:help: The brakes on my wifes 2004 1500 are acting "different". I say it that way because the dealer said they are fine but I dont agree.

The other day she told me someone cut her off and she pushed as hard as she could on the pedal but the truck just didn't want to stop. I thought she was full of it.

I drove it today and the neighbors dog ran in front of me, I was doing ~40mph, it was raining, I had both feet on that pedal and I said to myself "ohhh Censored ". This thing just didnt want to stop! The pedal bottomed out, The ABS never kicked in, the rear tires never skidded or anything. It was like I had no back brakes at all! I had no lights on the dash or any other indication that something was wrong. If I did that in my HD I would have had the ABS going crazy!

The stealer has an '04 Sierra on his lot that he said does the same thing.

anyone run into this before?
sorry for the long winded post but I wanted to give as accurate info as possible.

thanks
dan

Rusted rotors is the main thing, a lot of times the inside surface of the rotor is really rusted up. I cant recall doing any on 04's yet, but anything is possible.

Rusted rotors is the main thing, a lot of times the inside surface of the rotor is really rusted up. I cant recall doing any on 04's yet, but anything is possible.
http://picam.modularmn12.us:81/smilies/smiley_confused.gif

How will the inside surface of the rotors being rusted affect braking? Usually, if the outside is rusted, the brakes will be touchy.

My money says the front brake pads are glazed from an improper break in.

Replace the front pads with new OEM ones. Then accel to 25 mph, and apply 35% braking force until vehicle stops. do a 20 count between each set for cooling the rotors. Do this 10 times then allow a 15 minute cool off drive

Next do the same 10 stops, but from 40 mph. allow a 30 count between for cooling.

this is called 'bedding the brakes' Basically it ensures the rotors and pads become 'familiar' with each other and mate up flat and true without glazed (ineffective pad area from forming)

If this does not solve the problem it will only be a 50.00 waste of $$$

Then go looking deeper.
and back to the dealer

I have a 03 that acted the same way, pedal would go to the floor and the truck
did not want to stop. Took it to the dealer 2 times in a month and they told me everything was fine.
I ended up taking it to another dealer and they replaced both rusted rear rotors
and a stuck caliper. I have talked to several owners who have had the same problem.
I would look there first.

03 3500 CC DRW 4x4 D/A

Thanks for the reply's everyone! I'll have a look at the rotors and see what they are like. How common is it to have the rotors rust to the point that the brakes dont work right?
I'm also gonna check the front ones too; glazed front+rusted back=:eek:

thanks again!
dan

If the visible portion (braking surface) of the rotors is rusted, even after driving it, then the calipers/pads aren't doing their job (something is wrong). If the fronts are glazed, then that would be a big factor in not being able to stop.

:rolleyes:


The rotor surface being rusted is going to effect the stopping power because it does not have the total stopping surfrace, along with it not being a smooth surface, causing the pad to move around some.


Its very common on the 1500 Pickups to have this problem and sometimes on the SUV's. It is more common to take place on the rear, but it also happens to the front rotors.

There are several reasons it happens, on the back of the 1500 pick up trucks is because when empty, they dont clean the rotor surface well, or heat up much. The real cause is the pads sticking in the bracket and not keeping a good contact to the rotor to keep it clean. The fix is to cut or replace the rotor, and the pad and lubricate the surface in the caliper bracket where the pads ride. You can not use anti-seeze, wheel bearing grease or anything like that. You must use the silicon High Temp grease that is ment for that aplication. Everything else will not work properly and you will end up with the same problem.