[Roddin Rob]

I have an 06 Colorado Z71 4x4 with 32,000Km's (19,880mi.) on it. The front brake pads have virtually no wear on them, but the rear shoes are completely worn. This would be the first vehicle I own that A) wears brakes that fast; & B) wears out the back first. On any other vehicle I've previously owned, I usually do the front twice over before the rear needs doing. That can't be right? Anyone have any ideas on why this might be, or anyone with a Colorado noticing the same thing?

Thanks,

RR.

 

[NVR2LOW]

Does not make sense, my dad's z85 2wd ex cab still has original rear brake shoes with 160,000 km on them, we just did the front pads around 157,000 km. (He does mainly highway driving 1 hour to & from work daily). I wonder if there is an issue with e-brake sticking, rear brake adjustment or perhaps a proportioning valve issue. I would take it to the dealer and perhaps contact gm cust relations afterwards (once you hear what the dealer has to say about it). Let us know what you find out.

 

[Speedy28]

There are several threads on this issue. My truck has also eaten rear brakes. Went thru the first set in 25k, and just did the fronts for the first time and the rears AGAIN at 80k.

I still have no idea why. :?

 

[Roddin Rob]

Thanks for the responses you guys. I just wanted to make sure I wasn't crazy. (If I am, it's for different reasons). I also commute an hour each way to work. This means I've actually got to take time off work to bring the truck into the shop. I've got the Haynes manual & it looks like there is an adjustment procedure for the rears & parking brake. I'll probably do them myself. If the dealer mechanic "didn't pick up" on the fact that the rears were half worn on the 6-month inspection; he is either incompetent, or salivating over getting to charge for a brake job on the next service visit. OK I admit I have some trust issues... hehe. In any case, that will eliminate everything other than a possible proportioning valve problem, which at that point would surely be a warranty issue.

 

[shamrock shooter]

Chevy has a Technical Service Bulletin out for premature brake shoe wear on colorado's. If you scroll down the page on this link you will see it.

http://www.chevroletforum.com/recalls-and-tsbs/make_CHEVROLET/model_COLORADO/year_2006/TSB.htm

 

[Roddin Rob]

Yeah, I've seen these "TSB's" before. They never contain any useful amount of detail. All I'm getting out of this one is that Engineering is looking into it since around October 07. It confirms that there is more than one Colorado out there having the same problem as mine. Some further searching shows that there is no recall for this problem (yet). Maybe that's why the mechanic never said anything to me about my oddly prematurely worn brakes-he knew there was a bulletin out, but no fix. I'll try calling the dealer about it tomorrow & see what they say. If there's no fix/recall, I'll just replace them myself I guess... I'll keep everyone posted as to what I find out.



RR.

 

[pappawheely]

I have never had a truck that wears the rears faster than the fronts. I kept checking the fronts and they looked good so I did not check the rears. My daily commute is on a mtn road. Last week I got through the cyn and when I went to stop at the first traffic light the pedal went to the floor and I ran right through the intersection with no brakes. I could have been killed or killed someone else. The shoes were so low it pushed the piston out of the wheel cyl. tearing the seal. Guess what? no wheel cyl rebuild kit avail. Had to buy a new wheel cyl from the dealer. $91.00 bleeping dollars!!!!! My truck is out of warantee and I plan on swapping out the rear for a nine inch but this is BS. My brake lights/ cruise never works (4 times to dealer), had to take it to three different dealers until I found an honest one that replaced the cyl head. This truck has turned out to be a steaming turd. Chevy needs to pull their heads out if they plan on staying in business. Next time I will buy a Toyota. Sorry for the rant. Let us know what you learn.

 

[jamman91]

I have a 2006 colorado and my m brake shoes grab after I have used the parking brake, they stick to the drum because the drum has like a mirror finish, I looked it up on a service bullitin and most 2006 and up colorados have this problem, what you need to do is get the drums to be refinished that should work, I don't know yet because my shoes aren't that bad yet, but my parking brake does make the shoes grab its making me nervous

 

[Roddin Rob]

Hi Gang!

I finally got in to see the dealer last week. I was starting to get a bit of a laundry list of items I wanted checked, the least of which were the rear brakes. In any case, they are telling me that the wear I am seeing is quite normal. They had a Silverado with just under 20,000 km (12,470 mi) up on the hoist next to mine & it had about the same amount of wear that mine did & I am at 36,000 km (22,370 mi). They even pointed out that the liners are simply not that thick anymore, referring to the replacement set I had purchased (aftermarket) in case they were not going to replace my rears on warranty. The new liners aren't that thick at all (I didn't actually measure those). SO! I asked them if this is 'normal wear', why did the last dealer I went to (before I moved out of town) check them off as marginal on their inspection sheet at 17,000 km (10,560 mi)?! Their answer was that the Tech's should have known better. The inspection sheet is generic & does not reflect the spec's of the newer vehicles. If this is in fact the case, I suggested they re-vamp their checklist sheet to update it to match the vehicle they are inspecting! In any case, the fact that I've got two dealers providing me with different information does not instill a lot of faith, especially when I hear a story about someone's cyllinder pin popping out because the shoes were waay worn-out! All I can say is that I'll be keeping my after market shoes & watching the wear very closely. I'll replace the dang things myself if I get uncomfortable with what I'm seeing. I never trust my destiny to someone else if I can avoid it!

RR.

 

[jetpilot]

Which aftermarket brake shoes/liners did you end up buying?

 

[Roddin Rob]

Wagner. They are a reputable name brand, & they were almost half the price I was quoted for anything else. I paid 64$CAD after-taxes.

RR.