Yep, and some say the brakes on these trucks are real poor...they work great for me too

 

I was satisfied with the original brakes that came on my 17 Colorado Z71.
I did replace them with PowerStop Germanic Brakes and Drilled and Slotted Rotors.
But never felt like what was on it originally wasn't good enough.

 

The stock brakes are great

 

Totally agree..Our trucks have excellent brakes!

 

Gave a friend of mine a ride in my Colorado about a week after I bought it. One of the first things he said was: "This truck has good brakes!". I was surprised that braking was the feature he was initially impressed with.

 

The stock brakes are really good. Though, they did feel a bit squishy when new. Of course it could have been that I traded in a 16 Mustang GT for the truck and I was just used to those.

 

No complaints on my ZR2 brakes. One of the better ones I think. Duralast rotors.

 

At 98K miles, I have consistently said the stopping ability of my OEM brakes is only limited by the gripping power of my tires to the road surface.

I towed a 2WD dolly from Uhaul with a SUV on it, and on return trip with my Wrangler, around 4500 pounds, with no trailer brakes. Yes, I left a bit more stopping distances, but no issues at all.

Actually, in regards to that other thread about weight distributing hitches, etc., the heavier Wrangler rode better than the lighter SUV, even including the fact I took the Wrangler through a major thunderstorm with cross winds on the return journey.

Once my back injury clears up, I really need to pull my wheels and check the brakes. I have never had front brakes pushing 100K before. I have had all the oil changes/tire rotations done at the dealer, his coupons beat anything I could do at home or elsewhere. He gives me an inspection report, and brake pads are good at every inspection.

 

Once my back injury clears up, I really need to pull my wheels and check the brakes. I have never had front brakes pushing 100K before. I have had all the oil changes/tire rotations done at the dealer, his coupons beat anything I could do at home or elsewhere. He gives me an inspection report, and brake pads are good at every inspection.

My 89 Ranger's fronts lasted 145k miles, and were only replaced because a caliper stuck. I joked to my mechanic that I was going to write to Ford and complain that the part only lasted 145,000 miles and 20 years.

In contrast, I replaced the rears at about 30k, not because they were worn out but because the shoes kept attaching themselves to the drums if you used the parking brake after a heavy rain. Living in Washington that was a frequent occurrence. I remember once I was in a parking garage with a relatively smooth driving surface and I had a hard time getting them to break loose. That was the last straw.

 

Yes GM really did a good job on these brakes. They have great stopping power with no fade and good pedal feel once they were broken in. The pedal effort was a little high till bedded in.

The Front Calipers are good units and the rotors are as good a you will buy. The slotted and holed Rotors are just cosmetic or gimmick and really add nothing. The treatment GM is using also keeps them from rusting and looking like hell.

I wish they had put this much effort in my 08 Malibu brakes.

Yet Toyota still has rear drums???

This truck handles, rides and brakes best in class!

I note too the pads are very low dust too.

 

The Colorado brakes IMO lack initial bite and feel, the pedal requires a bit more force/effort to stop than I would like as well. They work decent enough but for sure nothing to brag about.

3...2...1 OK start the bashing because someone has anything less then stellar words for these trucks.

 

The Colorado brakes IMO lack initial bite and feel, the pedal requires a bit more force/effort to stop than I would like as well. They work decent enough but for sure nothing to brag about.

3...2...1 OK start the bashing because someone has anything less then stellar words for these trucks.

What hyperv6 said!!

 

I think the brakes are far better than anything I've personally owned, and I am big fan of the stability control as well. I had a guy blow through a very red light as I was getting ready to enter the intersection at nearly 40 mph, I had to slam on the brakes, swerve to the left to avoid hitting him and then back to the right to avoid a head on with oncoming traffic. The brakes and stability control kept the truck under control and straight which just blew my mind, my old truck the brakes would of locked have slung the rear around and spun out, probably would of hit 3-4 cars total. I definitely needed to change my shorts when I got home after my pulse rate came back down.

 

What I find amazing is how good they got the brakes on this truck yet GM has had off and on issues on the full size trucks since 99-00 And on up.

They have another recall on the new trucks now.

 

Sorry, y'all. They have good enough power to be confident on a 4800 lb truck that tows occasionally, everything else about them is pretty lacking.

Travel is spongey. Feedback is non-existent. There's way too much assist. Not much initial bite. Modulation is okay but nothing to write home about. But at the end of the day, this is a truck, not sporty car, so... hum ho. I guess simply looking at brake power qualifies them as good. But holy crap, if these are the best brakes someone has ever used, I'm sorry for your vehicle history.

