2006 Silverado 1500 Crew Cab excessive front brake wear

KMCamp · July 16, 2017

Needing a good diagnosis of excessive front brake wear on my Silverado. The truck has drum brake on rear. The original front pads lasted 70000 miles. The truck has 201000 miles. As of today I have replaced the front pads 10 times. I have replaced the back drum brakes 2 times. I have also replaced the calipers, rear wheel cylinders, front rubber break lines. So I have averaged around 13000 miles per front pad swap. I need to know what seems to be making the pads wear so fast? I'm really tired of replacing the front brakes on this truck. Can anyone advise on what to replace next? Thought about just buying all new brake components, but I would rather not spend all that money if I can get a positive legit answer to the problem. Thanks in advance.

KM Camp

muddkatt · July 16, 2017

What brand of pads are you using?

O_J_Simpson · July 16, 2017

What brand of pads are you using?

The biggest, largest and most bestest piece of information that is needed for us to help you is the brand and grade of brake pads and repair parts you are using. Please help us help you.

Nanotech Environmental · July 16, 2017

Part of the issue is the stupid drum brakes. When everthing is new and adjusted properly, they help a lot with the braking. However, they don't self-adjust, so quickly transfer more and more braking load onto the front as the shoes wear.

KMCamp · July 16, 2017

I have used the good pads from local auto parts to purchasing straight from Chevy dealer. I 'm not getting much difference in mileage from dealer to parts store pads. I do keep the back brakes adjusted as well. There is something not right here & it isn't the pads I use or a neglect of rear brake adjustment.

muddkatt · July 16, 2017

What brand of pads are you using?

The biggest, largest and most bestest piece of information that is needed for us to help you is the brand and grade of brake pads and repair parts you are using. Please help us help you.

I have used the good pads from local auto parts to purchasing straight from Chevy dealer.

Good pads from the local store doesn't tell me much. Rockauto has 127 different front pads available for your truck.

Dnt · July 16, 2017

Just from my past experience the first thing that I would do would be to replace the front flex brake lines (both side) immediately. The interior lining of the flex lines are prone to disintegrating and the calipers are most likely having trouble bleeding pressure back to the master cylinder. (Pads are staying partially engaged thereby wearing quickly) You are probably getting pretty chitty gas mileage too right??

O_J_Simpson · July 16, 2017

I have used the good pads from local auto parts to purchasing straight from Chevy dealer. I 'm not getting much difference in mileage from dealer to parts store pads. I do keep the back brakes adjusted as well. There is something not right here & it isn't the pads I use or a neglect of rear brake adjustment.

Problem found...

sdeeter19555 · July 17, 2017

Just from my past experience the first thing that I would do would be to replace the front flex brake lines (both side) immediately. The interior lining of the flex lines are prone to disintegrating and the calipers are most likely having trouble bleeding pressure back to the master cylinder. (Pads are staying partially engaged thereby wearing quickly) You are probably getting pretty chitty gas mileage too right??

Or the rear frame to axle flex line for the SAME issue...pressure isn't getting to the drum.

This is a very common Dodge issue on the older trucks with drums. You will see poorer stopping power, increased front pad wear, and almost no rear brake wear. If was was keeping a truck longer than the time I expect to, I would replace all the rubber brake lines as preventive maintenance.

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bubbanbrenda · July 17, 2017

Problem found...

Care to share?

carkhz316 · July 17, 2017

Care to share?

I think he read the post too fast, as so did I. It initially looks like OP mentions neglecting adjusting the drums, but he's saying it's for a lack of neglect, ie he has adjusted them. At least that's how I interpreted it.

eddiefromcali · July 17, 2017

Does your ABS work? I've gone through front pads fairly quickly but not that quick. Might be a good time to upgrade to a hydroboost unit!

Nanotech Environmental · July 18, 2017

I have used the good pads from local auto parts to purchasing straight from Chevy dealer. I 'm not getting much difference in mileage from dealer to parts store pads. I do keep the back brakes adjusted as well. There is something not right here & it isn't the pads I use or a neglect of rear brake adjustment.

Not to disagree with you, but the rears literally have to be adjusted every 500-1000 miles or so to keep up with the fronts. They are supposed to self adjust, but don't, even if you have all new parts and put grease and anti-seize on the threads & pivots of the adjusters and on all other pivot points.

Another possibility could be your master cyl. Maybe a seal is gone on the piston & is not putting full pressure to the rear brakes?

Also, maybe there is a blockage, or partial blockage in the Proportioning valve, or abs unit preventing full pressure and/or volume from getting to the back? Or, maybe the proportioning valve is set waaay out of whack......?

Just some thoughts.

KMCamp · July 20, 2017

Needing a good diagnosis of excessive front brake wear on my Silverado. The truck has drum brake on rear. The original front pads lasted 70000 miles. The truck has 201000 miles. As of today I have replaced the front pads 10 times. I have replaced the back drum brakes 2 times. I have also replaced the calipers, rear wheel cylinders, front rubber break lines. So I have averaged around 13000 miles per front pad swap. I need to know what seems to be making the pads wear so fast? I'm really tired of replacing the front brakes on this truck. Can anyone advise on what to replace next? Thought about just buying all new brake components, but I would rather not spend all that money if I can get a positive legit answer to the problem. Thanks in advance.

KM Camp

Thanks for all the input on this matter. I will not know if problem is solved for a period of time. What I did do while replacing front pads was to also replace both front rubber brake lines, replace back rubber brake line, there was about a half inch of fluid in bottom of booster & I vacuumed that out. All because of the seepage of fluid from master cylinder I replaced that as well. One other thing I did was have the ABS do a self bleed via using the snapon scanner. It bleeds air out of the ABS system without opening a break line. So, do I fell a difference? Not really, only time & mileage will tell.