Dealer Quote for Brakes is $2K - Thinking to do it myself

[dn325ci]

Finally time to replace the brakes on my 2019, and the dealer quoted me a little over $2K, of which 1,500 or so was for the parts. I've done brakes before, and after watching a couple YT videos tonight, it looks pretty straightforward. Wondering where you guys buy parts, and if there are any gotchas?

 

[PurpleRT]

Rockauto. Fronts are straight forward. Rears since it has the electronic parking brake. You’ll need to go in your Uconnect settings on the headunit and should mention brake service which will allow the piston to retract into the caliper…do this before you remove the rear caliper or the piston will come completely out causing more work. YouTube should have a video.


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[D-dub]

Advance Auto runs discount codes on their website. Order online and pick up in store.

 

[Sportznut]

How many miles on your truck?
Wow, $2,000? That sounds like a lot of money. I guess in this crazy world we live in now maybe it's not?

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[SD Rebel]

I wouldn't use the dealership for service like that unless it was a warranty issue. Check the price of a local independent shop.

American Truck has a full rotor & pad sets for $345.99 Rear & $414.60 front ($761 total) with free shipping. Note this is their most expensive brake set for the DT RAM 1500, there are even cheaper options. This kit includes PowerStop Rotors and pads, very well reviewed by customers.

Front Set: PowerStop RAM 1500 Z23 Evolution Sport 6-Lug Brake Rotor and Pad Kit; Front K8183 (19-23 RAM 1500, Excluding TRX) - Free Shipping

Rear Set: PowerStop RAM 1500 Z36 Extreme Truck and Tow 6-Lug Brake Rotor and Pad Kit; Rear K8184-36 (19-23 RAM 1500, Excluding TRX) - Free Shipping

Buy this kit and have an Indyshop do the labor and you should be all in for $1,200 or less. $800 if you DIY it yourself, and brakes aren't hard to do.

 

[n8zcc]

2K is pricy. I took a look at Power Stops, all four corners, $850 for the kit. Before all the nonsense, the kit was under $400.

 

[Scram1500]

This 2k just for pads and rotors? I'd consider that robbery

 

[Av1]

You said you've done brakes before. It really is a DIY job that would save you a ton of money.

That's the route I would go.

 

[moosem]

I bought the PowerStop Z36 pads and rotors for my 2019 and had a local shop install them for ~ $350.

 

[Cbty2050]

I wouldn't use the dealership for service like that unless it was a warranty issue. Check the price of a local independent shop.

American Truck has a full rotor & pad sets for $345.99 Rear & $414.60 front ($761 total) with free shipping. Note this is their most expensive brake set for the DT RAM 1500, there are even cheaper options. This kit includes PowerStop Rotors and pads, very well reviewed by customers.

Front Set: PowerStop RAM 1500 Z23 Evolution Sport 6-Lug Brake Rotor and Pad Kit; Front K8183 (19-23 RAM 1500, Excluding TRX) - Free Shipping

Rear Set: PowerStop RAM 1500 Z36 Extreme Truck and Tow 6-Lug Brake Rotor and Pad Kit; Rear K8184-36 (19-23 RAM 1500, Excluding TRX) - Free Shipping

Buy this kit and have an Indyshop do the labor and you should be all in for $1,200 or less. $800 if you DIY it yourself, and brakes aren't hard to do.

All depends on the dealer.....

I work at a dealer and brakes are menu priced. Most vehicles are $395 for pads and rotors installed per axle. DT are menu priced at $495 installed per axle.

We as a dealer group price shop and have found that we are cheaper than almost every indy shop in the area on most services. We actually just raised our tire mount and balance labor from $88 to $100 for 4 tires. Alignments front end $70, four wheel $100.

 

[OldMarine]

this is nuts...$2K!!??...I picked up a set of front pads at Autozone for like $140 or so...truck doesn't come close to needing yet at 45K miles...If you can, have the rotors cut...will save you tons right there over replacing them.

