Front Brake Pad Retaining Clips - 2000 Concorde LXi

My official shop manual shows an exploded diagram of the parts
involved in brake components but it isn't detailed enough to instruct
me exactly where those little clips go in relation to the shoe, the
caliper, and the flat surface the caliper sets on at the bottom and
the top. Can anyone pain a verbal picture or direct me to a source on
the net where I can see it?

 

I assume the diagram you are referring to is the one in my post all the
way at the bottom of this page:
http://300mclub.org/forums/viewtopic.php?t=9770&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0

Scroll down to the 4th post (the one with the photos) on this page (in
the same thread): http://300mclub.org/forums/viewtopic.php?t=6503&start=30

I think those are what you are referring to, but I might be wrong -
people use the names of parts so haphazardly. The top two photos are
what would accurately be called pad retractors (they act like springs to
help push the pads away from the rotors when the brakes are not being
used to reduce/eliminate drag and help minimize wear and heat).

The bottom two photos show what I would call wear bars (I call them that
because they provide renewable rubbing surfaces so the pad ears don't
wear into the steering knuckle when they move back and forth during use
of the brakes). You would use one or the other - i.e., either the pad
retractors *OR* the wear bars. Some people use neither with no
seriously bad effects. With neither installed, the pads will sit
slightly further in on the rotors (giving slightly (but probably
insignificantly) less braking effect than if you had either the wear
bars or the retractors installed). Personally, I use the pad retractors
on both of my Concordes to minimize brake drag, heat, and wear.

I hope you are referring to one of those two parts - and if so, you can
now see exactly how they are installed.

While we are on the subject, there really is a minor issue with the pad
retainers on the front pads on the LH cars, depending on which brand of
pads you get.

See the photo and two sketches in my first post here:
http://300mclub.org/forums/viewtopic.php?t=12533

Early on, apparently there was a mix up in the information that flowed
from Chrysler to the aftermarket world on the front brake pads for the
2nd generation LH cars. The photo and the sketches in my linked post
tell the story. The pad that most aftermarket companies used to sell,
and many still do, have the wrong retainer on them (front outboard
pads). As you can see in the photo, the ends of the retainers are
*supposed* to fit in the recesses in the caliper (where the letters "KH"
are) but don't.

The photo shows the pad with the wrong retainer on it. The lower sketch
shows that the correct retainer is straight along the bottom edge, not
curved up (like a moustache) like the incorrect retainer is in the
photo. The correct retainer fits perfectly in the recesses. The good
news if you got the wrong one (because the manufacturer is too stupid or
lazy to have fixed the problem years after they were bound to have known
about it) is that the pads with the wrong retainers will work OK.
Because the retainer rests on the edge of the recess with spring
loading, the pad tends to tilt or flip into the rotor, and so may drag a
little bit. But hopefully your pads have the correct retainers.

Probably more info. than you wanted to know, but hopefully I addressed
what you were really asking about.

 

Hi Bill. Thanks for the help. Yes... it's the retractor clips I tried
to describe. I was able to find a picture on another site for Dodges.
Another individual described the problem and someone who appeared
knowledgeable can to his aid with photos. I used those as my guide and
completed teh task before I read your reply. Your pictures are
actually better than those I used. Thanks for the help ... again.

P.S, Couldn't link to the last URL you gave without a password:
http://300mclub.org/forums/viewtopic.php?t=12533

 

You're welcome. Was that Dodge site by chance www.dodgeintrepid.net,
and the info. posted by someone named "Peva"? If so - that was me.

Oops - yes - that particular thread is on a "members only" area of the
site. Hopefully you can tell from my verbal description whether your
front pads have the correct retainers or not (based on whether the ends
of the retainers nest properly in the recesses of the calipers). But
like I said, the wrong ones will work OK, they just will fit a little funky.

Glad you got the retractors figured out.