2006 Silverado Drum Brakes

SC300 · October 15, 2009

Hello I just purchased a 2006 Silverado 1500 V6 with 85,000 miles on it and it needs rear brakes really bad, I have never changed drum brakes before and I'm hoping someone can help me out.

gmtech4 · October 15, 2009

well if you are unfamiliar with rear shoed brakes ,this is not the type to learn on,they are a pain in the ass,but if you do,please take the back roads for awhile after repair in case ya mess it up ,have fun

Nytemare · October 15, 2009

yeah...drums are a pain in the pooper man....unless you had some clue of what was going on...its no use explaining it.

Go buy yourself a haynes/chiltons and you will get an explanation with pics...that's my best advice....or pay the 300 bucks and bring it to a shop.

dlstewart01 · October 15, 2009

They are not that bad. Of course I started driving in 1960, drums front and rear. There are special brake tools that will help, but channel locks and a screw driver will work.

Jack up the rear, remove both wheels, and drums. Do one side at a time. That way you have the other side to look at when putting things back together.

The brake shoes on the newer models are fairly thin to begain with. Sometimes they apear more worn than they actually are.

Just get a cheap manual and you should be fine.

bossier62guy · October 15, 2009

They are not that bad. Of course I started driving in 1960, drums front and rear. There are special brake tools that will help, but channel locks and a screw driver will work.
Jack up the rear, remove both wheels, and drums. Do one side at a time. That way you have the other side to look at when putting things back together.

The brake shoes on the newer models are fairly thin to begain with. Sometimes they apear more worn than they actually are.

Just get a cheap manual and you should be fine.

+1, they aren't that difficult...

Nytemare · October 15, 2009

Not difficult....but still a pain in the ass

txab · October 15, 2009

As Don said, do one side at a time. You can always refer to the other side to see how to put it back together. Get a manual to help you understand how everything works

WilliamBos · October 16, 2009

As Don said, do one side at a time. You can always refer to the other side to see how to put it back together. Get a manual to help you understand how everything works

Exactly. And if you want, take a few pics of each side before you take them apart, also good to refer too.

Good luck, and keep us posted.

Will

SC300 · October 25, 2009

Thanks you for the info guys. Here is an update I changed both sides the 4 days ago, it was very straight forward...... much easier than I thought it would be. The only issue I had was when I was installing the new pads I had to disconnect the parking brake cable from the main line to have enough slack to lock it in place, but other than that everything was fine.......................well that is up until today.

So for some reason the brakes locked up and I'm not sure why. Everything was fine then this morning I put the truck into reverse and it was stuck. I pulled engaged then disengaged the parking brake which seemed to free the brakes up a bit but then they locked again. It is pouring rain here so tomorrow I'm going to have to dig into this and see what the issue is, any suggestions?

The fluid is full.........thats about as far as I have gone. I'm thinking there may be an issue with the parking brake or possibly the line, but not sure any help would be great.

5star44 · October 25, 2009

Thanks you for the info guys. Here is an update I changed both sides the 4 days ago, it was very straight forward...... much easier than I thought it would be. The only issue I had was when I was installing the new pads I had to disconnect the parking brake cable from the main line to have enough slack to lock it in place, but other than that everything was fine.......................well that is up until today.

So for some reason the brakes locked up and I'm not sure why. Everything was fine then this morning I put the truck into reverse and it was stuck. I pulled engaged then disengaged the parking brake which seemed to free the brakes up a bit but then they locked again. It is pouring rain here so tomorrow I'm going to have to dig into this and see what the issue is, any suggestions?

The fluid is full.........thats about as far as I have gone. I'm thinking there may be an issue with the parking brake or possibly the line, but not sure any help would be great.

Hey man. I read your first post and agree with everyone else that it's not difficult, especially if you've done it before but it can be a pain in the butt at times. I'm thinking that you may only need to readjust your parking brake cable linkage (if you hadn't done that already) as it may now be too tight with the new brake shoes installed ... just a thought. Anyway, let us know what you discover, as I'm fixing to have to tackle mine also. The last brake job I did was for a buddy about a year ago on his '98 GMC Z71. Everything cleaned up and went back together nicely ... no big deal except the old worn out shoes had grooved the drums real bad and we ended up replacing with new ones. I did several brake jobs over the years on my '95 GMC work truck, but I recently bought an 06 Silverado and have been wanting to inspect the brakes, so in spite of being pressed for time today, I did a quick inspection of the front pads and an attempt at the rear brake shoes but I couldn't get the rear drums to slide off on either side (probably due to the shoes wearing a groove into the inner drum surface and I'll need to back off on the adjusters first) so because of the time issue, I just bolted up the wheels back on and rescheduled the job for another day. The front disc pads were about half worn with rotors looking like new so I figure I'll just grab some new disc pads and rear shoes the next day or two and just do a complete brake job the first part of the week and be done with it. I did notice, however, my emergency brake pedal travels very little before applying pressure to the rear drums so I'm thinking the self adjusters are working properly and the brake shoes are close enough to the drum surface to prevent the drums from sliding off without first backing off the adjusters. I'm hoping the rear drum surfaces aren't bad enough to require resurfacing. We shall soon find out. BTW, it's always nice to know there are lots of well experienced mechanics on here who are eager to help solve any of our truck problems. These guys are fantastic, to say the least! One great community!

minibike132 · October 25, 2009

SC300 · October 27, 2009

Well here is an update for you guys. I finally got around to checking out why the brakes were locking up and it turned into more than just an adjustment.

When I took the hub off, the wheel cylinder was shot, the rubber was swelled on the right side so much so that when I remove the brake pads it freaking exploded getting brake fluid in my mouth and all over my glasses...........lol needless to say I ended up replacing both cylinders.

After replacing the cylinders and putting everything back together I bled the brakes a few times and made sure there was enough fluid in the master, but now I have the opposite issue........the brakes are spongy and the ebrake is not engaging at all lol.

Which way do I need to turn the adjuster to tighten the brakes (move them a bit closer to the drum)? I'm I just need to adjust the brakes a bit to fix both the parking brake and sponginess issues. When I reinstalled the adjuster I put them to the lowest point.

Nytemare · October 27, 2009

you put the truck in reverse and back it down the driveway a few times slamming on the brakes to allow the auto adjusters to do they're job.

If the brakes are spongy, you still have air in the system. Bleed them some more.

SC300 · October 27, 2009

I went up and down the drive way 4 or 5 times and bled each brake twice. When bleeding the brakes I had my buddy pump the brake 10x then i bled the line. When I opened the bleeder fluid shot out in a steady stream each time. Is there a better way of bleeding them? Also would this help the parking brake issue? The parking brake is not working at all. When I put the parking brake on the cables get tight but the truck still moves freely like the brake is not on.

you put the truck in reverse and back it down the driveway a few times slamming on the brakes to allow the auto adjusters to do they're job. If the brakes are spongy, you still have air in the system. Bleed them some more.

Nytemare · October 27, 2009

the parking brake is adjusted separately, under the truck where you took it apart in the first place.

bleeding the brakes twice with new wheel cylinders doesn't even begin to get rid of the air. You will probably have to do it about 5 or so more times. you should go through at least a pint or two of fluid.

The best way is to do a reverse bleed...using a new brake pump... by MaxPro

Check it out at http://www.phoenixsystem.com/general_infor...video/index.htm

Once everything is back together, if you still need to adjust the brakes....there is a rubber plug on the backside of the backing plate, pop that out and turn the adjuster with a flatblade while spinning the wheel by hand...you want the wheel to be able to do 1/4-1/2 of a rotation by spinning it by hand.