Im glad you talked about slide pins grease importance / facts and not the ridiculous online controversial topic of greased pad ears...lol.....but I really appreciate the 1986 cigarette machine and the Payphone on the wall i seen in othe video..... Happy wrenching
I will never replace pads and clips with out carefully scraping/cleaning the seat area that the clips and then the pad ends sit on. They usually have corrosion build up on them and cause the clips to sit high. This makes it hard for the pad to move properly which can cause excess heat and premature wear. Try it, remove pads clean the seat under the clip and see how much better the pad moves when reinstalled. It's great to have the pins lubricated and moving easily but if the pad can't slide in its seat you will still have problems. Btw if you insert the pry bar in the right place you can compress the pistons a little so the caliper doesn't have to be forced to remove it from the bracket. You just lift it out.
Keep the videos coming. Work vans take a beating and we need to keep them on the road. Like most vehicles, these Promasters have their own idiosyncrasies; leaking cowls, corroding drl sockets, coolant leaks, etc. Wish you were closer to work on mine
I changed my pads at 66k... the were not wore out but I was going on a trip and thought it was time. The one edge showed some deterioration. I did drive up Pikes Peak and grind my way down in 1st gear. You have to stop to get it to downshift into 1st gear. No vibration or warping... thanks for the video. Might need to grease my pins 👍
The only problem I have with not changing the rotors each time you change pads is that the last time I tried only doing pads, there was a little noise being made with the new pads because there was a very small groove in the rotors from where the end of the pads were touching the rotor. Since you can't really tell if your rotor is smooth until after you remove the tire and ready to do the brake job, it's hard to tell you will get away with not needing new rotors.
That's true, although generally new pads will conform to an old rotor in pretty short order. But the truth is the parts for Promasters are so cheap that it may make sense to have the rotors and pads on hand, and just do both at once. Certainly won't hurt anything to replace them.
If the brake pad indicator light is triggered by the circuit being completed as the contact in the worn pad touches the rotor we are running electricity through our wheel bearing at that point if it's only a single wire going to the pad. Likely only 5 ish volts, low amps but hey, still. I have found as I'm sure you have that a sticky caliper wears the rotor thinner in one area of rotation hence you get a pedal pulse upon braking. A warped rotor from overheating or other damage results in steering wheel jiggle upon braking.
I could be wrong, but at least on this van really the ONLY thing that causes warped rotors is a stuck slider. Lug nut torque isn't going to do it, hot rotors going through puddles isn't going to do it. To date, I have literally only seen the brake pad wear indicators work correctly ONCE. Once in 8 years now! I suppose the good news that even though they don't work, they don't fire the light. Instead, use the tried and true method of "hey, may brakes are grinding and I'm not stopping. I betcha I need new pads!"
@@promastersonly1419 From my perspective view of the rotor in the video the rotor surfaces looked very thick, thicker than I would have expected. Likely that's why they are hard to warp. I haven't had my front tires off yet as my '20 only has 3700 miles on it. Been keeping my eye on the Promaster since about '14 when they came out here in the US of A, was leary of them as being a Fiat Dukato but in watching videos as time went along I could see they were mechanically solid and saved my bucks and got lucky and pulled the trigger in April of '20 at $34K for a hightop 2500 159" just before the prices exploded. They are a lightweight vehicle, I ran mine across the scales with a full tank of gas, new, weighed exactly 5000 lb.
@@JG-kv4oi I'm convinced that the common view of things is dead wrong; the Italians make excellent vehicles as do the French. The Germans make crap because they are bad engineers. I have other videos on what breaks and what doesn't, and the stuff that doesn't is pretty impressive.
😅I'm not convinced yet that you are a professionnal. A lot of hidden jokes inserted into funky adapted technical stuff so maybe you are a sionnal only. But at least you do the job and it will work good. Thanks again very entertaining and informative after sorting both ! I would like to see you replacing the Turboencabulator in the promaster.
That’s one thing I know. I have done hundreds of brake jobs in my life. Funny thing , at 85K the Promaster’s breaks are still like new. The cig machine is sick.
I have a diesel too, like it. That turbo rocks- great acceleration and even better mileage. Diesels have much fewer parts to break, but when they do, are pricey.
I’m bummed, my 2021 Promaster 3500 has really been a gem. I had it at my daughters house earlier this summer and I noticed that a chipmunk was sneaking around and I was exuberant about chasing the stupid little thing away. Came back this fall and forgot about that bugger ! Chewed the line and the censor wire. I’m in Knoxville and at the mercy of the dodge dealer who claims he has no idea when parts will show. I wonder, he claimed I needed brake pads cause pads have been corrupted by the fluid. I drove 10 miles with the leak,only 16000 miles on van . There parts that hard to get?
