Newbie Brake Question

[mattd_81]

I just bought my first 300c couple of weeks ago. I bought it from a Chrysler dealer and they had to do front brakes for DOT. After only two weeks of driving I'm getting really bad dusting on the front wheels and my car sounds like a cab. I'm guessing that it's not normal and they cheaped out and bought cut rate pads. I'm about ready to toss these out and replace them but have a couple of questions:

1) Anything I need to know about a brake job on a 300c? I worked on GM's before which was simple enough two bolts holding on caliper two more for the rotor bracket if neccessary and simply use a C-Clamp to bottom out the piston. The back required an adapter to bottom out the piston. Is it the same setup here? What about the back if I choose to do it at the same time.

2) What should I replace them with. I'm in Canada and ussually bought brakes from Carquest and for the most part they're top of the line stuff works great and is much cheaper then OEM. I looked on Rockauto.com and they have a lot of different pads enough to leave me confused and scratching my head. To me low dusting and quite pads are more important then performance as I never plan on going to the track. Some dusting is OK as I do wash my car about once a week. The ones on there now about 3-4 days and wheels look almost black...and the noise is brutal.

Any info is really appreciated. Thanks

[richierevs]

I just bought my first 300c couple of weeks ago. I bought it from a Chrysler dealer and they had to do front brakes for DOT. After only two weeks of driving I'm getting really bad dusting on the front wheels and my car sounds like a cab. I'm guessing that it's not normal and they cheaped out and bought cut rate pads. I'm about ready to toss these out and replace them but have a couple of questions:

1) Anything I need to know about a brake job on a 300c? I worked on GM's before which was simple enough two bolts holding on caliper two more for the rotor bracket if neccessary and simply use a C-Clamp to bottom out the piston. The back required an adapter to bottom out the piston. Is it the same setup here? What about the back if I choose to do it at the same time.

2) What should I replace them with. I'm in Canada and ussually bought brakes from Carquest and for the most part they're top of the line stuff works great and is much cheaper then OEM. I looked on Rockauto.com and they have a lot of different pads enough to leave me confused and scratching my head. To me low dusting and quite pads are more important then performance as I never plan on going to the track. Some dusting is OK as I do wash my car about once a week. The ones on there now about 3-4 days and wheels look almost black...and the noise is brutal.

Any info is really appreciated. Thanks

First, you'll get a lot of information by doing a forum search on brake rotors and pads.

OEM brake pads are notorious for high dust. If your looking for a good brake pad but not break the bank (pun intended), I would recommend Wagner semi-metalic brake pads, which you can get from RockAuto. For less dust and and better performance you can look into semi-metalic pads like Raybestos, Posi-Quiet and EBC. Hawk makes a decent pad, but there's been mixed reviews. There are other pads, but these are the ones I know. When you install your new pads make sure you bed the brakes. You can find more information on this by doing a forum search on "bedding brakes."

Just remember that with less dust the brakes will loose some stopping power, hence the reason that proper pad break-in is important.

I hope this helps.

[mattd_81]

Thanks for the info ritchie... I think I'll get something from rockauto. Anyone know if I need an adaptor for the calipers upfront or just a c clamp?

[Token]

The dusting that richie is referring to the stock SRT8 brake pads that come with the brembos. Very different from the 5.7L

If you've got a 300C (Non-SRT) 5.7L then the best combo is the OEM ceramic brake pads. Almost no dust, good performance, and they LAST! I got 4 years and 128,000km out of the OEM ceramic pads.

Some things just dont last.

The dealer probably put on the "value line" pads, that's why you're seeing the dusting.

Send a PM to AdamC (supporting vendor here) and he'll get you the best price on the pads. He works for Eastway Chrysler in Scarborough, Ontario, but his shipping prices are great too, so no matter where in Canada you are, he's likely your best bet.

As far as retracting the pistons into the calipers, i didn't even use a c clamp. Just loosen the brake fluid reservoir cap and squeezed them in by hand.

Junior did a great write-up on the brake replacement procedure with pics.
http://www.lxforums.com/board/search...archid=6184405

[mattd_81]

Awesome thanks token that answers all my questions. Appreciate it.