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Pondering my brake upgrade options?

THEFERMANATOR

THEFERMANATOR

FRANKENBURBAN
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Well I checked the front brakes on my BURB lately as they haven't been working as good as they used to, and it seems my rotors are glazed BADLY and my pads are getting pretty low. I only have about 35K miles on them since I did DURALAST gold pads, new AZ rotors, and RUSSEL stainless braided brake lines. At the time this was more than enough braking, but with the added power of the DURAMAX I would like to step up my braking a bit more to match the acceleration it has. I'm going to upgrade my rear shoes to the ACDELCO DURASTOP's as this is the ones listed in the TSB for lead or pull under braking. I already did the proportioning valve upgrade last year(I only did the valve but not the shoes like the TSB said to), but I'm still getting some wonder under hard braking. I'm at a toss up for the front though. AZ used to have some decent pads, but anymore they seem to be garbage with a really good warranty. And I for one am getting tired of having to warranty parts all the time. Since the GMT-400 front brakes have always been a bit lacking by comparison to other trucks, I'm looking at going with a set of RAYBESTOS rotors(not sure on either the drilled and slotted or the non directional slotted ones), and either a set of akebono pads or RAYBESTOS premiums. My other option is to just turn my front rotors and put a set of premium pads on it. Moneys a bit tight right now, but I don't want to have to do this again any time soon. And teh BURB is getting worked pretty hard here lately everytime I use it. Have any of you guys out there used these parts?
 
Well funds have been a little tight here lately(everytime I get caught up, more bills hit and it's all gone). So I decided to do just the AKEBONO brake pads up front, the AC DELCO DURASTOP rear shoes(the ones in the GM TSB for brake pull), and a new set of wheel cylinders since I'm in there. My rotors were still plenty thick, and my drums were in good shape, so that was my main reasoning for not spending the extra $190 and getting the drilled and slotted rotors. Should know tommorrow if this helps out or not. I sure hope so though.
 
IMO the brakes suck on these trucks empty let alone with a load. I had been researching what I could do also. I think one way to go even though it will cost more is a 6 lug conversion or I just started looking at the 99+ trucks they have dual piston calipers up front and possibly larger rotor (but I have not meassured one yet). I "think" a 4x4 spindle would swap out between the two (but again no messurments, just eyeballing)
 
I eyeballed teh 2 when I had my donor sitting in the shop, and they weren't even close between the GMT-400's and the GMT-800's. My brakes used to work really good until my front pads got worn down a bit. Then they started warping teh rotors and wouldn't stop for crap(good ole DURALAST pads baby). If I can get em working like they did when I first put this last set of pads on I will be happy.
 
How many miles on your calipers?

I was having slight wander when braking, only to one side.
One of the calipers wasn't releasing completely and it warped the rotor.
As I cleaned the internal bushings on the calipers, lubed them, and reinstalled, I found a lot of play.
Down here in my part of Baja (Mexico), I couldn't get the bushings so I reassembled and tested.
It's worse now with the hardened grease out of the worn out bushings, the fresh grease allow more crooked movement.
It pulls to one side then the other as I apply the brakes.

Yesterday I ordered piston seals, bolts, and a set of Raybestos ceramic pads that includes the seals and bushings.

I might have been better off getting rebuilt calipers, but at least I'll know it was done right... I hope!:rolleyes5:


I'll let Y'all know how it goes.:skep:
getimage.jpgRAYBESTOS Part # ATD370C 3.370" X 4.920"
caliper bolt and slider.jpgCaliper bolt and slider
caliper seals.jpgCaliper seals
 
Kind of OT but you mentioned something that caught my attention... Was rear brake pull a big problem on the GMT-400's?

I had a 97 C3500 that had major rear brake pull after a botched rear brake job and no one could fix it. It would veer to the left during normal stops...verified it was the rears by stopping with the parking brake.

Before this happened, I had new rear shoes put on at a small shop near where I worked and it drove fine at first. Took it back to have the rears adjusted a couple of weeks later because the parking brake wouldn't hold. They adjusted the rears too tight and it overheated one side on my way home. The drum was HOT. After that, it pulled. I replaced everything myself in the driveway which was a PITA because those drums/hubs were heavy as all get out. New shoes, new hardware, new wheel cyls, flushed the fluid, adjusted per the GM service manual... it still pulled. Took it to Ferman Chevy because I knew a guy there at the time, explained what happened and paid them to re-do it, the pull was still there. Ended up trading that in on the 01 2500HD because no one could fix the damn thing.
 
Yep, the pull is a known issue on the GMT-400's. It's funny though as mine didn't do it until I did the DMAX swap. I just put the new style TSB brake shoes, so I hope all will be right with them as they cost me $130 my cost from my local dealer. The pads I got came with the bushings and seals for the slides, and I polished my old pins up to make them work. The calipers themselves though are fine and move freely in the pistons. My poor braking all started when my pads got worn past the beveled edge back to where they are flat. They were supposed to be ceramics, but are definately semi metalics from all of the brake dust. I've heard and read nothing but good things about the AKEBONO's, but if they don't work out I will go with the RAYBESTOS ceramics.
 
