Chevy & GMC Vans

I know the bearings are good on mine. I probably should have mentioned that about 2 months ago i re-packed the bearings and replaced the seals, as well as replacing the pads, hoses, and lubed up the caliper pins real good. On mine i think the only variable left is the tires.

Probably a stupid question, but are you certain that the wheel bearings are properly seated and adjusted? If the bearing race is loose at all, it could be causing those symptoms you are citing... i'd bet some pretty unpredictable handling with heavy/moderate braking... It would probably get worse over time.
My .02 cent's worth
Mark

Kabey's Van wrote:Loose, worn, or a bad wheel bearing can cause the symptoms you are describing, so can worn out ball joints. If these parts are starting to go south, high speed hard brakeing will produce a violent shake.
Have it looked at Abe.

Uh oh... I have yet to replace wheel bearing on these trucks ... from what I understand it is a knuckle breaking job.
How do I test the bearing?
Is it the same as testing for my idler arms / toe rods BUT with the tires off ground and check for wiggle? If that is the case... yes I do remember she has some wiggle.
(How about for the rear part of the vehicle?)

wheel beraings are not that bad of a deal but it does sound like tie rod ends IMO

to check the wheel beraings lift the front wheels off the ground and then grab the top and bottom of the tire and try moving it by pressing in at the top and pulling out on the bottom at the same time. should have very little play here but must have some. it should barely be noticeable any more is too much.

phr1$k37 wrote:

LiftedAWDAstro wrote:Sounds like either warped rotors or one of the calipers is not sliding properly.

Really? Man ... then Darren and myself will be eating our words about these Brembo rotors hehhee. The Calipers were brand spanking new. Ratz. I will need to look into them :(

Alrighty ... so you can probably guess what the problem was right?
Warped rotor?
Nope!!!

But it was related










Brembo rotors were no longer expelling the heat faster enough. Even when rolling (not braking) the pads are touching but once the rotors were heated the "wobble" would be felt.

I changed the rotors last night (yes last night ... I have been that busy to neglect this safety issue :p) and everything is back to normal.

Warping rotors is quite hard to do IMO. In my case I could see how the pads ate away my rotors but it was smooth and I brought them to be machine but the guy told me I am nuts - he said "smooth!?". So I was very puzzled. But last Saturday night months after having the specialist look at it, it dawned on me that my pads are Ceranmic and huge!!! The rotors just couldnt transfer the heat fastest enough and some times brake pad material would stay on the rotor. So having the rainy season I went for wet cold drives using the brake hard and the wobble was less.

So my brake upgrade I did back in this post gave me super braking powerbut also introduced bad heat build up in the city as I "ride" the brake.

So basically with my driving conditions and style the Brembo rotors, 3/4ton calipers and Raybestos Pro pads combo last only 1 year then the rotor is toast.

For the guys that have the large brakes in the front only, how much brake life span are you getting?

I drive about 25000km per year where a good 5000-7000km is off-road mountain driving in dryish 30C+ temp with high evalations. The rest are mix of highway and city ... where city traffic is very bad for rotors (riding the brakes softly a lot but builds up heat longer).

Alright PHR. What did you do to fix it? Details, details?

astroturf wrote:Alright PHR. What did you do to fix it? Details, details?

Hey read!!!
I changed the rotor!!! The rotors could not hold with heat at all. The micro-thingy said the pads ate the rotor 3.6xmm (that is a lot in 1 year!!!) but was smooth. Guess I might be getting new rotors ever year instead of every two years now

phr1$k37 wrote:

astroturf wrote:Alright PHR. What did you do to fix it? Details, details?

Hey read!!!
I changed the rotor!!! The rotors could not hold with heat at all. The micro-thingy said the pads ate the rotor 3.6xmm (that is a lot in 1 year!!!) but was smooth. Guess I might be getting new rotors ever year instead of every two years now

Yep, I read your post.
What Brand rotors did you go with?
Did you have them matched/machined to the axle?
What type of pads are you now using?
You did replace the pads right?
Did you do the work yourself? Or did you let the shop that inspected your Brembo rotors do the work?
Just askin.

edit: Did you properly torque the lug nuts? The number one cause of thick/thin variation on brake rotors.

phr1$k37 wrote:

astroturf wrote:Alright PHR. What did you do to fix it? Details, details?

Hey read!!!
I changed the rotor!!! The rotors could not hold with heat at all. The micro-thingy said the pads ate the rotor 3.6xmm (that is a lot in 1 year!!!) but was smooth. Guess I might be getting new rotors ever year instead of every two years now

interesting i'm running larger front calipers too with semi-metallic pads and my company rotors (made in china) i looked at them yesterday lots on pads left and no vibes yet lets see how long they'll last. I don't do any mountain driving and tend to avoid braking as much as possible (i don't like going slow ) but most of my driving is city