I have a 2014 that had each front caliper lock up one at around 17,000 miles the other about 18,500. The piston jammed which caused excessive heat,that cooked the pads to the point the glue was melting from the pads. Raybestos makes a brand new ,not remanufactured caliper .

 

In my case I believe the Dodge boys use some crappy calipers.I had a twin piston with only one piston working.I always replace calipers first as hose usually only go bad after many many mile and even years.Whereas that caliper can fail at anytime and at any mileage.

 

My 2012 just did this yesterday ... no high speed, no abuse , just normal city driving , got home and right front caliper smoking... I installed new pads about a month ago, and the pistons compressed with no problem then... I drove it to the parts store fully intent on buying another ... but the problem went away ... even the parts guy said don't blow $$$$$ on a caliper till you know the lines are not causing the issue ...

 

The first place I usually look if a caliper is not releasing as it should is to ensure there's adequate lubrication on the pad retaining pins and between the lugs on the pad and the "track" they ride in on the caliper body. Dry pads and pins, often with corrosion as an added factor, have been the number one problem more than any other single cause in my own experience. Especially in vehicles that live near salt water, or where roads are salted a lot, or which are used to launch boats

Failing that, a jammed caliper piston would be next, and bringing up the rear would be a hydraulic/master cylinder problem where the pressure to the caliper doesn't release after braking.
Usually the first issue, dry pads, once it happens, tends to persist until proper installation and lubing of the components is resolved.
The second two issues can be intermittent, especially a jammed piston. They cause the brake to drag, which will heat things up, then after being parked and things cool down, the piston will release. May not happen again for a while, or it may happen regularly.

Collapsed/kinked hoses do happen, sure, but they've not been common in my life at all.
YMMV.

 

Line to me is a good first go to. You could open bleeder and see if there is residual pressure. If so could be line. If not and still drags remove caliper and look at slide bolts and then see if you can get the pucks to retract. Slide pins can cause issues that are intermittent. If they hang one way they can make shoes on one side drag.

 

Yes, there actually could be an issue maybe with the caliper it self, the caliper has a square cut seal inside that is supposed to allow the piston to retract after being applied. Now why I say that is because of this you state that only one caliper is having issues with braking under heavy load so that tells me the problem is isolated to the one caliper and has nothing to do with anything else, it is interesting that it only comes up with heavy braking but its still isolated. Second very few things that would only affect that one caliper, the line or the caliper and if you you have replaced the line I doubt its the line again but hey you never know. And without being able to inspect the vehicle I can only speculate.

 

Guys - Thanks for all the replies. just some of the points that have been brought up

• When I replaced the line last time I ensured that the pins were greased properly and floating without binding. I also removed any rust/scale on the bracket and caliper to make sure they were not sticking as well. So the actual movement of the caliper should not have been the issue
• The piston moved freely with a C- clamp, but I only went to about 80% of the travel and obviously it wasn't hot. What i Didn't do is check the individual pistons and wish I would have thought about that.
• Checking the line pressure by cracking the bleeder wouldn't work as by the time I got home the caliper was working again and was the same temp as the right front after a 25 mile trip with the last 3 being stop and go.
• My concern was maybe it was in the master cylinder but logic dictates that if the issue is only on 1 of 4 calipers it isn't in the MC.

Since the line has already been replaced, and it is highly unlikely that it failed in a year and a half, my focus is now on the caliper. Not only here, but a quick google search has revealed that there are numerous instance where pistons either get jammed or cocked and fail to retract. Like octane said, might be a crappy design. So I took the advice of 14vern and purchased a Raybestos Element 3 caliper which is a new unit (not rebuilt) and includes the bracket so this way I should be able to eliminate any concerns about the caliper sticking. I need to tow a heavy load this weekend and unfortunately don't have the time to systematically trace the issue like I normally would. Hopefully that will take care of it. Will let you know what I find out. Caliper is due in on Thurs - replacement shortly after...

 

I have a 2012 3500 and I had a series of weird brake problems. Found out that Ram had a batch of hoses with bad lining that flaked off. Replaced all rubber hoses. No problems since.

 

Don't forget to check the quality of your fluid. Bad/dirty fluid can cause the piston/pistons to get stuck. Even in new calipers.

