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2013 HD brake upgrade to 2010 SXT

147K views 159 replies 61 participants last post by  JonEApelcede 
#1 ·
So we all know by now that the '12+ vans have either an HD brake option or come standard. The earlier models had the smaller 302mm front rotors, with a single piston caliper. The HD brakes come with 330mm rotors, with dual piston calipers. Much improved.

I ordered all parts from Rock Auto, using a 2013 van with HD brake option in the parts catalog. I got 2 Cardone reman calipers w/brackets, 2 Raybestos Advanced Technology rotors, and a set of Raybestos Professional grade pads. $465 shipped to my neck of the woods.

Here's a shot of the passenger side before I started.



Got the drivers side wheel, caliper, and rotor off.



A shot of the size difference between the old caliper and the new one. New one is on the left, old is on the right. HUGE difference in weight. Looks like the new caliper two of the same size piston of the old one.



A shot of the differences in right and left. The bleeder valve needs to be above the banjo bolt for proper bleeding.



Continues in next post...
 
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#2 ·
Old Chrysler rotor came off. Note the pentastar logo stamp. These things are JUNK.



Since ours is a 2010, but with factory 17" wheels, I had to do a test fit of the wheel before continuing. Perfect fit.



New rotor and bracket installed on the passenger side.


Another shot. These brakes are similar to what you'd find on a full size truck.


All done!


My two concerns about this job was 1) Would my 2010 17" factory wheels fit? 2) How would pedal feel turn out?

In the end the brakes feel about the same as they did before. The pedal travel is about the same as before. Generally, after a brake job, more material is present on the pads so the piston travel (and ultimately pedal travel also) is shorter. The pads I took off were about 50% gone.

The main test here was the wifey: She loved them, and said nothing about the pedal travel.

In the end, a win all the way around. I would definitely recommend this to anyone who has the skill and tools to do the job.

Tools needed:
10mm box end wrench (brake bleeder)
14mm socket / box end wrench (caliper slide bolts)
21mm socket / box end wrench (caliper bracket bolts)
3/4" tire iron (lug nut removal)
One man brake bleeder kit or an assistant to help you bleed the calipers.
1 can brake cleaner (optional)
1 can brake fluid
Jack / vehicle lift
 
#158 ·
Old Chrysler rotor came off. Note the pentastar logo stamp. These things are JUNK.



Since ours is a 2010, but with factory 17" wheels, I had to do a test fit of the wheel before continuing. Perfect fit.



New rotor and bracket installed on the passenger side.


Another shot. These brakes are similar to what you'd find on a full size truck.


All done!


My two concerns about this job was 1) Would my 2010 17" factory wheels fit? 2) How would pedal feel turn out?

In the end the brakes feel about the same as they did before. The pedal travel is about the same as before. Generally, after a brake job, more material is present on the pads so the piston travel (and ultimately pedal travel also) is shorter. The pads I took off were about 50% gone.

The main test here was the wifey: She loved them, and said nothing about the pedal travel.

In the end, a win all the way around. I would definitely recommend this to anyone who has the skill and tools to do the job.

Tools needed:
10mm box end wrench (brake bleeder)
14mm socket / box end wrench (caliper slide bolts)
21mm socket / box end wrench (caliper bracket bolts)
3/4" tire iron (lug nut removal)
One man brake bleeder kit or an assistant to help you bleed the calipers.
1 can brake cleaner (optional)
1 can brake fluid
Jack / vehicle lift
Great pics and parts and tool list I’m grateful. TY
 
#3 ·
very helpful for someone interested in this conversion...I cant believe the difference in caliper size!
 
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#4 ·
Good to hear this upgrade went so easily for you and that you were able to use your factory wheels.
On mine the HD brakes are VERY responsive.
I’m curious to know how things work out in the long run since on a factory HD setup the rears brakes and master cylinder are larger?
 
#10 ·
1). I didn't change mine, I did have to push them out of the way a bit. Really minor thing, though.

2). The MC is different for the HD brakes. I wanted to test the fronts and see how they felt before going through the effort of swapping it. They are a pain to bleed because you could introduce air into the lines very easy at an upstream point in the system.
 
#8 ·
im thinking the pedal might have the same feel as before because the procedure was not performed on the rears?....is that in your plans?....or cost prohibitive?.....
 
#11 ·
I put new rotors and pads on the rear about six months ago... So they don't need to be changed out yet. If we have the van long enough, I will definitely put the bigger ones on the rear also.
 
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#12 ·
This. Is. Awesome!

I am more than a little bit surprised that the bolt pattern is the same for the two caliper assemblies.

