2009-2020 Dodge Charger Front vs Rear Brakes: What Wears First and What to Replace

By Core Brake Parts Tech Team — Circleville, OH warehouse

On a 2009-2020 Dodge Charger the front brakes wear first on almost every car, usually by a wide margin, because the fronts do most of the stopping. The exception is a Charger whose rear pads are dragging or whose stability control works the rear brakes hard, so always measure both ends before you buy parts. The right parts also depend on which of the four factory brake packages your car has, and those packages use very different rotors and calipers.

Why the Front Brakes Do Most of the Work

When you brake, the car's weight shifts forward. The nose dips, the front tires get pressed harder into the road, and the rear tires lose grip. Summit Racing's tech notes say typical rear-wheel-drive cars run a 60 to 70 percent front brake bias. The Motorist Assurance Program puts the front share of braking at about 70 percent. Engineers set it up this way on purpose. If the brakes were split 50/50, the rear wheels would lock first and the car could spin.

The Charger is a heavy rear-wheel-drive sedan (all-wheel drive on some trims), and it follows the same rule. More braking force at the front means more heat and more friction material worn off the front pads and rotors on every stop. That is why most Charger owners replace front pads more often than rear pads. The exact ratio depends on how and where you drive, so check instead of assuming.

Know Your Charger's Brake Package First

The most common mistake with Charger brakes is ordering parts by year alone. Dodge built the car with several brake packages that share almost no rotors or calipers. Here is how the factory 2020 Charger specification sheet from FCA lists them:

A few things stand out. On the base Sport package the rear rotor is a thin solid disc while the front is vented. On every package the front rotor is at least as large as the rear and usually larger. On the Brembo cars the fronts get more pistons than the rears. All of this reflects the front-heavy brake bias described above.

These sizes come from the 2020 specification sheet. Package names and which trim got which package changed over the 2011-2020 years, and 2009-2010 Chargers are the earlier body style with their own brake hardware. Before ordering, confirm your car's parts by trim and option code, or measure the rotor diameter and count the caliper pistons. FCA's own recall 19V-758 shows how much this matters: it covered 173 2019 Chargers and Challengers that left the factory with an incompatible front wheel and brake package, which could let the front tire rub the steering knuckle.

Symptoms: Which End Needs Attention?

Front and rear brake problems feel different from the driver's seat:

• Pulsation in the steering wheel during braking usually points to the front rotors, since the fronts handle most of the heat.
• Pulsation you feel in the seat or brake pedal but not the wheel is more often a rear rotor.
• A high-pitched squeal that comes and goes is often a pad wear indicator touching the rotor. Find which corner it is coming from before you buy parts.
• Grinding means the friction material is gone and the backing plate is touching the rotor. Stop driving on it. That corner needs rotors as well as pads.
• A hot, smelly wheel after a drive on one corner points to a sticking caliper or slide pins on that corner, not normal wear.

How to Check Front and Rear Wear

With the wheels off (or through the spokes of an open wheel), look at the pads on both ends:

1. Measure pad thickness on the inner and outer pad at each corner. Compare against the minimum in your service information or the pad maker's guidance.
2. Compare inner to outer. An inner pad much thinner than the outer on a sliding caliper usually means seized slide pins or a sticking piston.
3. Check the rotors for a lip at the outer edge, deep grooves, blue heat spots or cracks. Compare thickness against the minimum stamped on the rotor.
4. Look at the rear too, even if the fronts are the obvious problem. The thin solid rear rotor on Sport-package cars has little material to spare, and rear pads that drag can wear faster than you would expect.

If the rear pads are wearing faster than the fronts, something is off. Common causes are a caliper not releasing, corroded slide pins, or stability and traction control doing a lot of work. The Charger's ESC and traction control are standard equipment and work by braking individual wheels, so hard launches and slippery conditions can put extra wear on the rear.

What to Replace and What to Replace With It

Brake parts are always replaced in axle pairs: both fronts or both rears, never one side. Whether you do fronts, rears or all four at once depends on what you measured:

• Fronts only: the most common job. Replace front brake pads and, if the rotors are under minimum thickness, warped or heat-cracked, front rotors. Many Charger owners replace the rotors along with the pads because it prevents noise and pulsation on new pads.
• Rears only: on the base Sport package, rear rotors are thin to begin with and often can't be resurfaced. Plan on new rotors with rear pads.
• All four corners: if both ends are close to their limits, doing everything at once saves a second weekend. Our front and rear rotors and pads kit for the 2009-2020 Dodge Charger covers both axles. Match it to your brake package before ordering.

At the same time, plan on:

• New pad clips and abutment hardware from a brake hardware kit. Old clips lose their spring and cause noise.
• Cleaning and lubricating the slide pins on sliding calipers with a brake-specific high-temperature grease.
• Checking the calipers. A piston that won't retract or a torn boot means a replacement caliper.
• A brake fluid flush if the fluid is dark or hasn't been changed in years. Use the fluid type printed on the reservoir cap or in your owner's manual.
• Bedding in the new pads per the pad maker's instructions so they transfer an even film onto the rotors.

How Hard Is the Job?

Front and rear pad-and-rotor jobs on the sliding-caliper Sport and Performance packages are within reach of a home mechanic with jack stands, a torque wrench and a caliper piston tool. Torque the caliper bracket bolts and lug nuts to the values in the factory service manual. Don't guess, because these are safety fasteners.

The rear brakes need more care than the fronts. The parking brake has to be fully released, and you should check how your year releases and resets it before you start. Brembo fixed calipers on Scat Pack and SRT cars don't slide, so the pads come out through the top of the caliper after you remove the retaining pins. This is simple once you see it, but pads and rotors for these cars are specific to that package.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is it normal for Charger front brakes to wear faster than the rear?

Yes. Weight shifts forward when you brake, and rear-wheel-drive cars typically put 60 to 70 percent of the braking force on the front axle. Most Chargers go through more than one set of front pads per set of rears.

Should I replace all four brakes at the same time?

Only if both axles need it. Pads and rotors are replaced in pairs per axle. If your rears still have plenty of pad and healthy rotors, doing only the fronts is fine. If both ends are close to the limit, a full front and rear kit saves labor.

Why are my rear brakes wearing faster than my fronts?

That usually means a rear caliper or its slide pins are sticking, the parking brake isn't fully releasing, or stability and traction control are braking the rear wheels often. Inspect the rear calipers before you just replace pads.

Do all 2011-2020 Chargers use the same brake rotors?

No. The factory specifications list rotors from 12.6 inches up to 15.4 inches across the brake packages, with sliding calipers on some cars and Brembo fixed calipers on others. Check your trim, measure your rotor or count caliper pistons before ordering.

Can I resurface Charger rotors instead of replacing them?

Only if they will still be above the minimum thickness stamped on the rotor after cutting. The thin solid rear rotor on Sport-package cars rarely has enough material left, so replacement is usually the better choice.

Sources

1. FCA 2020 Dodge Charger / Charger SRT Specifications - brake package rotor sizes, caliper types, which trims get each package, standard ESC and traction control
2. Summit Racing: What Is Brake Bias? - 60-70 percent front bias on RWD cars, weight transfer, rear lockup risk with 50/50 balance
3. Motorist Assurance Program: Which Brakes Go Bad First - front brakes handle about 70 percent of braking force and usually wear first
4. NHTSA Recall 19V-758 acknowledgement - 173 2019 Chargers and Challengers built with an incompatible front wheel and brake package