Chevy brakes - did they change them?

[eyepatrol]

My wife had a 2000 Tahoe that we traded in last year. It had 138,000 miles on it and each time we took it in for service, the dealer said the pads were still 50 - 75% to the good. Even when we had the last oil change before we got rid of it.

Her 2005 Tahoe brakes are just fine, and that vehicle has nearly 30,000 miles on it. I recently got an '05 Silverado 1/2ton with 28,000 miles on it and the brakes suck. It's either the pads or the rotors I believe (I'm not very mechanically inclined). Extremely touchy...barely depress the pedal and it's like you slammed on the brakes. Plus coming up to stop signs it's very herky-jerky.

I had an '03 Silverado with 38,000 miles that had great breaks on it when we got rid of it. Did Chevy do something to change the material they use on the pads and/or rotors, or should I assume that the previous owner of the '05 Silverado drove hard on the brakes? Or maybe both?

[Wishin2BFishin]

Newer Chevy's seem to have issues with brakes. Sounds like the PO may have heated up the rotors (maybe by coming down a mountain without stopping to cool them along the way?) and now they are warped and need to be replaced. Do you have any of the 2005 warranty left? If so take it to the dealer and have them fix it. If not I suggest buying a top quality rotor and not the cheap ones as they will just warp again.

Best of luck...

[Sutty]

Are the rear brakes disk or drums? I have a 98 with rear drums. I changed the rear brakes due to them being cracked. They never where out, front brakes do all the work. They make differant shoes some are glued some are rivoted the glued ones crack and can cause the symptomes you are describing.

[LMITOUT]

From '99 and up they use 4-wheel disc brakes.

[united jigsticker]

The Silverado went back to drum brakes in the rear in 2005.

Tahoe is still 4 wheel disc.

Yes, they are touchy in the 05. And very poor in the winter (can't stop on slippery surfaces).

Go test drive an 04 Silverado, (4 wheel disc) and you'll notice a huge difference. You have to bear down hard to stop.

Tahoe's have excellent breaking systems; different from the Silverado.

[eyepatrol]

I wonder why they did that!? They had something good going there. Like the old cliche....if it ain't broke, don't fix it.

There's a big difference from what my '03 was to what my '05 is; quite a difference. My wife's '05 Tahoe has excellent brakes. Very smooth through the entire slow down process.

That's a shame they went from discs to drums. I sure did like the discs. Can the drums be replaced with discs? Would I have to cut off my right arm and leg if making the switch is possible?

[LMITOUT]

Oh, I guess they did go back to drums in the 1500's. My bad. Haven't owned a 1/2 ton since '99 so I missed that change.

The 1500HD, 2500HD and 3500HD's still have disc brakes on all four corners.

[Wishin2BFishin]

The rear brakes do very little to stop your truck. Only about 20 percent. They also have the emergency brake built into them. If your brakes are touchy and jerky it's from the front brakes. Changing the rears to disks will not help this problem and yes it would cost you some coin to change them. Best of luck...

[Gus]

I believe I read on a GM forum that they went back to the drums because they were having major issues with the parking brake cable and the rear discs.

I have an 03 silverado and so far no issues with the parking brake. You really do have to stand on them to stop that truck though. I hate the brakes in it.

[hanson]

Something you may want to check on as well, was there was a recent recall (not sure on the model years) with the brakes & ABS. My 99 was a part of the recall but I wasn't experiencing the problems. The ABS wasn't functioning right and caused stopping problems, as in the vehicle wouldn't stop. This may not be your problem but when you say herky jerky while stopping, this recall popped into my head.

[eyepatrol]

Thanks for all the replies. I'm definitely going to talk to the dealer next time I bring it in for an oil change. Need to take care of those things now before the snow starts to fly! Oooops....did I say snow???