Has anyone changed their brake pads?

SurFire · April 17, 2016

Reviving this thread with some personal information and some questions.

I live in a very hilly and twisty area, so I use my brakes more than most do already. Combine that with the amount of towing I do, most loads around 2-3 tons, I have worn through my pads rather quickly. Just over 12k and I have less than 10% left, will be replacing them tomorrow.

I have searched online and cant seem to find any information on torque specs. I am looking for the specs for both front and rear caliper brackets, as well as guide pins.

Truck is a 2015 1500 SLT.

SouthernSilveradoGuy85 · April 17, 2016

Any chance you've driven Dodges in the past?

Or the GMT400 trucks too. Friends of mine had them and they would need brakes every 20,000-25,000.

Ya my '98's brakes were total shit. Seemed like no matter how many times the brakes were bleed the pedal still felt moshy like it had air in the lines. I had a problem with one of the calipers sticking but once that was replaced the brakes seemed to last a decent amount. All I can say is that you have no idea how glad I was to see my '14 had disc on the rear instead of drums, both for performance and the fact I hate changing anything on drum brakes. I do know that the e-brake pads are inside the disc but that's no big deal, not nearly as many moving parts and springs as it is for drum brakes lol.

HondaHawkGT · April 17, 2016

Flushing the break fluid every few years makes a big difference. The fluid absorbs moisture from the air and drops the boiling point. A mushy brake pedal is the result. And corroded brake lines.

Spurshot · April 17, 2016

Ya my '98's brakes were total shit. Seemed like no matter how many times the brakes were bleed the pedal still felt moshy like it had air in the lines. I had a problem with one of the calipers sticking but once that was replaced the brakes seemed to last a decent amount. All I can say is that you have no idea how glad I was to see my '14 had disc on the rear instead of drums, both for performance and the fact I hate changing anything on drum brakes. I do know that the e-brake pads are inside the disc but that's no big deal, not nearly as many moving parts and springs as it is for drum brakes lol.

Yeah, the generation that has never worked on drums is lucky. Good riddance to drums. I hope to never touch another set of them. When I bought my 2008, I bought a Vmax NHT Max Tow so I wouldn't deal with drums. I didn't know I'd end up fighting warped rotors. After turning them once, I just bought EBC rotors for the fronts. My brother has that truck now and the rear OEM rotors are warped again. Chinese sourced parts from GM. Bad/no stress relief, IMO.

HondaHawkGT · April 17, 2016

The new rotors that GM is sourcing are from Akebono, and to me they seem to be fairly decent. At least they're coated rotors, still nice and rust-free 3 years later. I'm not as impressed by the factory brake pads though. I'm guessing the emphasis was on quiet brake pads, not performance brake pads.

http://akebonobrakes.com/news/akebono-congratulates-general-motors-north-american-truck-year-award-chevrolet-silverado

For anybody that plan on having the factory rotors turned, DO NOT DO IT. The FNC surface treatment will be ruined by turning them.

SouthernSilveradoGuy85 · April 17, 2016

Flushing the break fluid every few years makes a big difference. The fluid absorbs moisture from the air and drops the boiling point. A mushy brake pedal is the result. And corroded brake lines.

Didn't try doing that, but I know the pedal was soft and could go all the way to the floor. Didn't need to push it to the floor, but it could go to the floor and I probably had to push it about 3/4 of the way if not more to get the truck to stop like it should. It was like that when I bought the truck used in '04 and was still like that when I got rid of it. Everybody that I know of with the GMT-400 trucks all say the brakes are bad.

HondaHawkGT · April 18, 2016

Didn't try doing that, but I know the pedal was soft and could go all the way to the floor. Didn't need to push it to the floor, but it could go to the floor and I probably had to push it about 3/4 of the way if not more to get the truck to stop like it should. It was like that when I bought the truck used in '04 and was still like that when I got rid of it. Everybody that I know of with the GMT-400 trucks all say the brakes are bad.

The GMT400 brakes did suck. From my experience with GMT900/k2xx trucks, GM seems to take braking performance much more seriously. Unfortunately they still make the ridiculous claim thay the brake fluid is good for 10 years. If you flushed your brake fluid today it'll come looking like cola because it's been cooked and contaminated.

http://www.aa1car.com/library/bfluid.htm

GM still makes the ridiculous suggestion that the brake fluid is good for 10 years/150k miles. It's absurd and if they were required to warranty the brake system beyond the 3 year/36k mile warranty, you can bet your ass they'd shorten up that service interval. Dot 3 fluid is cheap and flushing the lines is easy. Good way to keep the braking system happy and reliable.

355HP Z71 · April 18, 2016

I have 30,000 miles on my 2014 and my pads look hardly worn but I have started to hear a brake squeak when I'm stopping at slow speeds . Anyone else have this issue?

RobZ71LM7 · April 18, 2016

The GMT400 brakes did suck. From my experience with GMT900/k2xx trucks, GM seems to take braking performance much more seriously. Unfortunately they still make the ridiculous claim thay the brake fluid is good for 10 years. If you flushed your brake fluid today it'll come looking like cola because it's been cooked and contaminated.

http://www.aa1car.com/library/bfluid.htm

GM still makes the ridiculous suggestion that the brake fluid is good for 10 years/150k miles. It's absurd and if they were required to warranty the brake system beyond the 3 year/36k mile warranty, you can bet your ass they'd shorten up that service interval. Dot 3 fluid is cheap and flushing the lines is easy. Good way to keep the braking system happy and reliable.

Nope, GM recommends a brake fluid flush every 3 years or 45k miles on the 2014+ Silverado.

HondaHawkGT · April 18, 2016

Nope, GM recommends a brake fluid flush every 3 years or 45k miles on the 2014+ Silverado.

3 years/45k miles is a reasonable interval though. Better than 10 years/150k miles.

tnchevy · April 18, 2016

I change the brake fluid in my motorcycles every year but have never don it in my cages unless I have to replace master cylinder and haven't had to do that in a long time. It should be done but I don't do it. If you are going to change the fluid I would recommend checking out speedbleaders. They are awesome, have them on all of my 2 wheeled machines. When I got rid of my 2002 to get my 2014 the brake fluid was pitch black and the bleed screws were seized/rusted onto the calipers. The brakes in that truck sucked from the day it was new till I got rid of it.

RobZ71LM7 · April 19, 2016

My bad it's the 2015 that is 3 years 45k:

https://my.chevrolet.com/content/dam/gmownercenter/gmna/dynamic/manuals/2015/chevrolet/silverado_1500/2015%20Chevrolet%20Silverado%201500.pdf

SouthernSilveradoGuy85 · April 19, 2016

My bad it's the 2015 that is 3 years 45k:

https://my.chevrolet.com/content/dam/gmownercenter/gmna/dynamic/manuals/2015/chevrolet/silverado_1500/2015%20Chevrolet%20Silverado%201500.pdf

Being that the brake system is the same, I guess all they did was update the manual.

RobZ71LM7 · April 19, 2016

Being that the brake system is the same, I guess all they did was update the manual.

Agreed. I'm a big fan of regular brake fluid flushes-it's a wonder it's taken some manufacturers so long to embrace.

Jaycreek7908 · April 14, 2019

I've got just shy of 60K on my 14 and I started getting what sounds like indicator squeal on my diver front. Goes away instantly when I apply brake, pedal still feels great. Guess I'll get under there and look but I seem to remember putting Wearever gold pads on it few years ago.

Anyone ever try Bosch pads? They have the best rating on Amazon(not that that's an end all be all indicator).