Brake job surprises?

[mdadgar]

I'm gonna swap out the stock brake pads for something a little more aggressive pretty soon. I haven't done brakes on this truck before.

Any gotchas or other surprises I should know about beforehand?

Thanks.

- Mark

[a64pilot]

None that I know of, mine are stock, seem to last for ever. let us know what you use, how well they work, hot/cold and rotor wear if you wouldn't mind.

[AlanL]

I did 52000 miles on my '01 Suburban 2500, including about 10K miles towing (2K of them being with broken trailer brakes) and the brakes still worked great and didn't need to be replaced.

The pads they use on these trucks are pretty good. The stop well, they last, and they don't dust!

-Al

[Black Dog]

Yup, I don't miss the dust at all. My bro has a set of PYOs on his '98 Burb, and his front wheels are all black from brake dust. Looks bad sitting next to my truck. Also, at 50,000 miles my pads (front and rear) have over half their life to go. I can't see swapping these pads out.

[Turbo Al]

Be careful working around the ABS sensors and don't forget to clean them as well.

[mdadgar]

Some of you guys have clearly been driving trucks too long. smile.gif

These pads suck. No brake feel at all. The fact that they last forever is not really a plus in my book.

I'll post whatever I find out.

- Mark

[dmaxalliTech]

Captain Mal was just in, his truck has 140k on it, checked the brakes, still had 5/16-3/8 pad left. He tows heavy quite often. NO problems and lots of life left... Is there better aftermarket pads out there?

[a64pilot]

Strange,
It is a truck, it won't stop like a sports car no matter what; weight, suspension, unsprung weight etc. As I'm sure you already know some racing pads only work well when they are hot. Long life, dust free pads usually chew up the rotors. I'm interested in what you find, the stock pads seem great, but maybe it is because of the huge swept area these brakes have and not just the pad. Maybe a good set of green pads would work better than stock? Let us know what you find out.

[jbplock]

I have found Performance Friction, carbon metallic pads to be pretty good. I had them on my 98 K3500 CC dually and they were excellent. On my 98 I swapped out the OEM pads (still looked new) at 30kmi and replaced with the Perf Friction pads – noticeable improvement. I also have them on my 2001 Malibu. On the Malibu until they were broke in, they made a howling sound when cold. The are good now. However they do need to be warmed up for max braking.

However, for the way I drive, I think the 4-wheel disk brakes on my 03 are excellent – see no need to change anything right now…
smile.gif

[mdadgar]

I'm not looking for sports car stopping, obviously, but I'd also like the truck to slow faster then I push harder on the pedal. Doesn't seem like too much to ask.

I've heard that the PFC Carbon Metallics are excellent, but very hard on rotors.

I'll definitely post my results. Stand by.

- Mark

[mdrag]

I noticed a significant improvement in brake feel/response by bleeding the brakes (http://forum.thedieselpage.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=7;t=004260) using Valvoline Synpower synthetic brake fluid.

[David Proske]

the other day i needed to make a panic stop. I can honestly say if that happened with my 94 I would have climed up the arse of that suv.

[sooty]

mdrag, My brakes have felt spongy since day one and I thought about bleeding them. Is the Syn. fulid compatible with the factory stuff, or did you completely flush the system first. Why did you pick the syn. fluid over the standard GM spec. fluid. Tnanks, Jim

[Gbenzx01]

posted by dmaxalliTech:
Captain Mal was just in, his truck has 140k on it, checked the brakes, still had 5/16-3/8 pad left.

Remarkable,
Customer drives over to have injectors replaced on the engine. And Service Mgr has his brakes chkd out? Believe this? Miracles, or what? :rolleyes:

Thanx, Gben :cool:

[chuntag95]

I changed the brake fluid and got the air out of my system with a pressure bleeder. I used the gold version of ATE Super Blue (called Typ 200 or something) which has excellent wet boiling point and comes in Porsche, BMW and other junk like that. tongue.gif That helped a bunch, but I can still hit the floor in a panic stop. That freaked me out in the middle of trying not to eat the idiot who pulled out in front of me while I was doing 50 mph. You just don't have confidence when you realize you are pushing on the floor. It stops, but you just aren't sure by the feel of the pedal. The wife's Expedition "feels" like it stops tons better, but I have not tried to line them up for a brake contest. I would be interested in brake improvements as well.

