front Disc Brakes

I have a 2002 Plymouth Voyager Minivan. Every 6 months I have to replace
the front disc pads. I have tried all kinds of pads from soft to semi-
metallic to ceramic..expensive to inexpensive. Each time I have the rotors
either turned or replaced. The rear shoes are like new.The car stops
fine,but are the rear drum brakes really assisting in the braking process.
Is there any adjustment that I can make to the proportional valve. I do not
have anti-lock brakes and I have replaced all mechanical parts on my drum
brakes including the self adjuster.

 

How many miles between pad replacments? I find the vans needing pads between
20k and 35k.

 

Also make sure the rear drum brake adjusters are working properly. I've
seen where they will not auto adjust if they are installed too loose. A
good way to test they are working is to see if the parking brake sets up
easily and can hold the vehicle from moving forward or reverse when in gear
at idle.

I also get between 20-25K miles before replacing front pads on our 1999 T&C
Minivan.

Bob

 

WOW.... I just replaced my front pad at 76,000 miles on my 1999 Dodge
Caravan.

Dan

 

I agree. Make sure that the rear brakes are doing their share of the
work. I about went off the road during a steep canyon descent. The
front brakes were doing all the work. I had just had the rear brakes
replaced, and they were not adjusted properly.

-Kirk Matheson

 

I have 104,000 on my Plymouth Voyager and the brakes haven't had any
problems yet. Of course, I bought it with 40,000 miles on it so they
may not be original -- but that still leaves at least 64,000 miles on
them. The only problem I have ever had was a bad starter connection at
about 98,000 miles.

 

How many miles do you drive in 6 months? What kind of driving?

How many total miles on the van?

You can tell if the rear brakes are working by slamming on the brakes on
a dirt road. If they don't lock, then they aren't working, at least not
very well.


Matt

 

What should they do if they have rear ABS?

 

Just what pad is worn out. Do some pads look unworn?

Richard.

 

The van has 60,000 miles on it. It is mainly driven in the city.
Once a year we will vacation from 500 to 1000 miles away. I am only
getting about 5000 miles of front pad life.

 

Then something is wrong with your front brakes. Even if the rear brakes
aren't working at all, the fronts should last much longer than that.
Even with the rears working, the fronts still do most of the work.

The only other explanation is that you are really hard on the brakes.
I've seen people that make maximum performance stops at every stoplight,
stop sign and turn. I've also seen left foot brakers who ride the pedal
all the time keeping the brake lights one. Either of these driving
"styles" will ruin pads in a hurry. I get 60,000 miles or more on my
front pads and nearly the same on the rear shoes.


Matt

 

I set the park brake while the van was in idle. I then switched from park
to drive to reverse. The brakes held.

 

You guys must be incredibly hard on your cars. Even my wife can't go through
brakes like that. The other thing is your rear brakes are not working
correctly or something is wrong in the front brake circuit.
Larry

 

What can I say? I personally get ~35K miles from my front discs and about
double that from the rears, but this T&C van is driven primarily by my wife
who is very hard on the brakes. It sees almost entirely stop and go (around
town short trips) driving and averages about 9-10K miles per year so I end
up doing the front brakes about every 2-2.5 years. Our 1999 van has ~65K
and the fronts are just about ready to be done again (will be the third
time). Incase anyone is wondering, I use Raybestos (best) ceramic pads.
I've only done the rear shoes once during that time and expect these will
last till I need to do the fronts again about 25K miles down the road.

The calipers are not sticking and the braking performance is good (it was
never great). But the van is very heavy and given the usage (and the
driver), I just live with the maintenance as these are easy to replace and
the van is otherwise running very well and still in very good condition.

Bob

 

Or if they are rear drums, hold the release and push down on the parking
brake. Rear wheels should lock.

 

I don't believe that the parking brake uses the hydraulics on a Chrysler
van, but actuates the brakes using a cable. As such, the hydaulics
could have a problem that affects the service braking, yet doesn't
affect the parking brake.

Matt