A friend who has one that is about a year and a half old started having pulsating brakes about a month or so ago. The dealer said that part of the car was out of warranty and refused to help him. He called Chrysler and ended up talking with a "ditsy-sounding girl" who said brakes are only covered for one year. He told her he'd just go back to buying Chevys and she didn't even respond. He ended up replacing the front rotors at his expense to fix the problem. Seems to me that the rotors should have been covered, especially since they were apparently defective. I can understand why the pads would NOT be covered.
The $tealerships have quite a scam going on these days.
This has been verified by so called $tealership 'technicians that post here.
The rotors and aluminum rims have needed to be put on with a proper torque wrench for years and years, we started having to do that back in the 70's even.
If they are not torqued, the rotors 'will' warp. The rims can even warp too, but that isn't as usual to hear about.
These 'techies' that post here say they weren't taught how to use a torque wrench on wheels so it isn't 'their' fault they screwed you. Un huh....
The best scam is they get you to let them rotate the tires for 'free'. LOL! Ya right, then suddenly 2 weeks later you need new front brakes.
It is a total BS intentional rip off by the $tealerships. The best they use 'sometimes' is what is called a torque stick on a hammer drill. Supposedly these will torque on a wheel. They just don't work for shit. New they have well over a +/- 5% which can make the wheel be at
95 ft lb or 105 ft lb. Reality says the sticks are more like over 10% off. which can make them vary from 90 to 110, way more than enough to screw the rotors.
You can get a decent enough torque wrench in the $30.00 range to double check your own lug nuts. It is recommended.
If you want an eye opener, just go look in the service bays of the local $tealership and see how many techs just hammer the lug nuts on with that gun, rather than spinning the nuts on and hand finishing them.
Mike
86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail >
Sorry Bill, but you're wrong. Check section F, page 6 of the 2004 Grand Warranty. I just did my '04. New pads and rotors. You can find the warranty doc here:
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It states, without exception:
F. When It Ends
The Basic Limited Warranty lasts for 36 months from the date it begins or for 36,000 miles on the odometer,
whichever occurs first. But the following items are covered only for 12 months or for 12,000 miles on the
Check out the date Bill. The Calipers were changed out for the recall and a different manufacturer was used for them from the recall on. Believe you me, if I didn't have to spend almost $400.00 to make it right, I sure wouldn't have. That was the SYE for my 91 YJ.
There is no recall on the 2004 Grand for the brakes. 12K miles or 12 months and you're out of luck.... 2002 Grand is a totally different story.
05-003-02B DEC 02 Brakes - Pulsation During Light to Moderate Application
A month ago, I replaced the front rotors pads and on a 2003 WJ with 29,000 miles. The OEM pads were less than half-worn but the rotors were warped like a roller coaster. Aftermarket manufacturers have replacement brake parts that are much better than OEM. I opted for Brembo rotors and Akebono ceramic pads and the brakes are better now than when the vehicle was new. Tire Rack and Rock Auto are a couple of decent on-line sources for parts. You'll likely find many more recommendations of vendors and their customer feedback by reading this newsgroup regularly.
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