[Tommy turbo]

My factory pads (and brakes overall) on this truck work better than most any truck I have ever drove. I feel like I could lock em up if the antis did not kick in first. I do a lot of brake jobs in my shop and I wish all of them stopped as well as this truck. You must not have ever drove a 88-98 chevy pic up. Those were the worst factory brakes ever. And it is not just the pad type that stops you. the whole system is what it takes.

[ 08-10-2003, 03:46 PM: Message edited by: Tommy turbo ]

[mdrag]

Originally posted by sooty:
mdrag, My brakes have felt spongy since day one and I thought about bleeding them. Is the Syn. fulid compatible with the factory stuff, or did you completely flush the system first. Why did you pick the syn. fluid over the standard GM spec. fluid. Tnanks, Jim Check this bleeding the brakes (http://forum.thedieselpage.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=7;t=004260) for more info on the synthetic brake fluid.

Why did I choose the Valvoline Synpower synthetic BF over conventional? No good reason, I just gave it a try.

[AlanL]

ATE Superblue (blue) / Type 200 (yellow) gets used by lots of track junkies in the Porsches, BMWs, etc... but I am unaware of it coming from the factory in any of them. The reason to use it is the higher boiling points both wet and dry.

This brings up a good point, however. The fluid in the system is very important and can have a much greater effect on brake feel.

The German car manufacturers have a "annual brake flush" listed on their maintenance schedules, but I've never seen that on any other make of vehicle. I did it on my Suburban and didn't make a difference in pedal feel, but I knew I could trust my brakes when towing down a hill, etc... and sometimes that can make a difference as well.

If the fluid in your brake reservior looks more like a cup of tea than well... a coors light (without the bubbles!) smile.gif and its been in there for a year or more then it probably needs to be changed.

Dirty fluid is "dirty" because it has absorbed water. Water has a low boiling point and causes steel components to rust. With clean fluid you get the extra margin of safety because of the higher boiling point of clean fluid and added anti corrosion protection for your lines and calipers.

In terms of brake pads, I think that my truck stops pretty well with the stock ones.


-Al

[JohnM]

Guys, Be very careful when changing or co-mingling brake fluids. Both DOT 3 and DOT 4 brake fluids have a Poly-glycol base and are fully compatible with each other and can be changed, mixed and used in the same hydraulic system. DOT 4 brake fluid would be considered a slightly heavier duty version of the DOT 3 brake fluid because DOT 4 absorbs slightly less moisture and has a slightly higher boiling point than DOT 3 brake fluid. DOT 5 brake fluid is a different story. It has a silicone base and IS NOT COMPATIBLE with DOT 3 and/or DOT 4 brake fluid. DOT 5 brake fluid should never, ever be mixed with DOT 3 or DOT 4 brake fluid and should never be introduced into a system which previously contained DOT 3 or DOT 4 brake fluid unless the hydraulic system is completely flushed and cleaned and ALL the rubber components, including the flexible brake lines and brake caliper piston seals have been replaced.

Rubber components which have been previously in contact with DOT 3 or DOT 4 brake fluids will eventually harden, decay and fail if brought into contact with DOT 5 brake fluid.

Check out this link for more info:

http://www.fordfestiva.com/service/database/brakeshubs/brakefluid101.htm

Just a "heads up" for those who are changing brake fluids.

Best Wishes,

JohnM

[ 08-11-2003, 07:47 AM: Message edited by: JohnM ]

[AlanL]

I forgot to metion earlier (when I was on my brake fluid changing crusade ;) )...

While ATE Super Blue/Typ 200 (which is DOT 4) is good stuff, the best for the money, by all accounts, seems to be Ford Heavy Duty brake fluid (also DOT 4). Its got high wet and dry boiling points and is very cheap.

Lots of racers I know use the Ford Heavy duty in their cars. No racers that I know use DOT 5... they all use DOT 4.

-Al

[mdadgar]

Ok, so let me answer my own question. Here's a little surprise encountered while changing brake pads today:

The caliper guide bolts on the FRONT calipers are nice 18mm metric bolts.

The guide bolts on the REAR calipers are some big honkin' inconvenient Torx thingie. Luckily, I was doing this at a friend's shop so I had access to his impressive tool collection.

THANKS, GM! Nice work! <snork>

Anyway, the new pads are on and are very promising so far. I'll post a review soon.

- Mark

[mdadgar]

FYI, I posted a quick review of the brake pads I chose over in the Accessories forum.

Brake Pad Review (http://forum.thedieselpage.com/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=5;t=001374)

- Mark