Does anyone know why GM changed from rear disc brakes to drum brakes? Why would they do that....cheaper?

I think they were having problems with the disks. I have the disks and havent had a problem yet tho.

I think they were having problems with the disks. I have the disks and havent had a problem yet tho.My 2000 Z71 had rear disk and they worked fine. The parking however sucked royally. Would not hold the weight of the truck. I had to pull the calipers and disk and go in to make adjustments. The guy who did my vehicle safety inspection told me many Suburbans, Tahoes and pickups failed for parking brake problems.

havent had a problem with my parking brake yet. I dont really put it on all that much except for here and there just to make sure its still working.

Does anyone know why GM changed from rear disc brakes to drum brakes? Why would they do that....cheaper?

They went back to the stone age brakes? Didn't know that. The rear discs on my '02 work way better than the drums that I had on my previous truck.

I switched my '69 Olds over to discs because of the very poor braking performance with the drums.

i have 4 wheel drums on my 68 camaro.........Its like stopping a tank... ;)

Does anyone know why GM changed from rear disc brakes to drum brakes? Why would they do that....cheaper?

My understanding is that it was primarily a cost saving activity. Disc brakes cost considerably more than do drum brakes. Also - they justified it by saying it helped their efforts to reduce weight and increase reliability with the ABS system.

Personally - I believe disc brakes are a real benefit over drum brakes as long as they are sized properly - for heavy load or normal. Drum brakes aren't bad - its just that I think disc brakes are good.

My rear brakes seem to wear out much quicker than the front ones. I've already replaced the pads and turned the rotors on the back b/c they were shaking the whole truck when I stopped. They're already making the squealing noise like the pads need to be changed again and I replaced them just over a yer and a half ago. Is this normal??

I got 80K out of the origonal ceramic pads on the back. The truck came with ceramic all around and the owner before me for some reason replaced them with carbon metallic and I replaced the front at 45K with ceramic. I pulled the front brakes down last weekend with 45K on the front pads and they still look new. And believe me, I am hard on the brakes. Gotta check those seatbelts everyday.

Personally - I believe disc brakes are a real benefit over drum brakes as long as they are sized properly - for heavy load or normal. Drum brakes aren't bad - its just that I think disc brakes are good.

Good point. The front disc brakes on the '88-'98 half ton models were notorious for poor performance and fading. Trying to stop while towing a car hauler (or just an empty truck from higher speeds) could be quite an experience. That's why I started driving 2500's to begin with...not for the increased GVWR but for the better brakes.

But to see the benefits of disc over drum, try driving an older performance car with front drum brakes. Can get quite hairy. :eek: