The brakes dont work until pedal is half way to floor. I guess this is a common problem with suburbans. I have recently replace pads, rotors, rear shoes, drums and fluid. The next step is stainless brake hoses on the front. Maybe the hoses are swelling up or are collapsed on the inside? Has anyone found a cure for this yet?

After purchasing my pre-owned 99 suburban I felt the brake pedal would travel too far before the brakes would grab.I am also used to the brakes being right there with my 89 Toyota.I did check the adjustment of the rear shoes.I adjusted the rear shoes and it made a difference.Hopefully the rear shoes were adjusted when they were replaced.I would start here before changing any other parts.Also ,if the flex lines had collapsed, I think the repair shop would have had a hard time to flush the brake fluid.

I did the brake job myself being a tech for several years. the rear brakes are adjusted real tight and it still didnt bring the pedal up. Thank you for your suggestion. The fluid did pull out of the caliper easily, but I ran into this problem with collapsed hoses on an early 90s chevy van and didnt know if anyone had seen this on a late sub?

Mine did the same thing and I took it to my tech and he said everything checked out. I don't like it but both my Suburban and Cadillac both have what i would consider bad brakes. Must be a GM thing.

If you had a collapsed hose, the truck would probably pull to one side during or after braking, unless you were unlucky enough to have two bad hoses opposite each other.

As the other poster said, check all brakes for proper adjustment. Look for leaks as well.

Next, I would check the proper vacumn at the booster, then check the booster itself. Look for vacumn leaks in the hoses, TB and manifiold.

Lastly, I would check the master cylinder.

Its a pretty easy system to troubleshoot.

JT

Thanks guys. I have a buddy with a 98 sub, and I just test drove it. the brakes are the same way....It stops very well but the pedal is way down there. Must be a GM thing. I'm still a die hard GM fan!!!!!!!!!

Just in case you don't know this american made cars are to have the parking brake set each time you park because this is what adjusts the rear brakes to keep them snugged up. I just make it a habit.

for your low GM brake peddle problems with no fluid leaks and good master cylinders try getting the abs to function.find a large EMPTY parking lot and get your car or truck up to about 50 mph and jam on the brakes .you should feel the abs kick in.after doing that a couple times i have found that the brake peddle is higher.hope this helps you.it works for me.good luck.
ZEROKOOL

My 99 Suburban's brakes are just impotent. Plain and simple. Yesterday morning I bumped a Toyota 4Runner at a light, because the light changed Red, to Green, and Red instantly. I was on the pedal with both feet - and I'm 300 lbs!!! The truck just wouldn't stop. The brakes in this used vehicle (66,000 miles) have never been "adequate". As a result, about 4 months ago I had a GM dealer rework the entire braking system. The replaced EVERYTHING - minus the hoses (pads, rotors, booster, resorvoir, you name it). Still, the pedal travels further than I would expect - although reading other folks' posts doesn't comfort me in this area. But that truck should be able to stop; I know something is wrong. Has to be. My wife and daughter have both rolled through a stop sign at the bottom of the hill by our house because it just won't stop; I'm theorizing it's at its worse when runinng cold and the choke has the engine running a little hot - so a little extra torque. But those brakes are just not working right. Not sure what I can try; I guess everybody pretty much says start with making rear brake adjustment. I don't know what else to do. That bumper yesterday cost me $512 bucks and I'm pissed because the dealership has tried to remedy this problem not once, not twice, but three times. Pissed!

You can buy an addon disc brake kit for the older suburbans. This should eliminate 90% of the brake problems. GM got smart with the new Burbans and put them on. I have a 2000 ford F250 with the 4 wheel disc brakes and they are right there like a sports car. This ford weighs about 8000# as it is a diesel. My suburban just won't stop. I'm going to put in new drums and shoes today to help the mechanics of the adjusters.

Regards

Spud!@@

Have a 99 Surburban and the brakes are soft. It feels as if the brakes won't stop the car. Friend of mine has a Chevy 1500 van and it too is soft in the brake area. Isn't there an after market solution to improve this condition? GM obviously has a problem and should look to Ford for a solution. (I also have a ford E150 van that stops when I push on the pedal.) Surburban is a great car, just wish they engineered the brake system properly.

I have a 97 Burb and I just replaced the front brakes today and my pedal is high and it stops on a dime and gives change. I cleaned and adj the rear brakes (they where not out of adj) because I use the ebrake every day.
How are your rotors are they nice and thick or worn and thin??

