Causes of 1 of 4 brake pads (on an axle) wearing thin faster than the other 3?

[BobandWeave]

An annoying thing that happened is that one pad of the 4 on the rear axle has worn thin faster than the others. This is causing me to replace all 4 pads when 3 of them have tons of meat left.

I would think that maybe a sticking caliper slider pin might be the cause but all the sider pins on that axle seem to be fairly smooth moving. I cleaned and lubricated all 4 while I had them out.

Just wondering what could be the cause. Brake pads aren't too expensive but I could have had at least 2 more years of life on this set of pads had that one pad not worn thin so soon.

 

[jcy]

any sign of uneven tire tread wear?

 

[racer12306]

My vote goes towards the caliper itself.

Especially on a Chrysler.

 

[eljefino]

What activates the parking brake? Is this a drum-in-rotor setup?

 

[racer12306]

What activates the parking brake? Is this a drum-in-rotor setup?

If memory serves, it's in the caliper, not drum in rotor.

 

[eljefino]

If memory serves, it's in the caliper, not drum in rotor.

That could be hanging up too, then. GM's early 90s rear calipers were awful for this.

 

[RyanY]

Do the pad ears slide easily in the brackets? If one of them is rusted or stuck, the opposite pad will wear faster.

 

[slacktide_bitog]

If memory serves, it's in the caliper, not drum in rotor.

That could be hanging up too, then. GM's early 90s rear calipers were awful for this.

All parking brake designs of this type seem to have caliper failure more often, especially if you don't use the parking brake regularly.

 

[dubber09]

What about rotor surface color on the side of the worn pad? Was it bluish from overheating?

 

[BobandWeave]

My vote goes towards the caliper itself.

Especially on a Chrysler.

It's the front caliper. A simple one piston design. Could such a simple caliper cause this?

 

[BobandWeave]

any sign of uneven tire tread wear?

No sign of this.

What about rotor surface color on the side of the worn pad? Was it bluish from overheating?

No blueing (I'm assuming you are thinking something is overheating).

 

[BobandWeave]

Do the pad ears slide easily in the brackets? If one of them is rusted or stuck, the opposite pad will wear faster.

They don't slide that easily. I've since cleaned them and filed the ears down and now they slide fairly easily.

Perhaps this is the answer.

 

[burbguy82]

They don't slide that easily. I've since cleaned them and filed the ears down and now they slide fairly easily.

Perhaps this is the answer.

It could be the caliper sticking, or the brake hose failing. I would make sure that they slide easily, and the are greased. If not, take off the offending caliper and check to see if it is stuck.

Just had this happen to me.

 

[racer12306]

It's the front caliper. A simple one piston design. Could such a simple caliper cause this?

Unfortunately, yes. I replaced a couple calipers on our T&C of that vintage when we had it.

Pretty sure one front and one rear.

IMO the braking system on that generation minivan was horrible. Not sure if the HD brakes are better but if you didn't get those, the brakes are undersized and wear out quickly. We significantly improved pad life by moving aware from OEM and going with Duralast CMax pads.

Then transitioning to the Pacifica, they actually put good brakes on it.

 

[KrisZ]

Which pad was it, the in er or outer? If it’s the inner it can point to a sticking caliper piston, but it may also be poor fitment.

 

[SubieNate]

My money is on stuck caliper sliders.

 

[odie]

This just happened with our car . If I remember correctly it was a stuck sliding pin . Saw the inner pad was wore around 2/3 more than the outside .

 

[BobandWeave]

Unfortunately, yes. I replaced a couple calipers on our T&C of that vintage when we had it.

Pretty sure one front and one rear.

IMO the braking system on that generation minivan was horrible. Not sure if the HD brakes are better but if you didn't get those, the brakes are undersized and wear out quickly. We significantly improved pad life by moving aware from OEM and going with Duralast CMax pads.

Then transitioning to the Pacifica, they actually put good brakes on it.

Yeah, it took Chrysler 5 YEARS to figure out that the brakes were inadequate on the Gen 5 Caravans / Town and Countries. 2008 to 2013. High mileage drivers tell telling them in 2008 already. 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012--at SOME point, you'd think Chrysler would have gotten the message.

Starting in 2013 and until they finished the Gen 5s in maybe 2020(?) they had the HD brakes. Freaking 5 years to figure that out and us owners of 2008 to 2012 vans will have to constantly **** around with replacing rotors unless they swap in the heavy duty brakes. Unfortunately, you need the optional 17-inch wheels to clear the calipers so it's a big and expensive job.

I've gotten it down to being able to do a rotor swap in about an hour (doing it slowly and methodically) per rotor.

 

[slacktide_bitog]

Yeah, it took Chrysler 5 YEARS to figure out that the brakes were inadequate on the Gen 5 Caravans / Town and Countries. 2008 to 2013. High mileage drivers tell telling them in 2008 already. 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012--at SOME point, you'd think Chrysler would have gotten the message.

Starting in 2013 and until they finished the Gen 5s in maybe 2020(?) they had the HD brakes. Freaking 5 years to figure that out and us owners of 2008 to 2012 vans will have to constantly **** around with replacing rotors unless they swap in the heavy duty brakes. Unfortunately, you need the optional 17-inch wheels to clear the calipers so it's a big and expensive job.

I've gotten it down to being able to do a rotor swap in about an hour (doing it slowly and methodically) per rotor.

Maybe they figured the transmission would fail before having any brake problems

You can still get OE new calipers, and Rock Auto carries them too, but for some reason there is a core charge on Mopar's supposedly "new" calipers"

For less money, you can get aftermarket new calipers, and with no core charge

 

[97prizm]

An annoying thing that happened is that one pad of the 4 on the rear axle has worn thin faster than the others. This is causing me to replace all 4 pads when 3 of them have tons of meat left.

I would think that maybe a sticking caliper slider pin might be the cause but all the sider pins on that axle seem to be fairly smooth moving. I cleaned and lubricated all 4 while I had them out.

Just wondering what could be the cause. Brake pads aren't too expensive but I could have had at least 2 more years of life on this set of pads had that one pad not worn thin so soon.

Brake line/ something ABS related?