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brake wear/ GM disappointment

11K views 14 replies 11 participants last post by  White016 
#1 ·
Good afternoon, dealing with an on going brake issue on my 2015 Canyon, and disappointment with GM
Had the brake noise common with the twins, sounds like a pads dragging, dealer replaced pads turned rotors, 22,000 miles greater the 7mm pad on front, still had the noise, said its just the way it is.
At 33,000 miles its gotten worse, took it to another dealer front rotors are done, outboard pads less then 1mm inboard 5mm both front brakes, GM dealer says normal wear, and not an issue, aren't covered and the rears need to be replaced too.
Seems like 11,000 miles on a set of brakes is poor at best, 33,000 for all brakes and to burn through a set of rotors too,
I won't bore you with all my vast knowledge on what I think is going on so my question:
Have read a handful of posts and heard that GM has had issues with brakes in the past
Not worth investing in a truck I can not keep brakes on
I live in the mountains and tech says thats why, although our Sierra 1500 has 45,000 on its original brakes
Are the twins, under braked, design problem that i will spend more time chasing then its worth, or something else I am missing?
Trucks parked for the time being I will pull it apart and take pics when i get some time, likely won't be till early November
Thanks in advance!
 
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#2 ·
Since you are in the mountains I would buy the best break pads you can find. They may have made them on the light side.

I know this is not here but the Wife had a vehicle that went thru brakes like yours.( 2 sets in 28,000 miles) Dealer did what your dealer has done. 3rd time I googled and there was a TSB on them. Took it to my local shop as we were done with dealer. As soon as I explained the brakes, they new about the TSB, replaced what was needed, sold the vehicle 80,000 miles later with no brake issues.
 
#3 · (Edited)
I've had (2) VW MK5 Jettas and both killed the rear rotors in under 20k. They just ate rear rotors. Pads had plenty of life but obviously changed them out with the rotors. I had 2003 GTI and got almost 100k out of those brakes. Just depends on the vehicle.
 
#4 ·
In my experience I've noticed when mechanics do disk brakes they are lazy and in a hurry and don't clean and lube caliper slides and bolts causing the pad to drag constantly. Seems likely especially if one pad is worn much more than the other. Living in the mountains I'm sure would greatly reduce brake life. Seems extreme in your case though. I must admit I haven't even looked at my brakes yet but I only have 11K on the truck so I'm not sweating it yet. They have never made any noise either. For what it's worth I live in an area that almost never rains, never snows so no salty roads, and I park it inside. All this might make a difference....?
 
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#5 ·
Here is the deal on brakes. All vehicle have em, we all need em and a certain percentage of all makes have issues.

I you look here yes a few have complained but it is a small number. Also since most do not have issues there is a factor causing yours that needs identified.

Problems can come in many ways be it environmental, terrain driver, mechanical etc.

You need to try to identify the factors in play. Some can be complex like my Malibu where the bracket that holds the pads in place is cast iron and the rust builds under the stainless clips and wedges the pads in place. This wears one pad out in the rear and then wears the front pads out doing all the work.

I cleaned the bracket and coated it to prevent scale now no issue.

Or I have seen where others drive with two feet and never realize the drag the brakes with a foot resting on the pedal.

Even in heavy use I have seen needs to upgrade pads to correct this. Some thing like EBC yellow may be needed.

Dealers just look at parts and seldom try to diagnose an issue fully as it is all about getting the job done and out the door.

The reality that not every truck shares this issue means the problem is not the norm.

I have not spent time in this system much yet but have seen rear brakes get dirt in them and get bound up for some that off road.

There are no slides on the front with the 4 piston system. But there is on the rear. But even then the slides are covered in most applications anymore.

To really know what is going on with your cases few of us can judge as only you know much about where and how you drive. I suspect an issue on the truck that the dealer is not seeing or you need better pads. But that is only a guess.

Might have another shop look into it as it is much cheaper than buying a new truck on something that should be able to be resolved.
 
#6 ·
I have 56K on my truck, no issues. On rare occasions in winter I may have had some of the brake squeal for first few miles that others have complained about. I will get oil changed and tires rotated this weekend, need to double check the pads as I may be reaching a point where they are at risk.

####> Do these brakes when they wear out give you the tell tale squeal we normally expect?

