1999 Grand Caravan Front Brakes

[Mcooper]

I starting hearing the brake wear indicator on the front brakes of my '99 Gr. Caravan. I thought this was odd because I just had the front brake pads replaced 12,000 miles ago. When I removed the front wheels to inspect the brakes, I noticed the outside pad on the driver's side was worn to about 5% remaining. The inside pad on the driver's side and both pads on the passenger side had approx. 75% remaining.

The van is equipped with ABS. I am thinking the caliper needs to be adjusted or replaced. Please help.

[neon_rt]

I've had that problem before. Had a brake job and 15K miles later needed another one. It seems that there a lot of different pad compositions available.
Even though a pad my cross reference to fit, it may not be appropriate for the Grand Caravan. The place that did my brake job, replaced the pads (free of charge) with a different brand. They said that they had changed brands and the new brand did not work properly on any of the Dodge/Chrysler vehicles they had worked on. My GC got totaled about 30K miles after the pads were replaced, so I do not know how long they would last.
I bought a '00 GC to replace the one that got wrecked. I ordered EBC slotted rotors ($119) and EBC Green Stuff Severe Duty SUV pads ($99) and had a local shop put them on for me ($65). I've only had them on there 5K miles so I don't have a long term test. The EBC brakes cut the pedal pressure that it takes to stop fast to about 1/2. It seems the hotter they get (I live on a very crooked country road) the better they bite.

[webbee]

I bet it's a stuck caliper piston causing the uneven wear. Basically it doesn't return into the bore when the breaks are released, so it wears the pad on that side. You probably will have to replace the caliper. I would also replace all the pads, not just the affected side.

[RIP]

I would lean towards binding slider/guide pin bushings. When break pressure is applied on a floating caliper the inner pad is pushed against the rotor by the direct force of the piston. The outer pad slides into contact with the rotor via the caliper sliding on the slider bushings. So...I'm thinking if the piston was sticking the inner pad would have excessive wear also.

You could try replacing the slider bushings. As webbee said though you'll probably be bettter off replacing the caliper assembly.

[Mcooper]

Thanks for the advice neon_RT, webbee, and RIP. I think I will go with replacing the caliper.

[Mcooper]

Update:
I was going to replace the driver's side caliper, but the piston did not seem to be stuck. The inside pad had much more life remaining than the outside pad and I was able to push the piston back into the caliper with a c-clamp and piece of wood.

I hopefully fixed the problem by installing new guide bolts and bushings ($18 for a set of 4) with new ltd. lifetime warranty pads ($35). I made sure I applied plenty of lubricant to the bushings and bolts. I guess only time will tell if I fixed the problem of uneven wear.

On a side note, I read somewhere that you must open the bleeder screw prior to recessing the piston back into the caliper when removing the pads. Otherwise, the ABS might get damaged by forcing the fluid back through the system. I did not loosen the bleeder screws prior to recessing the piston. While test driving the van after the repair, I tried the ABS repeatedly and it seemed to work fine.

Thanks again neon_rt, webbee, RIP