2003 Silverado: The Brakes From Hell

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Automotive Insanity > 2003 Silverado: The Brakes From Hell

StormDrain: May 22, 2003; Thirteen Letter

Have you confirmed the correct orientation of the new calipers? I had a buddy swap left and right which put the orientation of the bleeder on the wrong spot and left a persistent air bubble.

# ¿ Jun 15, 2021 16:53

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# ¿ May 22, 2024 05:16

StormDrain: May 22, 2003; Thirteen Letter

PainterofCrap posted:

Just responded in the stupid question thread to Kastein, asking the same thing. You two are on the ball.

It never even occurred to me that it could be possible to have a caliper design that could be installed in this way. You sure as poo poo can’t do that with the front calipers.

It was on another forum last night that a guy had the same problem, gave up, and took it to a shop. They called him within the hour.

I found the calipers nipples-down this morning, swapped them, and everything’s fine.

Only took six months.

I saw him post that at about the same time, and after that I would have bet money on that being right. If it makes you feel better I feel pretty great for suggesting it.

# ¿ Jun 16, 2021 04:57

StormDrain: May 22, 2003; Thirteen Letter

PainterofCrap posted:

Last winter, the left front line blew, and he bought a set of stainless lines. He’s got a company van, so he could take his time this time. In April, he & his son replaced that line. And this is where we start. They bled the brakes…but the brake pedal was soft, like there was still air in there.

They decided to change out the brake pads; it was due. This resulted in four new calipers along with the pads all round, as the bleed nipples all snapped off and the calipers just looked like poo poo.

OK I came back after a moment because this part gave me pause earlier. Is this a red herring and he just had a bad bleed the first time? According to the narration it was new line, bleed, fail, new calipers. And we concluded calipers was the solution, but it doesn't answer why the first bleed didn't work.

Is there a mistake in the time line, or just a failure to bleed all the way? Possible that the first bleed wasn't perfect but not as bad as the upside down calipers.

# ¿ Jun 16, 2021 05:02

StormDrain: May 22, 2003; Thirteen Letter

PainterofCrap posted:

Sorry, I wasn't clear.

Line was replaced
Went to bleed, couldn't open the bleed screws due to corrosion
Replaced all four calipers
Problem started.

I feel a mixture of, "after 45-years of working on vehicles I should have seen this right off" and "in 45-years, I've never found this to be possible" sprinkled with the elation you feel about knowing the solution.

What's funny/not funny is that soooo many of these brake issue posts for these truck chassis start with, "well, the brake lines rusted out & blew, so -"

I wouldn't have ever thought of it if it hadn't happened to a friend of mine. It's part of why brakes are a task where I remove and compare parts carefully. The other reason is sometimes you get the wrong part. Either the picker gets a part number wrong or the manufacturer used two styles in the same year. One of my cars was listed as "Big bore" or " small bore" and like fun I knew which one it was.

# ¿ Jun 16, 2021 13:45

StormDrain: May 22, 2003; Thirteen Letter

Raluek posted:

i assume poc meant he's the only one in his friend group irl who still has drum brakes, cause there are plenty of us here on the forums with them

out of four cars, the only disc brakes i own are on a shelf, to someday be installed. as such, i am not used to their wizardry and would probably make this same mistake. im glad for this thread, because thats one more thing i wont have to learn the hard way (unless i forget)

That makes more sense. I only have three axles of discs compared to 5 with drums.

# ¿ Jun 17, 2021 17:52

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