 

...if these are the best brakes someone has ever used, I'm sorry for your vehicle history...

Sadly, these may indeed be the best brakes I've ever used, and I've been driving for 40 years. That's not to brag on the Colorado's brakes, but to comment on my less-than-luxury choice of previously owned vehicles. They all had questionable brakes (Chevy Monte Carlo, Ford Mustang GT, Nissan Hardbody 4x4, Nissan Titan 4x4, Honda Accord, Hyundai Sonata, Ford Ranger 4x4). Although, to be fair, the Accord and the Sonata brakes were "adequate" for a passenger smaller car.

Edit to add: 1986 Chevrolet Corvette (mid-life crisis car I bought in 1996). This car definitely had better brakes than the Colorado, but they weren't good enough to STOP me from making that mid-life crisis purchase!

.

 

What is meant by initial bite? I take that to mean you prefer what I would consider touchy brakes that slightest pressure resulted in the seat belt tensioner locking up.

What do you expect for feedback? I guess I am use to my inner ear feedback regarding deceleration.

 

What is meant by initial bite? I take that to mean you prefer what I would consider touchy brakes that slightest pressure resulted in the seat belt tensioner locking up.

What do you expect for feedback? I guess I am use to my inner ear feedback regarding deceleration.

Initial bite: enough power at the first touch of the pedal to set the nose of the car for braking. IE, get the body transition done so you aren't dealing with a vehicle that wallows as you change braking pressure. Obviously, as you suggest, too much of this can be a problem, either by putting your passenger's forehead into the dash, or by being so powerful that you lock wheels before said wheels are loaded enough to brake with that kind of authority. There is such a thing as too much of a good thing. Example, new Taco's have too much initial bite without any firmness at the pedal. I found the Taco to be very difficult to brake gently and smoothly.

feedback: your brakes get firmer as they heat up. The pedal force should change as as you press it further into the floor. The bite point should be a noticeable knee point in the travel vs force curve; soft when you haven't touched pad to rotor yet, firm when you have. You should be able to feel the pedal (and the steering wheel, but that's a different complaint) change when you lock up a tire. Our trucks communicate none of that through your foot.

Go use something with less assisted brakes to get what I'm talking about. Sport bikes, bicycles with modern hydraulic brakes, 90's Japenese sports cars, etc.



For a truck, they're fine. They're powerful enough to always get the job done and that's great. But they're too soft and over-assisted and vague to be called "impressive", that's all. That's why so many people complain that they're bad.

 

"But holy crap, if these are the best brakes someone has ever used, I'm sorry for your vehicle history."
LOL... lets assume poster was referring to trucks in which case I would agree completely, amusing comment though.

 

I agree! I've been driving trucks since I bought my 1973 Blazer new in that same year. This truck has the best stopping power I've ever had in a truck. The 1995 ZR2 I owned went through brakes every 10K or less. Pads and rotors were way too small for the truck and even aftermarket parts didn't last.

 

I meant they use Duralife rotors. Not Duralast.

 

My brakes have always required a double tap.
I feel a bit of sponginess in the travel of the pedal when first applying then let go and get really good bite on the second try.
Braking or stopping distance has never been an issue on the first application of the brakes. Just feels weird.
Nothing really severe but noticeable.
Probably a bit of air somewhere in the lines?
I should have gotten it checked out years ago but just put up with it as a minor annoyance.
I only have 22,000 miles on the truck and everything is almost still like new.

 

I've never really thought much about the brakes in a negative manner, so that must be a good thing. But it's also probably because I don't drive the truck in an aggressive manner.

What amazes me is the MyChevy app reports several hard brake applications per month. I have no idea what those would be. I'm pretty sure I've never activated the anti-lock feature.

 

Sorry but no. The Tacoma has way better initial bite. Driving the Tacoma and Colorado daily. The Tacoma takes the win with the brakes. I have to push the brakes pedal farther down and it's still no where near the Tacoma bite. Just speaking my experience. CHEVY. Listen and apply.

 

Not sure why I would want to "set the nose" of my truck to stop, but to each his own. I can't compare to a Taco, or any other modern trucks. The only other pickups I have driven in last 5 years were a couple of Sierra loaners, and I didn't notice anything particular about those trucks, so I assume they were similar to my Canyon.

