Ok guys,
I really screwed up! My first mistake was thinking my 2017 Sierra 2500 may need new brake pads up front at 50,000 miles. I pulled the old pads off and saw that they were fine but figured I should go ahead and throw the new NAPA pads on while I had the calipers off. That was a big mistake!
The new pads dragged horribly which made the truck pull to one side. The wheels also got hot quickly and had massive amounts of brake dust on them. I drove the truck a couple of weeks like that because I was so busy at work.
I put the old pads on and the truck drove much better but I noticed a very slight pulsation when braking, so I did another stupid thing…
I got another new set of brake pads from Oreilly and installed them. The new pads seem to have caused my steering to pull slightly to one side.
I’ve been driving like that for a few weeks. Otherwise, braking seems adequate.
I’ve been told that most brakes drag slightly so I jacked up the front end and spun both wheel. I hear just a faint bit of dragging but both wheels spin freely and equally.
I measured my original pads with a caliper. These are the pads that I reinstalled in between the 2 new sets of pads then pulled off again. One of the pads is about 1/16 inch thinner than the other 3 pads.
I know, I’m an idiot for changing the pads at 50,000 miles!!
I wiped down rotors with brake cleaner and lubricated slide pins each time I replaced pads.
Could excessive heat have warped my rotors?
Could I have excessive pad buildup on one of the rotors which is causing front end to pull to one side?
Again, both wheels spin freely and evenly with front end jacked up.
I can’t figure it out!
Any help would be appreciated.
Rod