Skip the dealer bullshit. We use the same Powerstop pads they sell at Autozone, and they work fine. The sensors literally never work, so dont let them hold you up.
Funny you mention it. Over the years we learned NOT to replace them. The bearing costs like $130 from the dealer, and you have to take the spindle off, take it to a machine shop, they press out/in the new bearing. Invariably they put it in backwards so the ABS doesn't work. Then you put it all back together. Instead, we learned that for $60-75 you can buy a complete spindle from a low mileage wrecked van, bolt it in and you're done. You get a working abs sensor, often a caliper and a disc (not that you'd reuse them). Cheaper, quicker, better to do it that way. Search car-part.com for "spindle" or "knuckle".
hi,love your channel I have a 2016 promaster 1500 and I"m getting clunking sound from the right side. My mechanic told that I need ball joints and struts, which complete struts would you recommend there are so many out there but which one is good , original ones lasted only 50k , thank you so much for your time.Regards Jan
So far as I know, there are only a couple of companies offering complete strut cartridges. Both are ok. Why struts go bad is kind of a roll of the dice thing.
@@janbogdan9188 Of struts? Either of the two that Rockauto sells are ok. OE is better, but 3x the price because you have to build them from individual parts.
Hey Kip, thanks for the info and the entertainment - glad I discovered your channel. I’m contemplating giving this a shot on my 2500 tall roof PM. How strong of a floor jack is needed to lift this beast, and how heavy duty do the axle stands need to be? Also, and I know this sounds dumb, but where exactly do you put the axle stands? Thanks a bunch!
Harbor freight sells what you need - the 3 ton jack and the 3 ton jack stands. I jack up by the factory jacking pedestals, then put the jack stands directly under the frame to the rear of them. So far, I haven't been crushed a falling van yet!
Hi Kip, I've learned a lot from your videos. Thanks. My rear view camera doesn't work at times...on and off every other backing up. Any thoughts.. suggestions? Thanks, Frank
@@promastersonly1419well hell guess I need to do it the right way. I was just planning on using the tire jack the van comes with and my tire and some hope, prayer and a half of brain apparently 😂
I'm sure there is, but it wont matter because nobody turns rotors these days, and why would you at $50 a rotor for new. I would also add that if the rotor is warped, turning it is mostly just a bandaid. Others may disagree, but I'm cool with doing a pad slap as long as the rotor isn't warped. More to the point, the rotor didn't warp just because it's fun, something MADE it warp and that something is a stuck caliper piston that's putting uneven squeeze on the pads. So turning the rotor will only make it rewarp, and sooner.
@@michaelculhane3058 My personal use case doesn't use a lot of brakes, but I want to say I have front rotors with 400,000 miles on them. I know I have rear rotors with 600,000+
@@promastersonly1419 That's impressive. Well I'm not going to worry about it with my light build, 2 bikes and mostly hwy trips. Thanks for all the info, you are a gentleman and a scholar. And some other things thrown in to keep it interesting, and that's what makes you great!
The cable is adjusted at the turnbuckle, but each parking brake is adjusted individually inside the drum with a star wheel adjuster, just like any drum brake. Look up some vids on drum brakes and you’ll see how it works. Getting those right is more important than the cable adjustment.
My new promaster 3500 makes noise in the front when coming to a stop. Like a budging noise I guess best describes it. 3000 miles, maybe cause it's new? Your thoughts?
Hard to say. What I would do is get a fat friend to jump around inside the van, get the suspension working, then see if you can find the source of the noise. I'd wild guess it as something in or near the front struts, maybe.
I've heard that too, and I suppose it's possible but I'm skeptical. Water would cool the rotor evenly, and a rotor is a pretty thick piece of metal that seems to me would need more than one thermal shock to warp. But I could be wrong.
Yes. They are meant to slide freely and easily. If they are sticky when you do your brake job, you can pound on them a little with a socket or whatever to get them to slide out - then relube and reinsert them. If they are siezed and simply wont budge, you are into it for a new bracketed caliper.
Thank you kip! Might be an obvious thing to most but What direction would the outside metal part slide come out of the caliper from? The rubber side or the side that the pin goes into?
2022-up have differences, but nothing will be substantially different in the braking system itself at the wheel. That stuff hasn't really changed in 30 years, and there's nothing weird or different on the Promaster.
Mostly identical. There were/are two rear brake packages on the Promaster. Solid rear rotors, and vented rear rotors. The majority are vented, I've only ever seen solid on 1500s. Vented means a space between the two disc halves, solid is solid. That dictates different calipers and pads. Check yours before you order parts.