My story about "setting the nose." Back in 2003, I traveled to Manaus, Brazil for work. I was riding around one night with the plant manager, and noticed there were no stop signs. I asked how they knew who was to stop. He then described this huge game of chicken they played. As you approached the intersection, the first set of headlights to dip meant that person had hit their brakes and thus the other driver had the right of way.

Maybe some of you guys are driving in locales that have adopted those driving "rules" for traffic?

 

Not sure why I would want to "set the nose" of my truck to stop, but to each his own.

It's so you can lose control in snow or ice and end up in the ditch.

Seriously, I've never heard of this either as being something sought after. Maybe it's not being described well.

 

Setting the nose for a corner is something I've only ever heard about when talking about racing, or driving irresponsibly on curvy roads.

 

The brakes on my 2019 Colorado 4x4 Z71 V6 crew cab work great. I usually just use heel to toe (heel on floor and top of foot on brake pedal) to stop. Pedal is solid and firm and stops easily.

 

BRAKES ARE FOR PUSSIES.

 

With 5400 miles on my 2019 Bison I heard noise coming from my wheels after going down a very muddy road. I figure it was sand in the calibers. After removing tires it was discover that the front brakes had severe gouging and uneven wear in the pads on both sides. The rear brakes were completely shot!! After removing the calibers (it was the same on both sides) the pads fell out onto the ground, they were worn completely thru and the rotors were destroyed and needed replacing. The dealer replaced all brakes under warranty but mention that there was dirt in them. He kind of hinted that because of that it might not be a warranty issue next time. Said he did me a favor by not reporting to home office. I said I was not trying to be a smart ass but isn't that what this truck was made for? So I guess every time I get dirty I have to take my tire's off to clean my brakes?? WTF!

 

Sorry to hear all the complaints about our trucks' brakes not being race-ready. Double-tapping due to pad knock-back, no initial bite to set the nose for stopping/cornering...get over it. As far as truck brakes go ours are better designed than others (Really, Taco brakes? Where Toyota is still using DRUMS in the rear? Please.), they have good life and more than enough stopping power for controlled, undramatic hard stops. But what do I know, not like I put time and money into a pig of a car to have fun at the track before. For reference, since I didn't have the telemetry overlay in this video, I was doing 125-130MPH on the front straight before braking hard (Down to 60-70MPH) for the left hander. Let's talk brake fade after a 20-minute session, shall we...

 

Sorry to hear all the complaints about our trucks' brakes not being race-ready.
...
snip
...
For reference, since I didn't have the telemetry overlay in this video, I was doing 125-130MPH on the front straight before braking hard (Down to 60-70MPH) for the left hander. Let's talk brake fade after a 20-minute session, shall we...

Oh come on now, I'm not expecting race car in the truck, that's why I've been using *'s on statements when I say, "for a truck" because obviously it's a relative scale. But no one here has goofed around on gravel roads? The brake pedal is your most valuable tool for getting turn-in grip on the front end and controlling balance mid-corner without getting too aggro on the skinny pedal and making massive rooster tails and feeling like a jerk who puts undo wear on the road. For that, I want brakes that aren't just vanilla old truck brakes. Right tool for the job, I know, I know.

If you're overheating in single sessions, you should look into some ducting. That monster has enough space for 3" (or bigger) ducts, right? What pads are you running?

Sorry but no. The Tacoma has way better initial bite. Driving the Tacoma and Colorado daily. The Tacoma takes the win with the brakes.

We're in agreement on the bite, but I thought the brakes on the Taco were so numb that they were a detriment in my books when I was cross shopping. Unless that response wasn't directed at me, in which case, sorry.

Example, new Taco's have too much initial bite without any firmness at the pedal.

 

As for truck brakes these are the best in class. It is not even close.

No it is not going to set the nose. If you want that buy a performance car.

They are soft on grab new but they do settle in once they are bedded. If you do not have a good feel you either have an issue or you have different expectation.

Often many never really have ever driven great brakes. Few street vehicles have great brakes. I remember the first time I drove a stock car it had Wilwwod rakes on a wide five wheel. This was on a Howe Chassis.

You really drove into turn one till you saw God then turned left. Well actually you held the car straight and it turned when you let the wheel go. It was amazing how hard those brakes stopped. You would see the wall coming up at 120 mph and your brain says no way But the car says yes.

Once you got used to it the force felt normal. But those first few laps wow.

On the street the Ceramic brakes are as good as you will find for daily driving.