 

Manteca - I had a 2001 Durango with the same issue. Bad lines. Replaced them and the issue went away. In this case I replaced the line and still have the issue.
Fratzog - You are correct. Air in the line or fluid that is dirty or has absorbed a lot of moisture will cause the same condition. Brake fluid can absorb a lot of moisture and as it heats up will expand like air as you boil it out.

Well some good news. The caliper came in a day early so last night I dug into it. Here is what I found.

• Removed the tire and the brake was definitely dragging took a lot of effort to turn the hub by hand
• Cracked the bleeder and no residual pressure. Not surprised as the brakes were cold
• removed the caliper. Inspected the movement. The pins moved easily and still had grease behind the pin boots. The odd thing was they had suction to them. If you pulled the bracket out it would snap back to where it was rather than just sliding back and forth freely. Not sure if it was enough to cause dragging, but it was not normal. either way the pins were not binding.
• Inspected the caliper bracket and even though there are Stainless clips that the brake pads ride in, the bracket had been dented where the pads sat due to how the braking forces are applied. This was a bit concerning as it created a slight divot (1/32 of an inch?) that would tend to prevent the pads from moving smoothly and might cause them to stick. It wasn't too bad but I could definitely feel the divot with my finger
• Removed brake line and the fluid was definitely dirty. This was a bit of a surprise as I completely flushed the line when I replaced the brake line earlier. It was dirty enough that it made me a little suspicious that this could be a contributor. Obviously when I reassembled the brakes I flushed the line again to get the bad fluid out
• Caliper. At a quick glance the dust seals seemed fine with nothing obviously wrong. But close inspection and testing the seals I found that they were hard, crunchy, lost a lot of their flexibility, and had numerous cracks in them (10-15 cracks each) that would easily let water and /or the elements in. I'm not sure if this was due to baking from the several times the brakes over heated, or the poor seal condition caused the overheating. But either way the seals were completely shot on a vehicle with 47,000 miles on it.
• After removing the seals, I looked a the pistons and there was a reddish orange rust residue all over the pistons and the travel was restricted and it took a lot of force to get them to even move. Clearly they were not functioning as intended and certainly contributed to the brakes dragging issue.

Fortunately I had the new caliper in hand and all I need to do was install it. While I have rebuilt calipers in the past, and been very successful at it, in this case I am glad I went with the new caliper for a couple reasons.
1. To recondition the pistons, I would have needed to sand them down in order to remove the corrosion and that would have removed the protective coating on them and/or changed the surface finish - possibly causing the same issue all over again.
2. The bracket definitely needed to be replaced as the slight damage to the old one might impact pad movement and I'd rather eliminate any potential problem.
As far as the Raybestos element 3, it seems to be very high quality and I am glad I went with it over the lower cost units at the local parts stores (14vern thanks for the suggestion). It is an all new unit not rebuilt, so hopefully this will eliminate any potential jamming issues the original OEM unit has. The entire thing is plated silver for corrosion resistance, it has a new bracket and the stainless clips that the pads float on, and the pins provide very smooth travel for the caliper assembly to float in and out. After installation there was a definite improvement in the ability for the pistons to retract and the hub to flow freely by hand.
** My conclusion is that the problem I was having most likely 80% due to the Caliper/piston actuation due to corrosion on the pistons, 10% due to the bracket interference, and possibly 10% due to the fluid condition. I will find out for sure this weekend after my trip if the problem pops back up. I am intentionally not replacing the line again so it is eliminated as a variable and I can validate the caliper as the culprit.

 

Good to hear you’ve got it worked out .

 

Did you recently change your brakes? I had a caliper clip that wasn’t in right and that happened

 

don't waste your time with it ... just change it... the dual piston setup is the problem... one piston will freeze up , especially if you live in cold snowy climate... I changed my passenger side for the very problem you described mine would act up then work fine for a month or so , until one day getting on the highway ramp I tapped the brakes and my caliper locked up almost pulling me into the guardrail ... I immediately changed it after that ... that was a year ago... now my drivers side started doing the same thing this week... terrible smell of burning brakes , but I learned my lesson and immediately changed it out...