Last week, my Dakota started to pulse when braking, and the clamping force decreased significantly. I know the rear brake system was replaced in its entirety before I bought it last fall, and the fronts felt fine. 5000 miles later, the fronts were shot.

I bought all the stuff to changes them out, and had at it this morning.

I, um... I guess they DID need to be serviced after all!

How did I not feel this before????

Don't feel dumb. For the most part you wont feel it as long as there is a full circle non-delaminated surface. Once you wear past that point you will start feeling it.

Tim

For sure, you don't feel things wrong with this newer stuff until its real bad. New parts are not what they used to be either.
On our 04 PT cruiser, I replace the brakes about a year ago. Rotors, hoses & calipers. A couple weeks ago, the pedal started pulsating. Pulled the front tires off, and both brake rotors have cracks on each side of nearly all the cooling fins, on both braking surfaces, all the way around the rotors! Each rotor has probably 30 cracks on each side of the rotor! There is a spot on each rotor where the outside edge also cracked between the fins, and started to bend inward, that must have been the point the pulsation started. We felt nothing before and had no indication the rotors were cracking.

These rotors were USA made, bought at NAPA, top level available, with less then 12,000 very easy miles. NAPA says "Sorry, here is the new set, $77.00 please. The "old ones" have exceeded the warranted time frame." The replacement rotors are not USA made, maybe they will last more then a year. Gene

Already lost one of the slide pins, I suspect it was weak threads. One was missing when I started, I chased the hole, and the new pin threaded in easily.

Is there any other trick to securing the caliper without using a Helicoil?

I don't undertsand how it makes so much noise now, but didn't make a sound at all missing one pin completely...

Those slider pins have very small threads. The load is held by the ears that the pads slide in. The pin just holds the caliper in place.

There's an aftermarket pin with larger threads that allows you to tap the hole up 1 size to repair bad threads. If this has been done previously... Then no, there's no way to repair without a helicoil.

I did thousands of brakes at work.Mostly we used the store rotors drums etc.I had more problems with hibuck rotors/drums than the cheap ones.I still run Advance rotors on everything I do brakes on.In 30 years Ive had few problems.that and at the shop most customers wanted the cheap stuff not pricey ones like factory or so.Hell I even got wagner etc in the house boxes.I do use the best pads etc.I run ceramics on a lot of stuff.Rocky