Brakes not braking strong

[sierra99]

I have a 99 silverado 4x4 5.3 ext cab with 96,000 miles and running strong. I have had help in the past on a ujoint issue that workrd great, with the help of some on this site. I have recently went on a trip and put on 1200 miles in a week and I now notice that my brakes are not as good as they used to be. Sometimes when I stop it takes me putting the brake pedal all the way to the floor for it to stop. If I try to lock up the brakes and get the abs to kick in ...I cannot get it to do this.....but my abs does work because when I lock it up in some mud the abs kicks in. My front and rear pads still have about 1/4" untill the wear rod will touch the rotor. A co-worked has had a similar problem and he said that the brakes were "glazed" and he had all 4 pads and rotors replaced and this did fix the problem. There is no uneven wear on the pads at all. But I do fell a little vibration when braking. I was thinking of just replacing all 4 pads and rotors since it does have 97,000 miles and never had a brake job. Does this sound right? Also, I was going to go to the dealer for the pads, I do get them at wholesale through a friend. fronts at $110 and rears at $92. Also should I turn my rotors or get new ones and where? I should stay with ceramic pads, shouldn't I??? thanks to all

[rustcal]

before replacing the rotors I would have them turned if there is enough left to turn. As for brakes I still miss the asbestes(sp) pads. Most of our brake shops here in dallas tx charge about 100 for front and rear brake jobs. Just be careful some places like to tell you that your truck needs more work than it really does. for example new lines, new rotors, system flush and my favorite is the seals which are suppose to be included in the service.

[silveradoman]

A buddy sometimes uses a very fine sandpaper to take the glaze off the pads and gives it a few passes on the disks too, takes care of the squeal also. Correct me if I´m wrong but if you need 1/4 mile to stop your truck with a slight pressure on the brake pedal, you will heat them up and glaze them, also being a red light junkie could glaze them.

[Faze3]

I thought glazing was normal.

Taking fine-grit paper to the pads an rotor surface can take it off. Done it before. Just need to make sure you're doing it evenly and not spending too much time working one area.

[busta]

yip id say glazed also take them in get them turned about 10cdn each and put some new pads on if you want better go with ceramic pads less noise and way better stopping power if you do it yourself be sure to go from 60mph-30mph 6-10 times to seat the pads or you'll glaze the new one's too! if you turn the rotors make sure you use new pads they are fairly cheap, if your not sure how to do yourself go buy the manual for your truck it'll walk you thru it quite easily!

[TorinoGT69]

Have the rotors turned or replaced and use a good quality ceramic pad for the least noise and best stopping power.

[sierra99]

I am going to go th the dealer to get the factory ceramic pads....94 for the front and 91 for the rears....the rotors can be turned so that wont be a problem these prices are wholesale, or so I am told they are. NAPA is the only other auto parts store to carry the ceramic pads and they are $90. I have never gotten 97,000 miles out of a stock set of pads due to my driving habits, I usually go 30,000 miles and have to do a brake job, soI think I will stay with the ceramic pads. I also have to do the emergecy brakes while I am at it. Has anybody gotten 97,000 miles out of stock pads on a 99 silverado????

[airjam18]

I didn't get anywhere near 97,000 miles out of mine but thats probably due more to the driving then to the pad quality. I am doing mine this weekend and I need to do my parking brake too. I removed teh shoes last weekend b/c of teh grinding, but does anyone have any tips on the parking brake. I read somewhere that there was a new type of clip or sprig that GM put out to resolve the Parking Brake "ISSUE". I need my parking brake to work and I hate the idea of changing it every year.

[rustcal]

my last truck was a 94 dodge and i replaced the original factory brake pads at 174,000 miles. the shop put the pads on the wall. the only other problem with the brakes where the seals needed to be replaced which is standard. I checked my brakes about every 5 to 10K miles when I rotated my tires. my silv has 80k miles on it and the brakes are still on very good condition.

[sierra99]

just got done doing all the rear brakes ...pads and parking brakes...i bought the rear parking barke kit from gm for $50.00 this had all of the hardware and the linings...pretty easy and the kit did have the new spring clip in it....this should resolve the parking brake issue......thanks guys....

[sierra99]

i did have enough rotor left to have them turnedand did get the ceramic pads from the dealer for $91.00 not bad for ceramics due to the fact that I wont have to do them again for a while. thanks to all and thanks for info on seating the pads 60mph-30 mph 6-10 times....I did not know that nor did the hayes manual say anything about that..