Brake pedal hard to push

gerald compton · August 13, 2020

Bought a 2500 sierra denali a week ago, It seems to me that i have to push excessively on my brake pedal to stop, but not sure that maybe i`m just used to the f250 diesel that i drove for 8 years. Has anyone else felt this way ?

davester · August 13, 2020

Maybe go to a dealer and ask to test drive another one, to see if your truck has a problem?.

georgecdisc · August 13, 2020

my brakes definitely don't have the bite I'm used to in my other cars and last truck. I'm wondering if it is due to brake pad material... something that lasts longer and can take heat. reminds me of my low dust pads on sports car, just don't have the stopping feel like stock brembo pads. my side by side oem pads lasted 2000 miles, they sucked for any sort of aggressive braking. tried cheaper aftermarket ones that were much better at stopping, but lasted maybe 500 miles.

overall I'm not impressed with the braking, doesn't feel linear and takes quite a bit of effort. gotta wear the heavy boots. contrast that to a crossover suv I just put in Napa pads and rotors (ie nothing special) it sends you through the windshield with little force on brake pedal.

paticus · August 13, 2020

I feel a similar way. I also feel like I have to be very careful in drive thru's as I've caught the truck creeping forward because i didn't have enough pressure on the brake pedal.

gSwift · August 14, 2020

1 hour ago, georgecdisc said:

my brakes definitely don't have the bite I'm used to in my other cars and last truck. I'm wondering if it is due to brake pad material... something that lasts longer and can take heat. reminds me of my low dust pads on sports car, just don't have the stopping feel like stock brembo pads. my side by side oem pads lasted 2000 miles, they sucked for any sort of aggressive braking. tried cheaper aftermarket ones that were much better at stopping, but lasted maybe 500 miles.

overall I'm not impressed with the braking, doesn't feel linear and takes quite a bit of effort. gotta wear the heavy boots. contrast that to a crossover suv I just put in Napa pads and rotors (ie nothing special) it sends you through the windshield with little force on brake pedal.

I think i've finally gotten used to it, but I definitely feel the same! It feels noting like my last three 1500's or my Yukon. I wondered if it has anything to do with the weight of the vehicle.

bass mechanic · August 14, 2020

I’ve been keeping my eye out for a big brake kit for my truck for 2 reasons. I I agree it could use more brakes and 2 I think the red calipers would look good behind my 22x10 wheels

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gerald compton · August 16, 2020

Not really sure how much difference there is in caliper size between a gm 2500 and a f250 but that could be it, the f250 seems to stop better

Stand By · August 16, 2020

On 8/13/2020 at 8:45 PM, gSwift said:

I think i've finally gotten used to it, but I definitely feel the same! It feels noting like my last three 1500's or my Yukon. I wondered if it has anything to do with the weight of the vehicle.

Not just the wadded weight, but possibly the larger wheels / rolling mass? Still, I went with an HD for increased stopping power for pulling the boat and it does pretty good. Mines the gas engine. Maybe your also fighting the diesel a bit when braking?

gSwift · August 16, 2020

2 minutes ago, Stand By said:

Not just the wadded weight, but possibly the larger wheels / rolling mass? Still, I went with an HD for increased stopping power for pulling the boat and it does pretty good. Mines the gas engine. Maybe your also fighting the diesel a bit when braking?

Rolling mass, yes, but all my 1500's had 20 and 22 inch wheels and 35 & 37" tires and the braking was fine on those. I don't think it has anything to do with the diesel but more to do with the rolling mass. But like I said, i've gotten used to it now and account for the additional time and distance it takes to bring it to a complete stop.

Dunn · August 20, 2020

yeah the steering and brakes are nowhere near the 2019 RST i had prior.....i could see adding a better caliper and maybe pads would help.....but they are kinda pricey

Dunn · August 20, 2020

On 8/13/2020 at 4:26 PM, paticus said:

I feel a similar way. I also feel like I have to be very careful in drive thru's as I've caught the truck creeping forward because i didn't have enough pressure on the brake pedal.

lol. so many times that has happened to me, and at stoplights......almost tagged a few peeps b4 i caught that i was moving

BigKahuna · September 20, 2020

I have a 2019 1500, have had several 1500’s before this one 2014 and onward, and a Lifted 2015 3500 with 35x12.5” tires on 20’s. Brakes were good on all of them.

this week I’ve test driven two separate 2020 3500 SRW Denali’s, one CCLB and one CCSB. Brakes are seemingly very weak on both and require a lot of pedal effort. I thought there was something wrong with the first one until I drove the second one.

shadow gray 2020 hd · September 20, 2020

Thought the peddle was a little softer than I expected when leaving the lot with it, guess I got used to it pretty quick. No complaints here.

apellon · September 23, 2020

Had a 2019 Z71 LTZ Duramax that my son drives now. The brakes on that vs. my 2020 AT4 are solid. The AT4 has spongy brakes and require more effort. Only thing i complained about on my GM survey.