For brakes? All modern brakes are pretty much the same. I'd be surprised if the City was substantially different. But I've never worked on one personally.
Im glad you talked about slide pins grease importance / facts and not the ridiculous online controversial topic of greased pad ears...lol.....but I really appreciate the 1986 cigarette machine and the Payphone on the wall i seen in othe video.....
Happy wrenching
@@chadsmobilemechanics thanks dude. I converted the cig machine into a secret bar!
With garage’s having two month waits this is helpful. Just waiting on someone to help me bleed my breaks
This video is amazing. I felt like he was directly talking to me 🫡. Thank you, sir. God bless you.
Thanks. Hope it was helpful.
No gloves HF light... your my people! Thanks for keeping my promaster rolling and stopping 😉
Grubby mechanics of the world, Unite!!
I will never replace pads and clips with out carefully scraping/cleaning the seat area that the clips and then the pad ends sit on. They usually have corrosion build up on them and cause the clips to sit high. This makes it hard for the pad to move properly which can cause excess heat and premature wear. Try it, remove pads clean the seat under the clip and see how much better the pad moves when reinstalled. It's great to have the pins lubricated and moving easily but if the pad can't slide in its seat you will still have problems.
Btw if you insert the pry bar in the right place you can compress the pistons a little so the caliper doesn't have to be forced to remove it from the bracket. You just lift it out.
All good tips. Thank you!
I like your sense of humor 😂
Golden. The best break video on CZcams!
Thanks for this!
I just discovered your channel and am loving it. Love the reasoning and of course sense of humor. Keep them coming please.
Thanks. Appreciate you watching.
I will change my brakes for my self soon, good tips I appreciate
Keep the videos coming. Work vans take a beating and we need to keep them on the road.
Like most vehicles, these Promasters have their own idiosyncrasies; leaking cowls, corroding drl sockets, coolant leaks, etc.
Wish you were closer to work on mine
Thanks. We're all in this together!
I changed my pads at 66k... the were not wore out but I was going on a trip and thought it was time. The one edge showed some deterioration. I did drive up Pikes Peak and grind my way down in 1st gear. You have to stop to get it to downshift into 1st gear. No vibration or warping... thanks for the video. Might need to grease my pins 👍
66k is about normal. Nothing particularly special about the braking system in the Promaster.
Always love your videos and your jokes, every one of ‘em 😂😂🙏 and lord knows we need all the laughs we can get these days!!!
Thanks dude.
Very informative and entertaining. learned a lot from your videos. thank u.
Great stuff - keep up the awesome work.
Thanks for the heads up !
I just replaced the pads and cut the sensors. Everything works fine.
Yup. If you keep the sliders lubed, you'll get decades out of everything but the pads. That's how it's "supposed" to work. Pad slap.
Mmm asbestos lol, thanks for the video!
you are absolutely correct! A properly functioning caliper will never damage the disk. thank you for sharing the valuable information!
You are welcome, sir!
good video
Outstanding
The only problem I have with not changing the rotors each time you change pads is that the last time I tried only doing pads, there was a little noise being made with the new pads because there was a very small groove in the rotors from where the end of the pads were touching the rotor. Since you can't really tell if your rotor is smooth until after you remove the tire and ready to do the brake job, it's hard to tell you will get away with not needing new rotors.
That's true, although generally new pads will conform to an old rotor in pretty short order. But the truth is the parts for Promasters are so cheap that it may make sense to have the rotors and pads on hand, and just do both at once. Certainly won't hurt anything to replace them.
I'm never going to replace the brakes myself. I like watching you do it though. Might wanna go easy on the asbestos salad dressing. 😛
Delicious.
If the brake pad indicator light is triggered by the circuit being completed as the contact in the worn pad touches the rotor we are running electricity through our wheel bearing at that point if it's only a single wire going to the pad. Likely only 5 ish volts, low amps but hey, still.
I have found as I'm sure you have that a sticky caliper wears the rotor thinner in one area of rotation hence you get a pedal pulse upon braking. A warped rotor from overheating or other damage results in steering wheel jiggle upon braking.
I could be wrong, but at least on this van really the ONLY thing that causes warped rotors is a stuck slider. Lug nut torque isn't going to do it, hot rotors going through puddles isn't going to do it.
To date, I have literally only seen the brake pad wear indicators work correctly ONCE. Once in 8 years now! I suppose the good news that even though they don't work, they don't fire the light. Instead, use the tried and true method of "hey, may brakes are grinding and I'm not stopping. I betcha I need new pads!"