 

[Dewey]

I can get a NAPA Premium pad/rotor kit for both front and rear for just over $500. Very easy to do yourself. As you have seen plenty of videos on YouTube that will explain very well if your unsure.

Paying somebody $2000 to do it is crazy. Heck I’d be glad to do the job for $1500 including parts.

 

[dn325ci]

Thanks for the encouragement - I'm with you guys. This is the second time I've had a quote from Key Chrysler in Xenia OH that seemed exorbitant. This is also coincidentally the second local dealer I've worked with since owning the truck - the first (Dave Dennis Chrysler in Dayton OH) had super aggressive and frankly poor customer service practices, which I'm usually not even picky about. This is my first Ram or Chrysler product, and I love the truck but my local dealers are not good in my experience so far.

I'll just do it myself. I was going to use Mopar parts, though on Rock Auto they are at least 30% dearer for rotors and Mopar pads are nearly 2x. I liked the OEM stuff, as it lasted a long time (my truck has 130K now) but do you guys think it's work it? Total is already $700 before shipping in my Rockauto cart, and that's without the front pad kit, which Rockauto doesn't seem to have the OEM version of.

 

[PurpleRT]

Usually I stick with OEM when it comes to rotors and then use better 3rd party ceramic pads but Powerstop is well known and have not read anything negative about them. I’m currently running their pads and love the extra bite and lower brake dust compared to the factory setup.


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[Darksteel165]

I get whatever Autozone sells since you get free brake pads for life after the original purchase. Rockauto is good too if I need to get rotors for someone.

It's extremally unlikely you even need rotors unless you are at 80k+ miles.

Pads should be under $150 and rotors should be under $600.

Only 1-2 hours of labor at a regular shop. Would only take me 2 hours to do it and that's being generous.

 

[Mountain Whiskey]

Really? $2k? What do they consider a brake job? They replacing calipers, master cylinder and all the brake lines too?

I was just checking Brembo replacements on my SRT and I can get 4 rotors and ceramic pads for $780. WTF?

 

[dn325ci]

Really? $2k? What do they consider a brake job? They replacing calipers, master cylinder and all the brake lines too?

I was just checking Brembo replacements on my SRT and I can get 4 rotors and ceramic pads for $780. WTF?

I know right. This price was for front and rear rotors, front and rear brake pads, and the labor to change them. $2K. I was stunned. Given it was a dealer, I was expecting maybe as much as $1K, and at that price or high hundreds I might have said yes, but I was shocked. The service advisor exhibited no surprise, and sounded like this was the usual rate.

 

[bigdodge]

are you sure you need rotors?

 

[SD Rebel]

The only issue I have of not changing the rotors is that they can get machined a bit thin (but within spec) and start warping sooner rather than later.

I rather change them and eat the cost up front than pay to have them machined and have do it again in a year or two because my steering wheel starts to shake when braking because the rotors got hot and warped.

This maybe more prevalent with German sedans, but it did happen to My Expedition before. After that, I just change the rotors whenever the pads need to be replace, which for me is rare since I am generally not hard on my brakes and tend to last a long time.

 

[OldMarine]

The only issue I have of not changing the rotors is that they can get machined a bit thin (but within spec) and start warping sooner rather than later.

I rather change them and eat the cost up front than pay to have them machined and have do it again in a year or two because my steering wheel starts to shake when braking because the rotors got hot and warped.

This maybe more prevalent with German sedans, but it did happen to My Expedition before. After that, I just change the rotors whenever the pads need to be replace, which for me is rare since I am generally not hard on my brakes and tend to last a long time.

as long as the rotors are still withing spec AFTER they get cut...you should be good for a long time. A tip for getting more life out of a rotor...if you do a moderate-hard stop, like coming off a highway exit, where you go from say 80 down to a full stop, when you come to the stop, let your foot off the brake a bit so the truck can roll forward a foot. This wil help prevent warping from a hot spot.