Dually Brakes?........

[Rich Biebel]

We have a fleet of GM service vans where I work. Most are 2500-8600gvw's a couple are 1 ton 3500's. Brakes have been a constant issue over the years and we buy them new and have from the late 90's to brand new this year. I do most of the maintenance and have tried every front brake pad on the market and we still have brake issues on most of the vans. Poor stopping power and brake shimmy and vibration is a common complaint from our service guys. I routinely replace rotors and pads. Forget cutting them and I've tried GM parts as well as Napa and no name chinese made rotors. All the same results on the work vans. My own truck is a GMC pickup...8600gvw and it did not stop well with the factory stuff. I changed pads a few times and eventually installed drilled rotors and Satisfied Brakes fleet pads.....same stuff SSDiv6 recommends and they work better than any other brand and have lasted very well. Stopping power is good as well. I recommend them. They are made in Canada and I bought them direct after seeing them featured on some "car guy" TV shows. My truck is a 4x4 and replacing rotors is not a quick job so I am happy to have gone a few years on my last brake re-do on it..........

[Rob Petrie E395]

Originally Posted by Crisco

Wish I would have known that a long time ago about the booster.... Rob, do you see alot of warped rotors on these trucks?

No on 2wd at least nothing that cant be machined out, yes on 4wd and almost always are so bad they need replaced to fix properly, I think it is because of the way they made the 4X4 setup not a good design in my opinion. bad part is on the 4wd you have to pull the whole hub/rotor assy and press it apart to change rotors its not a quick job by any means. The most common thing I see on these trucks both 3/4 and 1 tons is very few people check rear brake adjusters to make sure they are functioning properly and keeping the brakes adjusted. Second is bad boosters. As far as front end shimmy goes I have yet to see one of these trucks with over 50K that did not need a idler arm and pitman arm they are junk from the factory. Best solution that cures the problem is the moog problem solver parts a little bit higer than the standard stuff but they last. I put them on my truck at 45K now have close to 130K on it and they are still tight. Now if you want to really see a problem find a truck with warped rotors and loose idler/pitman arms hook a big load to the back and try and stop, it will almost jerk the wheel out of your hands. I have tried the Tow Truck valve. works a bit better for when you are towing a trailer But if you drive on snow or bad roads like we have around here in the winter time it can be a handfull because it seems to want to lock up the rears and try and make the truck swap ends. ( I took it back off mine for fear if I let someone else drive the truck it would get wrecked.

[SSDiv6]

Originally Posted by Rich Biebel

We have a fleet of GM service vans where I work. Most are 2500-8600gvw's a couple are 1 ton 3500's. Brakes have been a constant issue over the years and we buy them new and have from the late 90's to brand new this year. I do most of the maintenance and have tried every front brake pad on the market and we still have brake issues on most of the vans. Poor stopping power and brake shimmy and vibration is a common complaint from our service guys. I routinely replace rotors and pads. Forget cutting them and I've tried GM parts as well as Napa and no name chinese made rotors. All the same results on the work vans. My own truck is a GMC pickup...8600gvw and it did not stop well with the factory stuff. I changed pads a few times and eventually installed drilled rotors and Satisfied Brakes fleet pads.....same stuff SSDiv6 recommends and they work better than any other brand and have lasted very well. Stopping power is good as well. I recommend them. They are made in Canada and I bought them direct after seeing them featured on some "car guy" TV shows. My truck is a 4x4 and replacing rotors is not a quick job so I am happy to have gone a few years on my last brake re-do on it..........

Cryogenics will make the rotors last longer and will reduce warping.

These companies sell fleet brake rortors that are already cryogenically treated:

http://www.precisionfleetbrakes.com/

http://www.commandautomotive.com/home.html

Additional articles:

http://www.diversifiedcryogenics.com/brakes.html

http://www.cryogenicsofindiana.com/b...RotorTests.htm

[Greg Hill]

Wade trade up to a 2001 or later. They have rear discs and stop much better.

Greg

[Stock4106]

Originally Posted by Woodro Josey

Guys i had the same problem from my 2000 3500 Dually and i even talked to some GM Tech people. My Truck did not have enough rear Brakes and was heating up the front rotors which in turn was warping them. i turned and replaced the front Rotors 6 times. The Gm Tech person told me to get a Perportion Valve for a 3500 Wrecker and lo in behold, that fixed my problems, i now have good rear brakes. If you need the Number i can probably dig it up!

Woodro, if you can find that number I would like to get it from you. My truck is a 2000 and it does the same thing you're talking about.

[SuperStock 1890]

Woodro,
If you could dig up that number that would be helpful. Our truck is a 2000 and the brakes do not have a confident feel when the trailer is all loaded up.

Scaz

[Wade_Owens]

Originally Posted by GP Hill

Wade trade up to a 2001 or later. They have rear discs and stop much better.

Greg

Greg, I have to save that money for "finish line" driving lessons, lol.

Wade

[Wade_Owens]

Thanks to all who replied, I have some good info to work with here!

Wade

[Woodro Josey]

Scaz, here are the numbers! The part number he can use is 12548273 GM
The Delco part number is 172-2242

[SuperStock 1890]

Great! Thank you.