From my experience:
The 1/2 ton 95 Yukon would get about 12K out of a set of pads. I went to drilled rotors and got 15-17K out of the pads after that. AC Delco dealer pads. The drilled rotors run cooler and didn't warp like the factory rotors. They would take you by surprise as the freeway would cool down the brakes so much the off ramp would be cold brake stopping distances. The cracking after two sets of pads scrapped the rotors. I went slotted after that. Slotted can make a whine. The slotted also had better performance than factory. However the slotted do not crack. Miles on pads were also better than standard rotors. Very few places will turn drilled or slotted rotors.

You always need to creep forward on your brakes after a hard stop. Your red hot pads and rotors will cool differentially if the red hot pads are kept over one rotor spot while the rest of the rotor cools. The section under the pads will harden. Even a brake lathe has the tool literately bounce off the hard spot resulting in pedal pulse after ~3K miles of use. You can't find places the grind rotors vs. turn them. Thus rotor replacement during a brake job is sometimes a good idea and for me I'll pound out lug nuts to do just that every time! Again creeping on the brakes even if you have to use reverse after a panic stop will prevent rotor hard spots and pedal pulse.

The slider bolts and calipers have a lot to do with uneven stopping - a steady pull to one side. Wandering while stopping can be worn front or rear end, road condition, alignment, or tire problems including uneven wear and broken belts. The slider bolts wear and should be replaced with new calipers. Make sure all 4 bolts match as even the same brand can vary new. If it still pulls calipers and slider bolts would be next to replace. Possible the rear cylinders are binding, but, with most braking from the front I would look there first.

Were the pads worn evenly? A bent caliper can cause a pull from uneven pad contact/pressure.

The 3/4 ton:
I used Raybestos rear shoes from Oriley's that cost over $100 for the set. It is worth every penny as the 1993 stops very good. Impressive for a rear drum system IMO and I am hard to impress with this brake system. Esp after owning 4 wheel disc. In fact I dropped plans to go rear disc after installing the shoes. I think the OP did good with the amount spent for his.

Word is that dual piston calipers reduce the flex and get rid of pedal travel and some of the mush feeling.
 
Well first impressions of teh AKEBONO pads is not good. I have never had a spongy pedal like this before even when I had rubber brake lines. The rears will now lock up and kick the ABS in pretty quick, but the fronts wouldn't even lock up on a dirt road. I sure hope they get better after they get bedded in, if not I will be changing them out for RAYBESTOS ones(CARQUEST blues).
 
IMO This has air written all over it. With the sudden mush after checking for air I would look hard at possible master cylinder, proportioning valves etc.

Bad frictions would be a hard pedal (or normal feel) but not stopping.
 
It's not air as I know what air feels like in the pedal. It's not really a mushy pedal, but more or less spongy. They begin to grab at the same point as before, but it takes alot more pedal movement to get strong braking than before. It is definately the pads as they still after a few hundred miles do not have a full contact pattern with the rotor face. I think I'm going to go down and have a talk with CARQUEST as I am not happy with them. They cost me ALOT more than the RAYBESTOS pads would have, and the RAYBESTOS pads have almost a 1/2" longer friction face than these AKEBONO's do.
 
Swapped out the AKEBONO's for RAYBESTOS advanced technology semi metalics and I now have BRAKES! I have a nice firm pedal again, and after just a few miles of driving I have better brakes than teh AKEBONOS had after 500 miles of seating in. From now on I'm sticking with RAYBESTOS for everything as all of teh so called latest and greatest always bites me in the tail end.
 
dka99burb said:
Why not a ceramic? Are they not available or not as good? I thought ceramic pads were supposed to be the way to go now...
Click to expand...

Those were the reccomended pad according to RAYBESTOS for severe use and towing in his catalog. And after the AKEBONO ceramics and the soft pedal, I wasn't really wanting to try another set of ceramics. I only have about 15 miles or so on these new ones, and all I can say is they will STOP it in a hurry. Far and away a better pad than teh small fortune I wasted on the AKEBONO's.
 
I never had any pulling issues until I put the DURAMAX in which was wierd. I changed nothing in the brake system, and from doing the swap it went from braking straight to pulling one way or the other. Putting the upgraded proportioning valve in helped alot, but these new style DURASTOP rear shoes WORK! With the RAYBESTOS advanced technology front pads it will stop good now. I had to get on em a little earlier today, and boy did it stop.
 
Just today we upgraded my front brakes on my 98 K3500. We put Silverado 2500hd spindles,rotors and calipers on it. I've only driven it a couple of miles but it seems way better then the stock stuff. I'll report back when I have more miles on it and the pads are seated it.
 
Very cool. Im doing something real close to what you did, but mine is 2wd. I am going to start a post on it Monday.
Got any pictures of what you did?
 
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