I have seen different issues like @hyperv6 has described. Daughter had major issues on a (gasp) Honda Accord, left front. It was a sticking caliper I believe, had to replace caliper. The "brake shop" she took it to twice never did get it fixed. When she had me check it out, I sent her to a shop I trusted with a specific diagnosis and they got it fixed.

I had issues on rear on Jeep Wrangler. Changed pads to aftermarket "lifetime warranty" and got 100K from that set.

My mom was a two footed driver, road brakes constantly. After 30-40-50 years, I wasn't going to change her. I had to replace the rotors twice on a Chevy sedan she owned.

Had issues with rear brakes on my 2001 Tahoe, the design caused a rotor failure in regards to the drum portion that was used for the parking brake. Based on the shop that quoted me $600 for the brake job I did for $300, it was a known defect in design.

I don't know that I have ever paid as close attention to lubrication as some here have described, but when I do mechanic work, I am a stickler for clean. Any rust, corrosion, build up of dirt/grease, etc. gets cleaned up. If part will not clean up, it gets replaced. Everything has to be moving freely before I walk away.

The OP may have a major issue, may be specific to how he uses his truck, or some other issue. We had the guy the other day who posted about how he used (perhaps abused is a better description) his truck. His oil field service work in the Canadian Tundra was some of the most severe service i have ever read. Only thing that was worse on a truck was the descriptions I heard of trucks in the salt mine down in South Louisiana. Back in the late 70s, it was described to me that trucks were disposable, take them down into the salt mines, and in 3-6 months, they were totally rusted out.

Good luck, I wonder if pictures of the wear patterns or something else would be helpful?
 
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#7 ·
One problem is brakes all used to be the same old drum brake. Then most disc brakes were very similar.

Today disc brakes are very different than each other not only from brand to brand and model to model but now front to rear on the same model.

Many peop,edging brakes are not always well versed in what to do or how to do it.

The same with pad material as it has changed much too.

Then most cars today have also gone to ball bearing hubs and gone away from the roller tapers. This has given much more issue with play and rotor thickness variation. Yet many never check play in the hub when doing brakes. This leads to a brake pulse.

Seating or bedding pads. Few shops do it and few if any ever advise the customer on it.

To be honest just because you can change pads does not mean you know how to do it right.
 
#8 ·
I have a 2015 Colorado with nearly 91,000 some odd miles on it, with the original brakes. Granted, I live in the flat lands of Texas, but I drive in Houston traffic all day, 5 days a week and use my brakes a lot. They just started a light squeal (hitting the indicator), haven't pulled the wheels to check them but rotors are still good - so a brake job is in my near future for sure. I guess what I'm saying is every truck is different, yours may have some issue as stated.
 
#9 ·
91K on front brakes has to be some kind of record. Of coarse with 91k there must be a lot of highway miles in there too. If you drove a million miles without using the brakes they would still be like new at 1000K. ;)
 
#10 · (Edited)
I have 28K miles no brake issues, but I did had the squeal many have complained about.

After looking into the issue I found the squeal to be caused by the front drive shaft transfer case seal. I sprayed silicone grease on it and the squeal noise is gone, it came back about 6 months after, re sprayed and is gone again.
 
#12 ·
good fix, I've seen a couple of posts about a dry squeaky front shaft seal here not to long ago. I think the dealer replaced them for a fix. I like yours better. Next time you could try oil instead of silicon, I bet it would last longer. ??
 
#11 ·
Wow...

One thing I was impressed about my 2005 Chevy Colorado (Traded in for 2017 Z71)
I had over 100K miles, and the Brakes still looked good every time I had the Dealer checked them.
I guess I was just Lucky...

Keith,
Marietta, GA
 
#15 ·
That is impressive. My 2007 Colorado got fronts at around 60k I think . If I remember correctly it was because of noise.

Same with the rear, at about 70k they where making noise too so I did the shoes. Sold it at 75K to get my 2016 but I bet they were good for another 50-60k no problem.

We shall see on the 16, only at 11k miles so far, no noise or any problems for that matter.....
 
#13 ·
I expect to set a record with my brakes because I barely use them. I drive slow, keep my distance, look ahead, always gear down and use my diesel exhaust brake a lot. I see people burning their brakes on long hills where I never touch my pedal once. It's been 30 years since I've done brakes on a vehicle. Mine might last the life of the truck.
 
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