UPDATE: Brake Caliper Went Bad.
I was out in my 2003 Silverado a couple of days ago and got into some rain on the way home which turned to be a good thing that probably saved me some money down the road.
As I was wiping the truck down when I got home I heard something popping at the left rear wheel which sounded like hot metal. Normally I wouldn't be washing it when it's hot. I touched the center cap on the wheel and it was pretty hot to the touch while the other side was barely warm. I got my laser thermometer out and checked the rotor and it was at 345 to 360 degrees. The other side was around 160 degrees. I figured it might be a bad caliper piston sticking causing the brake to drag but I was also afraid it might be a bad bearing too.
I took the wheel off and there was no play in the bearing at the axle and since there was no noise coming from it while I was driving it and there was no leaky seal so it appears the bearing and seal are Okay.
I went by NAPA and picked up a caliper and put it on yesterday afternoon and bled it and that appears to have fixed the problem.
Other than a clunking steering shaft that was a warranty item during the first year that I bought the truck back in 2003 that's the only thing that's ever been replaced on it other than batteries, tires and regular maintenance items. It's a pretty low mileage truck for it's age with about 77,000 miles on it but it's still 16 - 1/2 years old and it towed a 35 ft. travel trailer for several years also.
Man it was hot today. I was wet from sweat from head to toe after finishing up the work on the brakes yesterday afternoon. I had a fan blowing on me in the garage but it just felt like it was fanning the flames. :shock:
As I was wiping the truck down when I got home I heard something popping at the left rear wheel which sounded like hot metal. Normally I wouldn't be washing it when it's hot. I touched the center cap on the wheel and it was pretty hot to the touch while the other side was barely warm. I got my laser thermometer out and checked the rotor and it was at 345 to 360 degrees. The other side was around 160 degrees. I figured it might be a bad caliper piston sticking causing the brake to drag but I was also afraid it might be a bad bearing too.
I took the wheel off and there was no play in the bearing at the axle and since there was no noise coming from it while I was driving it and there was no leaky seal so it appears the bearing and seal are Okay.
I went by NAPA and picked up a caliper and put it on yesterday afternoon and bled it and that appears to have fixed the problem.
Other than a clunking steering shaft that was a warranty item during the first year that I bought the truck back in 2003 that's the only thing that's ever been replaced on it other than batteries, tires and regular maintenance items. It's a pretty low mileage truck for it's age with about 77,000 miles on it but it's still 16 - 1/2 years old and it towed a 35 ft. travel trailer for several years also.
Man it was hot today. I was wet from sweat from head to toe after finishing up the work on the brakes yesterday afternoon. I had a fan blowing on me in the garage but it just felt like it was fanning the flames. :shock:
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"As I was wiping the truck down when I got home"
You almost lost me there. Obviously, some of us live in different worlds.
RE: brake calipers
When I bought my 04 (74,000 miles) in April 2018, I figured it would need all the normal stuff. I tried replacing the rear pads but found the caliper cylinders would stick if retracted enough for the new pads. I didn't have time to fiddle with new calipers so put the old pads back on and ran it another 10K. Early this summer, I swapped out the calipers and put in the new pads--can't see any diff in the actual braking action BTW.
FWIW, I would NEVER have put the old pads back in a new caliper. Doing so seems to be the opposite of "As I was wiping the truck down when I got home ".
I would have changed both calipers AND the pads.0 -
My gosh that's clean, my trucks kook like they have been sitting in the swamp for half a year. 0 -
Clean is right! 0 -
That's a 1/2 ton. On my 2003, 2500 HD I replaced both front wheel bearings within the first 70,000 miles.
Brakes? Not so much with 164,000 miles and counting.0 -
I always keep my vehicles clean .. as clean as the truck in the picture and some near 20 years old and some have had over 125,000 miles on them.
Good, quality vehicle maintenance includes keeping the vehicle clean inside and out to prevent rust and paint quality.0 -
Seen happen a number of times with GM calipers. Usually the boots get torn or crack allowing debris to get inside. Good thing you found it before it damaged a rotor. 0 -
Good catch. Glad you got 'er fixed up. 0 -
Drove my Chevy Cheyenne 160K before it needed brakes 0 -
It ain?t the driving, but the stopping that wears brakes. 0 -
Mobuck wrote:I would have changed both calipers AND the pads.
You were right.
Anyway I bought calipers for both sides figuring the other side would do the same thing eventually. I just didn't realize it would be about a week later that it was going to start doing it. Yep the right side is doing the same thing and I should have just went ahead and done both sides at the same time. :roll:
I've been checking the temperature on the rotors a couple of times this past week when I drove it and the right side rear was up over 350 degrees while the rest of the other 3 were around 180 yesterday. So I'm getting ready to do it again.
I'm going to do it in my basement shop this time instead of my garage where it's cooler. I've just got to move my boat outside and cover it up.0 -
Another thing that will cause rotors to over heat is the slide pins seizing. If the frame the pads ride in won't slide easily, they need grease. The heat they generate just makes them that much worse. 0 -
casting wrote:Another thing that will cause rotors to over heat is the slide pins seizing. If the frame the pads ride in won't slide easily, they need grease. The heat they generate just makes them that much worse.
Yep, I always clean and grease the pins.0
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