@@promastersonly1419 From my perspective view of the rotor in the video the rotor surfaces looked very thick, thicker than I would have expected. Likely that's why they are hard to warp. I haven't had my front tires off yet as my '20 only has 3700 miles on it. Been keeping my eye on the Promaster since about '14 when they came out here in the US of A, was leary of them as being a Fiat Dukato but in watching videos as time went along I could see they were mechanically solid and saved my bucks and got lucky and pulled the trigger in April of '20 at $34K for a hightop 2500 159" just before the prices exploded. They are a lightweight vehicle, I ran mine across the scales with a full tank of gas, new, weighed exactly 5000 lb.
@@JG-kv4oi I'm convinced that the common view of things is dead wrong; the Italians make excellent vehicles as do the French. The Germans make crap because they are bad engineers. I have other videos on what breaks and what doesn't, and the stuff that doesn't is pretty impressive.
Thank you
i wanna Buy One and Get One!!!
That's my guarantee! You buy one, you'll get one. Not two, but not none!
@@promastersonly1419 How much, I am on my way!!!
😅I'm not convinced yet that you are a professionnal. A lot of hidden jokes inserted into funky adapted technical stuff so maybe you are a sionnal only. But at least you do the job and it will work good.
Thanks again very entertaining and informative after sorting both !
I would like to see you replacing the Turboencabulator in the promaster.
I'm a big fan of the turboencabulator! No other encabulator encabulates better!
did you ever try to encabulate your promaster by the back? With doors open, i don't think you will feel something! lol @@promastersonly1419
That’s one thing I know. I have done hundreds of brake jobs in my life. Funny thing , at 85K the Promaster’s breaks are still like new. The cig machine is sick.
It's basically Brembo stuff from the factory. Very happy with the braking system on this van.
Could you do the rear brakes with the e- brake included. I have a diesel promaster. Ugh.
Will get to it eventually.
I have a diesel too, like it. That turbo rocks- great acceleration and even better mileage.
Diesels have much fewer parts to break, but when they do, are pricey.
I’m bummed, my 2021 Promaster 3500 has really been a gem. I had it at my daughters house earlier this summer and I noticed that a chipmunk was sneaking around and I was exuberant about chasing the stupid little thing away. Came back this fall and forgot about that bugger ! Chewed the line and the censor wire. I’m in Knoxville and at the mercy of the dodge dealer who claims he has no idea when parts will show. I wonder, he claimed I needed brake pads cause pads have been corrupted by the fluid. I drove 10 miles with the leak,only 16000 miles on van . There parts that hard to get?
Skip the dealer bullshit. We use the same Powerstop pads they sell at Autozone, and they work fine. The sensors literally never work, so dont let them hold you up.
Nice !!
Would like to see front wheel bearing replaced
Funny you mention it. Over the years we learned NOT to replace them. The bearing costs like $130 from the dealer, and you have to take the spindle off, take it to a machine shop, they press out/in the new bearing. Invariably they put it in backwards so the ABS doesn't work. Then you put it all back together. Instead, we learned that for $60-75 you can buy a complete spindle from a low mileage wrecked van, bolt it in and you're done. You get a working abs sensor, often a caliper and a disc (not that you'd reuse them). Cheaper, quicker, better to do it that way. Search car-part.com for "spindle" or "knuckle".
hi,love your channel I have a 2016 promaster 1500 and I"m getting clunking sound from the right side. My mechanic told that I need ball joints and struts, which complete struts would you recommend there are so many out there but which one is good , original ones lasted only 50k , thank you so much for your time.Regards Jan
So far as I know, there are only a couple of companies offering complete strut cartridges. Both are ok. Why struts go bad is kind of a roll of the dice thing.
@@promastersonly1419 Which brand would you reccomend from your experience , thank you
@@janbogdan9188 Of struts? Either of the two that Rockauto sells are ok. OE is better, but 3x the price because you have to build them from individual parts.
Whats the torque for the caliper bracket bolts? I see 275 ft lbs on other searches, seems rather beasty.
125 fl/lbs.
@@promastersonly1419 Thank you, thats sounds much more better.🙂
Hey Kip, thanks for the info and the entertainment - glad I discovered your channel. I’m contemplating giving this a shot on my 2500 tall roof PM. How strong of a floor jack is needed to lift this beast, and how heavy duty do the axle stands need to be? Also, and I know this sounds dumb, but where exactly do you put the axle stands? Thanks a bunch!
Harbor freight sells what you need - the 3 ton jack and the 3 ton jack stands. I jack up by the factory jacking pedestals, then put the jack stands directly under the frame to the rear of them. So far, I haven't been crushed a falling van yet!
