Another Venture with grinding front brakes - Opinions please.

[darnsuprat]

Hope everything is going well with you guys and keeping warm and safe.
I need your opinions please.

I've changed my Venture front brake pads less than a year ago and put on Discount Advance "BEST" pads that they recommended. They were ceramic.
Now, I'm getting a grinding sound from the front especially from the left front whenever I brake down. The grinding sounds like the pad is worn out and it's grinding metal to metal........audible enough to worry about it. I have not taken the wheels off and look at them but it's less than a year and the rotors does not seem to be cutting when I felt them last weekend.

I'm thinking of replacing the pads this weekend but this time........I want to put pads that's been proven to be the best by fellow Venture owners.....not just what the store tells me.

I'm also going to machine the rotors or replace them if they're not too expensive or if they're bad.

Please recommend what brand pads I should get. None squealing good pads to make my wife feel safe again when driving this van. She's afraid to drive it now.

Thanks.

[phipps]

Depending on how many miles you drive and how you drive, you could easily go through a set of pads in a year. It's also possible that the caliper is sticking on that wheel causing the pad to wear more quickly on that side.

[kornjulio]

Although I haven't yet replaced the brakes on my 2000 Venture; I'll speak from the job I did on my '99 S10: go with AC Delco. I did the rotors & pads with AC's and am very happy with the results. I believe the pads were regular semi-metallics...certainly not ceramic...the rotors were beefy and Made in USA - not thin ones from China...

My philosophy is simple: don't skimp on the brakes...nothing destroys your confidence in a vehicle faster than one that veers, shakes, or groans when you need to get stopped....

[cjstew4]

Originally Posted by darnsuprat

Hope everything is going well with you guys and keeping warm and safe.
I need your opinions please.

I've changed my Venture front brake pads less than a year ago and put on Discount Advance "BEST" pads that they recommended. They were ceramic.
Now, I'm getting a grinding sound from the front especially from the left front whenever I brake down. The grinding sounds like the pad is worn out and it's grinding metal to metal........audible enough to worry about it. I have not taken the wheels off and look at them but it's less than a year and the rotors does not seem to be cutting when I felt them last weekend.

I'm thinking of replacing the pads this weekend but this time........I want to put pads that's been proven to be the best by fellow Venture owners.....not just what the store tells me.

I'm also going to machine the rotors or replace them if they're not too expensive or if they're bad.

Please recommend what brand pads I should get. None squealing good pads to make my wife feel safe again when driving this van. She's afraid to drive it now.

Thanks.

Although you do not mention what year vehicle this is, you need to first check your rear shoes for wear. 1. You may have a leaking rear wheel cylinder which first causes some grinding/slippage/shudder noises/feeling which you may be mistaking for your front discs having problems. 2. The rears need to be in adjustment (Self adjusting sometimes doesn't). I replaced my leaking rear cyclinder cylinder and shoes that needed it anyway on both sides. I pulled apart the self-adjuster, cleaned the threads and lubed them as well. The self-adjuster now works fine. Depending on the mileage (mine had 140K with original rear brake drums) the rear drums may already near maximum thinness and need to be replaced. Mine were. 3. Did you or the repair shop fully bleed your brakes when the fronts were done? Mine pulled to one side and quickly wore down even the newly turned rotors and disc pads because of lack of bleeding the brakes at install. I usaully suck out all old brake fluid from the reservoir first, fill with new fluid, bleed starting at farthest back from master cylinder until clear/slightly off-clear new fluid comes out before I tighten bleed screw. This includes ensuring all air bubbles are removed as well. Refill with new as needed.
In summary, check the rears, bleed all around first before doing any front replacement of anything. Your front rotors could also be warped and need turning/replacement.

Let us all know what it was.

[bigcoconut]

My 1999 Venture has over 100,000 miles. Ive changed the brakes twice so far. Aside from the stock GM pads, which I normally recommend, my next best set Ive had on this van, which are still on the van are Warner Quiet brakes. Around here I get them at O-Reilly's parts stores. They are the best set so far, I also run them on my 1992 full size truck. My last brake change I went ahead and replaced the rotors, the calipers are just fine so far.

Be sure and check the back brakes like cjstew4 recommended. My experience with Chevy full size trucks is they last pretty much forever, but not the Venture. My last brake job I pulled the rear drums and found the shoes had worn and scored the drums. I was able to get them turned and replaced the shoes but I noticed a big difference in the braking of the van afterwords. I had not realized the rear brakes made so much difference.

[darnsuprat]

It turned out that the Bendix pads on my 02 Venture were worn down to almost the rivits. The pads were worn evenly so I suspect the calipers are working just fine.
I got Akebono pads from Tirerack. New rotors from Discount Advance auto parts local here in Tampa. I could've used the old rotors again if I machined them but chose to go with the new ones.
The only thing I'm leary about is these new rotors are made in China. It's the only one Discount Auto stocks out of the many that they list on their computer. They don't show the thickness but compared to the old rotors, the seemed to be about the same thickness.
Discount Auto said they'll give me a new set of Bendix pads.....that's what the lifetime warranty is for....but only once in a lifetime.
Anyway, glad to say the new pads and rotors makes braking very smooth and quiet and grabs very good too. My wife is happy about the new brakes and feels much safer now.
I didn't have a chance to check the rears but plan to this weekend.
Thanks for all the responses, they were very helpful.

Thanks
Darren.

[cjstew4]

Glad to hear that it was only a wear issue with the front. Don't forget to check the rears and get them better adjusted to take some of the work away from those new fronts. You will notice it right away in how much travel your emergency brake push on/off will be reduced by.