Rear brakes blow!

[larry arizona]

2002 Z71 hoe with 46K miles had the rear pads wearout faster than fronts.

 

Fronts still have plenty of meat on them, Front rotors look badly rusted.

 

Rears are a different story. Both inside rear pads were almost gone (1/8" left). Outside rear pads were about about 3/8" left. Rear rotors are trash.

 

I know the rears on the 800's are questionable. But I have never seen rears wearout faster than fronts. Heck they only do about 20% of the braking.

 

Anyway. I know the rear calipers hang up and drag a lot and I know how to fix it. Just frustrated thats all. Had to vent.

 

 

I will say when you get the rear calipers moving freely and allow the rear pads to float well , it is amazing how much better the truck brakes. No mushy pedal and no nose dive.

 

It is a good thing that GM went back to drums on the Pickups, Rear disc brakes blow.

 

I am sure the northern climates contribute greatly to the rear caliper getting sticky and the pads getting stuck in the caliper frame. Salt does bad things.

 

OK I feel better. Thanks for allowing me to vent.

 

LA

[RyanbabZ71]

I know what you mean. My truck (2000) has 57K and I have changed the rear pads 2 times. Fronts are still originals. Since I put the Bosch on the rears it seems to be helping (pad quality much better)

[Butch 02 Denali]

25K miles in my Denali and the rear pads were down to the metal on the insides. Outsides looked fine so I never looked inside till I heard noise!!! Unbelievable! Wesnt to Powerslot rotors and hawk pads, very happy!

[asilverblazer]

Maybe because they are actually doing something compared to drums.

[Chad H]

Maybe because they are actually doing something compared to drums.

 

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Drum's work very well also. Their main disadvantage is not venting heat as well.

[Worktruck]

02 Sierra withh 80K, rears have been done twice and the fronts are still fine. Go figure.

[Elwood 2000]

Just under 100k on mine and I did the brake service. My rear pads were shot, as were the rotors. My fronts were fine, but very glazed. I changed the front pads and had the front rotors surfaced. Brakes like a new truck again. I did spend the extra money and put ceramic pads back on. I hate brake dust all over everything.

[100R1]

68K on my Yukon W/ factory pads, Just did the rears (down to about 1/16" remaining) all 4 pads were worn even (probally the best even wear of any vehicle I have ever owned). Rotors have plenty of meat left and are not heat checked or blued. no ridges worn in.

 

I have the larger rotors , Twin piston calipers and larger Pads on the Yukon than what most of the earlier 1500 series trucks came with

 

I am very pleased with the 4 wheel disc brakes on the Yukon, good pedal feel and pretty good modulation. I actually like having a Positive rear Biased braking on the yukon. This helps with keeping the nose from diving on agressive braking and really helps on turnin on hard braking. I hate drum brakes!

 

The original pads were ceramic. I replaced with Akebono Pro-Act Ceramic (just the rears for now) And the feel is even better than before (even more positive rear braking)

 

I have allways done a full brake bleed once a year just before we start the summer camping season and towing the trailer.

 

I will be replacing the front pads with Akebono when the times comes. I found out about Akebono by accident and am very happy with them Plus they do not dust.

[sjspor]

Funny, my rotors wore out long before my pads, the pads were still good, but the backing for them was rubbing the metal ridge around the rotor.

 

check out the how bad the dust shields are rusted on the rears, its a whole new source of brake noise.

 

 

[freakyt]

Maybe this is why they switched to rear drums?

[bigdogxx]

Maybe because they are actually doing something compared to drums.

 

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Sorry to break it to you as i have driven both pre 04 and now my new 05.The rear drum setup far out brakes the rear disc setup pre 05 without question.As far as maintance factor to early to tell yet with only 11k on the clock but 100% the 05's stop a hell of alot better then the trucks with a disc setup on the rear.

[asilverblazer]

Due to the improved FRONT brakes more than the drums, and I know they stop better, but for different reasons.

[larry arizona]

asilverblazer,

 

The reason they went back to rear drums was due to the lack of braking done by the rear discs. When new the rear discs work well but over time they stop working and drag the inside pads. The pads gets stuck in the caliper cradle. There is no way to stop this and it requires frequent lubricating of the pad tab that slides in the caliper frame.

 

This is more of an issue in the Northern climates that see snow and thus see salt.

 

The pick-ups are worse due to having a very little bed weight 99% of the time. These trucks do have the smart proprtioning valves that adjust brake line pressure based on rear axle load. More load equal more line pressure to the rears.

 

Rear drums are much better on trucks. The only time a rear drum struggles is when you go through a huge puddle and it takes a minute for them to drain. My 97 (rear drum) could out brake my 02's no question.

 

On cars that have 4 wheel discs, they have much more rear brake bias than trucks. If trucks added more brake bias they would be more succestible to spinning the rear end around especially on wet and slick roads, that is the reason they tried this fancy 'Smart proportioning valve.

 

Bottomline, GM did the right thing going back to drums, not sure if this carries over to the GMT900 or not.

[gulfgears]

138,000 miles, still on original pads front and rear. Original e-brake pads also.

 

2003 1500. we don't get much snow outside New Orleans, maybe that's why.

[asilverblazer]

asilverblazer,

 

The reason they went back to rear drums was due to the lack of braking done by the rear discs.  When new the rear discs work well but over time they stop working and drag the inside pads.  The pads gets stuck in the caliper cradle.  There is no way to stop this and it requires frequent lubricating of the pad tab that slides in the caliper frame.

 

This is more of an issue in the Northern climates that see snow and thus see salt.

 

The pick-ups are worse due to having a very little bed weight 99% of the time.  These trucks do have the smart proprtioning valves that adjust brake line pressure based on rear axle load.  More load equal more line pressure to the rears.

 

Rear drums are much better on trucks.  The only time a rear drum struggles is when you go through a huge puddle and it takes a minute for them to drain.  My 97 (rear drum) could out brake my 02's no question. 

 

On cars that have 4 wheel discs, they have much more rear brake bias than trucks.  If trucks added more brake bias they would be more succestible to spinning the rear end around especially on wet and slick roads, that is the reason they tried this fancy 'Smart proportioning valve.

 

Bottomline, GM did the right thing going back to drums, not sure if this carries over to the GMT900 or not.

 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

 

 

Not much snow down here, my rear discs work great. I know that when unloaded the trucks don't need rear brakes, there is no weight there, thus no traction, so any braking force would lock the tires causing the spin situation you describe. But when loaded there IS traction there so the fancy smancy proportioning valve can (and does) send more brake pressure to the rear. So when hauling and towing, the rear discs perform better because they are inherently more powerful than drums. The additional weight and traction of towing and hauling allow you to use the rear discs to there full potential. When I am towing or hauling something my braking ability is determined by the traction of my tires not the power of my braking system.

 

The rear discs will always be able to deliver more power than the tires can provide traction. This is not the case with drums, rear braking ability can in some cases be limited by the drums braking power, if traction is sufficient.

 

Now if you never put anything in the bed of your truck or tow anything that will put more weight/traction on the rear tires, then the disc brakes are pointless.

 

I think the maintenance of them is toss up the disc pads may wear out sooner but they are far easier to change than drum shoes.