Parking Brake With Rear Disc Brakes

shawnmd · February 14, 2009

I am looking for some info on the parking brake on my 2002 Sierra. It had rear disc brakes, and recently I realized that my low gas mileage may be caused by newly installed brake pads on the rear. Then I clued in that it may be the parking brake out of adjustment. So how is the parking brake setup with disc brakes. I'm used to the setup in drums. Is it a separate disc pad? Any info you have would be great.

98 Z71 SLT · February 15, 2009

Put your truck on a completely level paved surface. Shut the truck off, put it into neutral. Go to the back of the truck, lean on the bumper, and try to push the truck.

Your truck will most likely move forward, eliminating the idea of parking brake adjustment causing a loss in fuel mileage.

The internal park brakes is designed just like a drum brake, thus, called a DIH system (Drum-In-Hat)

Zembonez · February 15, 2009

Another thing... IF the parking brake was that tight, the pedal would not go very far down without getting hard. Typical pedal movement on them is over halfway before the pedal firms up.

shawnmd · February 15, 2009

Another thing... IF the parking brake was that tight, the pedal would not go very far down without getting hard. Typical pedal movement on them is over halfway before the pedal firms up.

OK then, that can't be it. The parking brake pedal goes right to the floor with little resistance. The parking brake holds though. Do you think it could just be the new pads? I know when I jacked up the truck, those back wheels were hard to turn.

Zembonez · February 15, 2009

OK then, that can't be it. The parking brake pedal goes right to the floor with little resistance. The parking brake holds though. Do you think it could just be the new pads? I know when I jacked up the truck, those back wheels were hard to turn.

They should turn pretty freely. Maybe one of your calipers is sticking.

VMax2007 · February 15, 2009

OK then, that can't be it. The parking brake pedal goes right to the floor with little resistance. The parking brake holds though. Do you think it could just be the new pads? I know when I jacked up the truck, those back wheels were hard to turn.

They should turn pretty freely. Maybe one of your calipers is sticking.

Quick way to tell if you have a sticky caliper is to drive around for a few miles, then check your rotor for excessive heat (carefully of course ).

Smitty00Z71 · February 15, 2009

i just went through both these things with my 2002 Silverado. Most likely it is the caliper ....... Sure enough, I had a weird burnt smell coming from the left rear - caliper was sticking. I could spit on the rotor and it would sizzle ..... other rotor would not....which it shouldnt do unless you had been using the breaks real real hard.

chrisbmo2000 · February 15, 2009

+1....stuck caliper.....was one side worn more than the other when you changed them????

shawnmd · February 16, 2009

Just checked the brakes and greased the slides. One slide was nearly seized, beat it out and greased it well. The calipers weren't leaking, but could still be bad. The wheels turned freely now so I'll have to keep and eye on it. Also changed fuel filter, which went very well too.

otang · June 18, 2009

Sorry to Necro this thread, but yes GMC/Chevy trucks were known for having a malfunction at the parking break. There was lots of documentation about this problem back when I had to deal with it. GM did not want to recall it, but eventually did on some HD Sierra's ( believe) only. One of my parking breaks was ground down to nothing and I failed inspection. The fix cost hundreds of dollars for most and involved buying new rotors and new parking brake pads.