Bit of a rant about single-piston calipers used on mid-sized and big Mopars

Bill Crowell said
The calipers I am talking about are the single-piston sliding-caliper units, where the outer brake pad reacts against the inner pad via the machined "ways" in the mounting adapter.

I thought my old calipers were dragging too much, so I replaced them while also cleaning and lubricating the "ways", but the new pads drag just about as much as the old ones did.

I notice that in this design the piston seal is the only thing that retracts the pad after the brakes are applied, and IMHO the piston seal just doesn't have enough strength to retract the pad, especially after the "ways" lose their lube and get a little dirty. I don't like this. I would like my front wheels to spin more freely!

I wonder if there is a higher-quality caliper, that retracts better, that would bolt into a big Mopar? (If the answer is obvious, please excuse my ignorance.)

Noticing the same thing over the years I feel the same way about that.
The very slight roll over of the piston seal seems to be all the return you get, but I have always been hesitant to try and do anything about it for two reasons.
1. They were made that way and 2. I don't want my pedal to have to go down that far to get the pads back to where braking is again.

I kind of always figured it might be safer and simpler to just go with an aftermarket system that may have less drag.