i want to grind my brake calipers to run 16 inch rims. i was tol you only have to grind on the fronts to fit them the rear will clear 16's is this true??

 

I have no idea if this is true, just curious as to why you want to run 16's?

 

that is a lot of grinding....... sure it may fit, sure you may be ok, but what about the next time you have to panic stop? will the calipers hold? or will you snap them and kill someone?

 

 

Have a look at the rears with your 17" rims on, it's pretty tight I think.

They have big brakes for a reason, these things are heavy, I wouldn't do it.

 

You can get away with 16.5" pretty easy, with minimul grinding, but it's not really worth it, 16" would be a lot work. Honestly, saying these trucks are "heavy" and need bigger brakes therefore bigger rims is just not the case. They are not a heavy truck at all in comparision to big rigs on the road. If you really want to run 16" rims, you'd be better off going back to 2nd gen parts, which had no problems stopping with 16" rims btw.

 

how much labor and parts would be involved going to 2nd gen parts to run 16's the reason i want to do this is to run slicks. plus i like the smaller rims in race applications.

 

No kidding!!
When I said heavy, I wasn't comparing it to a semi! I think semis have a slightly different braking system!

My truck weighs close to 8000 pounds empty, the weight on the front axle alone weighs more than my son's Dakota, that's pretty heavy in my books.

Bigger brakes stop better, it's pretty simple. Plus considering our trucks GVW and what they can tow I think you'd be making a mistake downgrading the factory brakes. When you get in a panic braking situation I'd think you'd want all the braking you could get. If you didn't stop in time and something terrible was the result and they inspected the truck and found what you'd done I think you'd have some explaining to do.

If CHW's truck is only driven at the rack and not on the road at all that's a different story I spose.

 

In this day and age when everyone is suing everyone else there is NO way I would grind something as important as calipers! Get a spare pair of 17 rims and get slicks that fit those rims!

 

2nd gens had 16" rims, and quite a bit smaller brakes with no issues at all. Bigger is not always better. 8000lbs is nothing, look at a trailer for example, 7000lbs axle, 16" rim. 8000lbs truck is nothing, even when fully loaded to 11300lbs or whatever it is, that's not much. And a trailer has to stop itself, if a 18000lbs trailer can't stop itself, your tiny bit bigger brakes ain't going to change a thing, it would be pushing the truck for quite a while.

If you got in an accident and they seen grinded down calipers they couldn't do anything, I don't get why anyone thinks changing equipment like that will do ANYTHING. As long as it's operational and not self destructed, it doesn't matter.

Not sure how much work it would be, i'd imagine you'd pretty much need to swap axles, but the problem is, quite a few parts are mounted on the frame differently. It is easily doable, but can't see it being worth the bother for all that work.

 

Bigger IS better when it comes to brakes.

They stopped making 2 gens 7 years ago, why go back to old technology?

If you t-boned a car cuz you couldn't stop in time and killed a buncha people and they found undersized brakes I think they'd have a case, especially in the U.S.

Like I said originally, I wouldn't do it for anything driven on the street, I'd look for some 17" slicks.

 

Old technology? Have you looked at many things comparing the two? The 2nd gen is far superior in MANY aspects. Just because it's newer does not mean it's better. Dodge changed a LOT of good things to garbage.

There is no way to determine undersized brakes. Someone could try to say they are undersized because you add larger tires, don't mean anything. You wouldn't have a case at all, as long as the brakes are functioning properly. Fact of life, the bigger the vehicle, the more it takes to stop. Natural selection takes care of a lot of people one way or another

If you want to run 16" rims, do the work, all the power to yea, don't worry about any problems, because you won't have any.

 

Hmmm, maybe you get it after all?

Didn't 2nd gens have drum breaks on the rear? Maybe he should try that?

 

I don't think there's any way an accident investigater would determine undersized non-stock brakes as the cause of an accident. As a general rule, they just don't look that close. You either stop or you don't.

A lot of factory calipers have additional bosses and casting flash that can be removed if a smidgen more clearance is needed. But more than a smidgen is really pushing your luck.

It's always good to have better brakes. And, bigger is not always better. There are a number of facters that contribute to overall braking power. Rotos size is one of them. You can go with a smaller rotor, if you increase caliper pressure and improve pad composition.

Smaller wheels have an advantage at the drag strip, and in rock crawling. They also provide a slightly softer highway ride. The trade off is decreased handeling in the turns, and in evasive manouvers. Life's full of trade offs.

 

Dodge is cheap, I am pretty sure that those brakes are as small as possible! Dodge would not want to waste $$$ on calipers that were over built.