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so a few months ago I had a spongy brake pedal, I bled the crap out of the brakes and finally took it to a mechanic. He said there was no air in the brakes but that the rear drum brakes just needed adjusted and that I could probably do that on my own. So I adjusted the rear brakes out quite a bit and it made the brakes on my truck a million times better. But now after a few months they are starting to feel about the same as they did. I have tried backing up and pumpng the brakes a bunch and it doesnt seem to help. My thought is that the automatic adjusters arent working properly. so Im thinking that I am going to replace the springs and adjusters. the shoes are near brand new. any other thoughts??
On the other side of brakes I took a look at my front disk brakes. the pad material is between a 1/8 inch and 1/4inch so its getting pretty close to time to replace them. thats not a big deal however, my only question is about my rotors. they dont have big groves worn in them but there is a ridge on the outside of the rotor. there are also little pock marks in the rotor. and you can deffinatley see which way the pads have been wearing on it so there is lines but they dont feel like grooves if that makes sense. chould this be part of what is causing my brake issue?? sometimes when i brake hard the truck shudders or pulls hard one way or the other (usually to the left). but I cant feel any vibration in the pedal. I just replaced the brake calipers and brake fluid last spring because the calipers were leaking and spraying fluid all over. so do you guys think I just need to do the adjusters in the back and pads and rotors up front or is there something else i should look at?? thanks,
my truck is a 1996 chevy k1500
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see if this video helps.
http://www.ericthecarguy.com/faq/solving-brake-problems?start=8#DealingWithaSpongyBrakePedal
Sounds like two issues.Front pads and rotors need replacement.
rears need cleaning/lubricating along with the adjusters. Sounds
like full brake service.The other idea is if you have some vernier caliper measuring tool is to insure that your brake disk is not below the manufacturers specs. If they are within spec you could get them machined along with new pads. This will stop the vehicle shudder too.
Im not familiar with your truck as we dont have them here in New Zealand but in regards to the pulling under heavy brakeing could mean your caliper slides require minor greasing. Thats is these are floating calipers.Rear brakes i agree with collage guy. Also rubbing down with what i know as emery sand paper and swappung drums side to side can help braking efficiantcy.
They are floating calipers. Don’t get me wrong they work they just aren’t as efficient as they should be. The truck I drive for work is one year older and the brakes are a million times better. I have greased the pins before about a year ago. Currently I think my plan is to start with the rear brakes and put in new adjusters and springs and all that fun stuff and maybe try swapping the drums I have never thought of that. Then I’ll work to the front with rotors and pads and see if that fixes it.
Passey, you have it backwards.
Modern cars use 80% braking force at the front. Rear is really a supplement braking. So start with where the main braking power is, not supplementary.
Take front rotors to grinder and grind those rotor edges off. Check on edge cracks. Take air orbital grinder, put ROUGH sand paper piece on, mask and glasses onto your face, and roughen rotor surfaces in circular motion, until all glaze is gone.
Immediately after you had new pads installed, do bedding procedure.
Be advised that GM trucks are known to have rubber sections of brake lines to expand over time. That resulting in loss of brake power, as hydraulic pressure simply goes into the lines.
Also, be advised that GM products are known for having soft brake pedal. Same experience on my 99 Silverado. It is adequate, but scares the hell out of you in emergency braking.Btw, something tells me that proportionate control valve on your truck is not working too well. Is your truck going into nose dive, every time you hit the brakes hard? That’s 1st and sure sign of this issue.
You certainly may replace the rear brake parts and maybe the springs. over a lot of time, get weak. I say maybe because I’ve replaced these parts a few times and never saw a benefit. The adjustors probably just need cleaning and lubrication. The thing is – it is so easy when reassembling rear drum brakes to get some item in the wrong place. Usually, the only thing this does is cause the adjustors not to work.
the rear brakes do work. the other day on my way home i stopped on a slight uphill grade to talk to someone and left my foot on the brake (not real hard) and the truck in drive. my brother in law noticed that my rear tire was still turning in place because of the snow. so i mashed the brakes harder and it made it brake. I guess either way i need to take a look inside of there on the rear ones. I think ill probably just replace the pads and rotors because the pads are about shot anyway.but that does make sense to start on the front. I do have a rubber hose going from the wheel well to the hub that the rubber has split open and the braided (i think its braided) steel is showing that is on my list to fix this week. but i think for the most part on my truck the rest of the brake lines are metal. ill have to look over them though soon hopefully when i can find a spot thats not a muddy wet mess. thanks
I have some new rotors and pads coming this week. I’m going to start there and work back. Today I stopped on a uphill grade at a intersection with my rear tires on a patch of ice and my front ones on asphalt. With the brakes lightly pressed my rear tires spun on the ice so I smashed the brakes harder. I had to push the pedal pretty hard to get the rear to brake but they did brake and the weird thing is the pedal seemed a lot harder after that. I’m thinking they need adjusted again or the adjusters aren’t working. When I’m doin the brakes I might as well pop the rear ones and see what’s going on and go from there. Hopefully that will get done right before Christmas 🙂
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