95z71 brakes Advice

95Z71 · #1 01-11-2005, 12:02 PM

The brakes on my 95 Z71 are mushy when I first put my foot on the pedal. But, if I pump it once it firms right up and stops well. Then when I drive for a few more minutes it feels soft again. I dont appear to be losing any fluid and I dont see any wet spots around the wheel cylinders. I am thinking it is the master cylinder but I would like to hear it from someone who may have a little experience with this.
Any comment would be helpful.
Thanks-95Z

Chevy-SS · #2 01-11-2005, 02:47 PM

I have a 98 Silverado with exactly the same type of pedal. It bothered me and I went to a buddy, who has a similar truck. His pedal was like mine. Then I tried his father's Silverado. Again, lousy pedal feel. I test drove a brand new Z71 about a year ago and I thought the brakes were defective, the pedal was so bad.

This seems to be just the way it is with these trucks, but I would love it if someone has a definitive answer. The only thing I have heard is that there may be some air in the ABS (for the rear brakes).

abaird · #3 01-11-2005, 04:30 PM

I don't think it is a problem like Chevy-SS said. I have never really given it much thought but when my girlfriend drives my 97 she always complains about having to push the pedal all the way to the floor to get the truck to stop. And when I drive other vehicles (especially fords) I almost throw myself out of the seat while giving the same amount to pressure to the pedal as I would in my k1500.

planedude · #4 01-11-2005, 07:35 PM

adjust your rear brakes.

95Z71 · #5 01-11-2005, 09:20 PM

Thanks I'm gonna try the adjustment. It does make sense. If the wheel cylinders have to travel to far I would have a lousy pedal till I gave it another pump.Thanks for the insight.
-95Z71

Chevy-SS · #6 01-12-2005, 09:10 AM

As we all know, the rear brakes are self-adjusting. They may need a little adjustment to get them perfect, but they won't typically be very far off. 95Z71, if you find a magic bullet for this, please let us know.us know.

Sivart · #7 01-12-2005, 10:06 AM

What I did was swap out rear brakes. The trailer towing package had the bigger drums in the rear. I went to the larger rear brakes and my pedal is higher and brakes are much better.

joe92k1500 · #8 01-12-2005, 10:21 AM

I also had horrible pedal feel in my truck. 92 k1500. I replaced the front pads and rotors ( badly warped) and the pedal was better but not good. Took off the rear drums to find that they look brand new. The Wheel cyl. were leaking a little, and the guy who owned it before me installed the self adjusters wrong. Basically i installed all new springs, wheel cyl,and adjusted the shoes. Feels great now. Now i just have to fix the ebrake.

95Z71 · #9 01-12-2005, 02:33 PM

I will try to get to it this week end. I will post what I find.

planedude · #10 01-12-2005, 07:20 PM

chevy-ss the self adjusting aspect are good when there new but if you don't keep up on them they don't work worth a f*^&...

Cadillakin'98 · #11 01-13-2005, 11:25 PM

I'm in and out of customers cars all day long. I believe your brake pedal with develope its own characteristic <mushy, soft, touchy, stiff, etc.) depending on how you use it. Some people ride their brakes (kinda like riding a clutch)-which would make the firm I think, some wait until the second they absolutely need them and slam on them-becomes mushy, some cars have what I call "skits brakes"-these are people who decide they need over NOW and hit the brakes hard but briefly as they check there mirror before getting over and gunning it-this results in those overly touchy brakes.

I can even think of 2 identical 2000 Lincoln Town Cars in our shop right now that support my belief.

The tan one I think belongs to the old woman who may/may not be able to see over the steering wheel who hovers her foot over the brake pedal-this is riding the brakes which = firm (press on pedal but seems like it didn't go anywhere and vehicle takes long time to stop, no matter how hard you press

Then the blue one I bet belongs to like lets say a business exec. who is always in a hurry and acts like everyone on the road should know this so he/she will come flying up the road in the same lane the public bus is in, and not decide to slow down from mach-1 until absolutely neccesary=the result is mushy-to-the-floor brake pedal

Its the driver not the vehicle

95Z71 · #12 01-14-2005, 11:19 AM

I see what your saying about the driver and not the vehicle BUT, turning the rotors and replacing the front pads should cure any of the issues that you are talking about. What I am seeing is a lot of folks in this forum have the same problem with the same type of truck. I believe there is an inherent problem with the brakes on chevy pickups. I don't think this one is a driver issue. Driver type things would primaraly be front brake trouble.

I adjusted my rear brakes and the pedal feels like new!
95Z

GMCMudBogger · #13 02-18-2005, 05:02 PM

I can say my Suburbans brakes suck, They are inadequate for the size of the vehicle, I have an F350 crew cab 4x4 long bed (big) and those brakes are awesome, I also have a BMW X5 and they make the best stock brakes in the automotive world and I think the Ford brakes are up there, My GM's sadly are not, I have put in some carbon metallic, Hawk and other high $ pads and have never been completely satisfied with breaking performance, I even put new rotors in for the hell of it to maybe improve the braking, I do notice that new pads give you better feel but eventually fade back to mediocrity. Just my thoughts, I hear alot of Brake & Rotor problems with 93 & up Suburbans not sure with Pick Ups though, I am sure they are similiar.

kenny-1907 · #14 02-18-2005, 05:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GMCMudBogger

I can say my Suburbans brakes suck, They are inadequate for the size of the vehicle, I have an F350 crew cab 4x4 long bed (big) and those brakes are awesome, I also have a BMW X5 and they make the best stock brakes in the automotive world and I think the Ford brakes are up there, My GM's sadly are not, I have put in some carbon metallic, Hawk and other high $ pads and have never been completely satisfied with breaking performance, I even put new rotors in for the hell of it to maybe improve the braking, I do notice that new pads give you better feel but eventually fade back to mediocrity. Just my thoughts, I hear alot of Brake & Rotor problems with 93 & up Suburbans not sure with Pick Ups though, I am sure they are similiar.

That is one sweet looking truck. If that is the one that you are saying that the brakes suck, i notice you have quite a large wheel/tire combo. Did you by any chance upgrade the rotors to a larger size to accomidate the increased rotating mass of those tires? If not , that would definetly be causing your braking problems.

GMCMudBogger · #15 02-18-2005, 05:23 PM

Actullay the brakes sucked since I got it-especialy the ABS,Almost hit someone cuz of it, Yes the big tires don't help the cause that's for sure, It stops fine just takes more effort than the F350 or BMer, You get used to it I guess, We also disabled the ABS since it didn't work right after the lift, that helped, but they just take more effort than most, I trust my foot modulation more that the ABS computer anyway!

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