Hi Kip, I've learned a lot from your videos. Thanks. My rear view camera doesn't work at times...on and off every other backing up. Any thoughts.. suggestions? Thanks, Frank
@@promastersonly1419well hell guess I need to do it the right way. I was just planning on using the tire jack the van comes with and my tire and some hope, prayer and a half of brain apparently 😂
@@bluecrushmama6083 The stock stuff works, but not very well.
Thank you Kip. BTW, I don’t think Josephine came here to learn about Promaster brake jobs!
You may be right. At least this time the porn spam is in German. I do like a variety.
Is there a minimum thickness for the rotor? I have a Digital Caliper Gauge
I'm sure there is, but it wont matter because nobody turns rotors these days, and why would you at $50 a rotor for new. I would also add that if the rotor is warped, turning it is mostly just a bandaid. Others may disagree, but I'm cool with doing a pad slap as long as the rotor isn't warped. More to the point, the rotor didn't warp just because it's fun, something MADE it warp and that something is a stuck caliper piston that's putting uneven squeeze on the pads. So turning the rotor will only make it rewarp, and sooner.
@@promastersonly1419 Thanks! Kip. wasn't really worried about warp, more wearing them too thin someday.
@@michaelculhane3058 My personal use case doesn't use a lot of brakes, but I want to say I have front rotors with 400,000 miles on them. I know I have rear rotors with 600,000+
@@promastersonly1419 That's impressive. Well I'm not going to worry about it with my light build, 2 bikes and mostly hwy trips. Thanks for all the info, you are a gentleman and a scholar. And some other things thrown in to keep it interesting, and that's what makes you great!
I need help adjusting the parking brake cable, I put a new cable on one side and the other ones is completely tight but the new one is loose. Any tip?
The cable is adjusted at the turnbuckle, but each parking brake is adjusted individually inside the drum with a star wheel adjuster, just like any drum brake. Look up some vids on drum brakes and you’ll see how it works. Getting those right is more important than the cable adjustment.
My new promaster 3500 makes noise in the front when coming to a stop. Like a budging noise I guess best describes it. 3000 miles, maybe cause it's new? Your thoughts?
Hard to say. What I would do is get a fat friend to jump around inside the van, get the suspension working, then see if you can find the source of the noise. I'd wild guess it as something in or near the front struts, maybe.
I believe that one way of warping a rotor is after lots of breaking and heating it up... Drive through a water puddle... Any thoughts on that?
I've heard that too, and I suppose it's possible but I'm skeptical. Water would cool the rotor evenly, and a rotor is a pretty thick piece of metal that seems to me would need more than one thermal shock to warp. But I could be wrong.
@@JohnBaker3000 True, though because of siezed slides we have warped rotors in the past.
@16:17 how does one relube the outside metal part you mentioned at the end? Do they just come out if properly lubed and gotten to in time kinda thing?
Yes. They are meant to slide freely and easily. If they are sticky when you do your brake job, you can pound on them a little with a socket or whatever to get them to slide out - then relube and reinsert them. If they are siezed and simply wont budge, you are into it for a new bracketed caliper.
Thank you kip! Might be an obvious thing to most but What direction would the outside metal part slide come out of the caliper from?
The rubber side or the side that the pin goes into?
@@AwakeningProcedure The pins and the big bolts that hold the caliper on all slide out toward the center of the van.
Why are you using a rear screw in brake caliper tool to compress a dual pistons front caliper
Because my big C clamp is tied up with a woodworking project.
Hello kip, I have solid rotors on my promaster can the vented work also?
Good question. The solid rotors are less common that the vented ones, but I believe all the other parts (pads, clips, etc) are the same.
What size it's the alen for the bracket?
14, which I assume is 14mm.
Thanks for your reply.
Is this applicable for a 2022 Chassis?
2022-up have differences, but nothing will be substantially different in the braking system itself at the wheel. That stuff hasn't really changed in 30 years, and there's nothing weird or different on the Promaster.
Thanks Your knowledge is appreciated!
What about rear brakes?? Same process?
Mostly identical. There were/are two rear brake packages on the Promaster. Solid rear rotors, and vented rear rotors. The majority are vented, I've only ever seen solid on 1500s. Vented means a space between the two disc halves, solid is solid. That dictates different calipers and pads. Check yours before you order parts.
@ProMasters Only Thank you sir! I appreciate the advice. Great video by the way
Promaster city. Same? Or nah
For brakes? All modern brakes are pretty much the same. I'd be surprised if the City was substantially different. But I've never worked on one personally.
James brown was wrong ...its a vans world 😂
Good one. I'm stealing that.