Hi, I'm cross-posting to the Dodge pickup forum as I understand that the pickups and the vans have a lot of the same parts, and maybe the same problems.

I have a 1997 Dodge Ram 3500 van that I use to haul my llamas and equipment in to shows, pack trials, etc. I bought this vehicle used last year and had Mechanic #1 replace the worn front brake pads soon after I got it. The first time that I used it heavily loaded with llamas and gear in warm weather the left front brake started to lock up, heat up and smoke. I managed to limp into the shop of Mechanic #2 who took the wheel apart, cooled down the brake with water, bled some of the brake fluid, and sent me on my way for the price of a few sodas. Nice guy.

This seemed to do the trick, until I was coming back from an event, loaded with couple of animals and gear, descending a steep winding mountain road. The brakes again heated up and the left front locked up. This time I sprayed water on it until it was cool enough to release. I took the van back to Mechanic #1 who checked the brakes and said he couldn't find anything wrong and sent me on my way. No charge. Nice guy.

The van worked fine for a while, but then scenario number two happened again on the same mountain. Both front brakes seemed to be involved this time.

In a couple of weeks I will be traveling with a big load down some steep grades, and really want to have this problem fixed. I'm about to take the van to a mechanic to get the brakes worked on, and I'd like to have a clue about what might be wrong so that I don't end up replacing the entire system, piece by piece. Anyone have experience with this or at least a suggestion for where to start?

Thanks for any help you can offer,
LlamaLadySG

I`d make sure that your calipers are ok, they could be hanging up, another area to check would be the rear brakes. Not only do you want to make sure you have plenty of material left but you want to make sure that they are adjusted properly otherwise the front brakes are going to do more work than they have to. Rear drum brakes have an automatic adjuster but if the last time the shoes were replaced and no one took it apart, cleaned and lubricated it it could be frozen therefore not keepeing your rear brakes adjusted properly. Hope this might help you out. Keep us updated on what the outcome is

The calipers could cause this to happen if the van has not been drove for a long period of time (months/years). check the fluid and make sure it is clean, also the mechanic that did your brake job could have left the calipers hanging from the rubber hose that connects to the caliper while he was changing the brake pads causing the inside of the brakeline to rupture. If the inside of the rubber brake line ruptures it will cause the brake line to hold pressure untill it sits for a while slowly bleeding back. I'd replace both front brakelines being that they are fairly cheap. If this doesn't fix it than you probably will have to replace the brake shuttle valve located on the frame underneath the master cylinder.