Possibly the worst brakes on any car truck or of any make Ive ever experienced in 30 years!!!!!! Last nite in my driveway pulling in to park at under 3 mph the brakes decided to groan and would not stop and allowed me to crash into my garage door ,destroying the garage door and crumpling my hood. YES I know ABS procedure and to hold the brake down and I did but at 3mph !!!!!! I had to engae the e brake and throw it into park to finally stop. !!! It was too late . Ive replaced pads ,rotors and wheel speed sensors ect. I find this very unacceptable and seems some one should start a web site and or also send a petition to the Nation Hwy Admistration. I ve heard and read of many folks talk about the rotor and rear drums being of inadquate size for these vechiles. Ive also heard of many abs related problems also. I find this series brake system upon reading and talking to many people has some serious issues that are puttig peoples lives at risk. Im scared pulling into a parking spot now for fear the brakes will not function properly and actually stop not to mention the common report of the poor pedal feel which it suffers from also. People you need to report these problems so their is a documented data base other wise their will never be any record. http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/

Get it to a dealer fast and let them keep it untill they find the problem.
You need to keep a record of the wreck just incase you can go after GM for this.

I have a 99 burb/5.7/4x4/1500 with the same problem. I'm a 220lbs and i can stand on the brake and the vehicle hardly stops. Everything exept steel lines have been changed on the braking system. The truck is great, but the brakes are something to be desired.

I've read many of the brake problems in this post.I have a few suggestions which may help.You may have noticed the brake fliud in the reservoir look black and dirty.The fluid probably looks the same in the rest of the system.Getting the fluid flushed will help.One thing that I do is remove the fluid from the reservoir and clean the reservoir with some shop towel to get the dirt and slime off the bottom of the reservoir.If the dirt gets into the master cylinder,the rubber pistons get scratched and eventually leak past lowering the braking pressure.I then fill the reservoir with clean brake fluid and then flush the system.One other suggestion is the quality of the replacement parts.These vehicles are to meet a certain stopping requirement by law.Some parts stores offer parts that are good,better and best.I believe that you can only get what you pay for.Normaly the best will meet or exceed oem requirements.Using material that the oem uses would help to maintain the stopping requirements of your vehicle.All the other oils of your vehicle have oil change intervals,but the only interval most brake fluid gets is after a failure has occurred.I hope this will help to resolve braking proplems.
chuck's

After reading the replies for the brake system...it appears every one has tried something to make the brakes more responsive. GM knows what they are doing when it comes to brake pads, rotors, drums and brake lines on the 99 Surburban. It appears the ABS system does not hold constant brake pressure when it is in "standby". The loss (or leakage of brake fluid past the ABS meachanism) of brake fluid pressure causes more brake pedal travel distance. Has anyone challenged the ABS component?
My 99 Surburban still has a weak brake system.

i have a 94 2wd with same problem except i plowed some idiot through the intersection that decided to pull out in front of me! poor car! thats when i found out they will not stop even with two feet on the pedal!

I have a 2001 Suburban with the same problem. At one point I could come to a stop, and the pedal would then slowly go to the floor and it would start rolling. I had to pump the brakes to keep it from moving forward. When this was happening, I could drive for hours, and there would still be rust on the front rotors. I replaced the master cylinder, and it stops now, but the pedal is still really soft...

I seem to remember someone posting info about a proportioning valve problem with these, but I can't find anything on it now.

A TSB was published from GM addressing this issue. I own a 95 1/2 ton 2WD with 5.7 engine. Disc/drum brakes.

The TSB indicates replacing the rear brake shoes with kit # 18029651, the front disc pads with kit# 12471685, and most importantly, replacing the brake proportioning valve with Valve Kit # 125448265. Seems the trucks and Subs were classified as being of similar design/dimensions for braking purposes, when in fact the increased body weight of the Sub versus the pickups have always placed a heavier than normal load on the brakes of the Subs. The brakes of the series were designed for a truck much lighter than a normal Sub,,,it only took a few years (and many worries from owners!0 to realize the vast difference between the models!

Do you know if this TSB covers the 4x4s also? And is there a site or way to find out what TSBs have been issued for a vehicle?

THANKS

Go here.
http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/cars/problems/recalls/recallsearch.cfm
Many times I've had a problem that it seems everyone has and nobody has an answer for and I've found helpful info here. You can look up recalls and TSB for just about any vehicle out there. If you can find your specific problem, you can access the info required for the fix, or at least have an idea of what to reference your mechanic/dealer to. Hope this helps!

THANK YOU, THANK YOU, I've used this site before to find out about the wiper recall that was closed to my 97 Burb even though I got a letter in the mail, never found out why it was closed, but I fixed them myself.
However, the rear cargo (panel) door hinge TSB may be another story. I've complained about their rattling and squeaking from about 50k miles, and I now have 112k miles. They told me it was normal and they adjusted them wich did absolutely nothing.
THANKS AGAIN!