1) I'll assume that the vans with 16" wheels have the same brakes at the vans with 17' wheels....

2) How about posting the part numbers to further make it easier!


Thx.
 
#13 ·
#20 ·
I didn't get these parts from the dealer, since I try to avoid Chrysler rotors if at all possible. My stuff came from Rockauto.

Pads:
RAYBESTOS Part # PGD1589C Professional Grade - Ceramic
Front; OE Pad Material is Ceramic; 330mm Rotor Diameter

Rotors: (2)
RAYBESTOS Part # 780964 Advanced Technology
Front; 330mm Rotor Diameter

Caliper:
A-1 CARDONE Part # 18B5402 Reman. A-1 CARDONE Friction Choice Caliper w/Bracket & Installation Hardware (Driver's side)
A-1 CARDONE Part # 18B5403 Reman. A-1 CARDONE Friction Choice Caliper w/Bracket & Installation Hardware (Passenger side)
 
#17 ·
A shot of the size difference between the old caliper and the new one. New one is on the left, old is on the right. HUGE difference in weight. Looks like the new caliper two of the same size piston of the old one.

I'm kind of disappointed that you didn't really notice a difference. Just looking at that picture, it seems as if you should be able to tap the brakes and stop so fast that you move backwards through time.
 
#19 ·
You may have misread my initial post. I was concerned about pedal effort and feel, not so much how much better the van would stop. That was a given. ;)

I did notice a difference between the two concerning stopping force. These are considerably better. So much so i got a little dizzy when i made a panic stop from about 65 mph to 0!
 
#21 ·
These parts also fit the 2012 and up Dodge Journey, which is good since the more vehicles they fit the better the availability will be.
 
#23 ·
What year van did they come on? Do you have a photo of them?
I don't know the wheel stamping #'s.
 
#26 · (Edited)
Checking through the information on Rock Auto's web site, and then using the part numbers you supplied (thanks for adding them onto the thread) it appears that this could be the way to go when I need to do the next pad change.

Given that the pads don't appear to last too long, that should not take a great deal of time to wear them down.

When my vehicle was in for warranty work (large list) they reported about the pads, and even the discs.

The discs were not in need of doing yet, there was some considerable amount of wear left, and they were in limits. Although the pads were low it took a while to eventually wear the pads down to the acoustic indicator/disc scraper. This was because this is a second vehicle, and therefore at times gets less use.

It appeared that they were fishing for chargeable work, to add to the warranty work.

Also given the price of the parts from the main dealer it works out too expensive to fit standard inferior parts, when going this HD route makes more sense!
 
#27 ·
So after the above post I emailed Rock Auto's, and given the high price charged by the main dealer for the parts, anything turns out to be very expensive.

Is it the same in the U.S?

Therefore it means using this way of going HD it's affordable even with shipping costs added.

This is because even if I could get these parts from Chrysler here in the U.K. I would have to be sitting down, and trying to hold back my laughter when quoted a price by the partsman.

I wonder were we ever allowed to spec this HD brake set up as an option like you could in the U.S?
 
#28 ·
It's probably because you are in the UK. Just like us needing parts for a Land Rover or a Jag, I suppose.

One thing that I forgot to mention: most parts places include a core charge on the calipers. You'd normally be refunded that charge once you returned the old calipers to the store.

However since this job returns a different pair of calipers, they won't refund the core. Small price to pay for bigger brakes, imo.
 
#29 · (Edited)
Yes I noticed the core cost that I would have to swallow, but all things considered taking the surcharge into account it still is very much an upgrade worth doing.

After all I have a HD TV so would not mind HD brakes! LOL

So it has all the benefits already listed on this thread, including the fact that once done it also fills the inside of the wheel rim more, so the bigger brake even looks better in the space.

As you have done the job BenS, and I assume you have put some miles on your vehicle.

What has it been like, given that your vehicle also now has the ceramic pads?

Do you get less brake dust off of these pads?
Also the standard "light duty" set up is well known for the squeaking brakes so what's it like on the conversion?
 
#30 ·
I have no complaints at all about the brake job. We have maybe 5-6k miles on the van since, and they are working great. Low dust, overall good performance. I think the rears will need to be checked out soon though.

I do have complaints about the engine though. It has been burning oil, and it has now ruined the catalytic converter, causing a CEL. I've replaced both downstream O2 sensors and it immediately returns. Getting aggravated with the van. Still drives and runs great though - just hate staring at that CEL on all the time.
 
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#33 ·
Welcome to the site.
To my knowledge no one on this site has done the rear upgrade yet.
The question has come up if 16" wheels will clear the HD rear brakes. That has not been tried as of yet either.
 
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