Greg O

I bought this 2002 silverado with only 7000 miles about 3 years ago. The parking brake went almost to the floor when I got it, so I complained to the dealer, and they adjusted it or something, and it was better, but never strong. Now it does almost nothing to hold on its own. I rely on the parking brake to hold when I back my 6300 pound boat and trailer down the launch ramp. But it has gotten to the point where I can't trust it. The last time I had the truck into the dealer, he said pump the parking brake pedal. I tried this but it did not help. I checked the brake pads and there is plenty of pad left. I use the parking brake frequently, so I don't think they are frozen.

Any suggestions will be appreciated.

Greg

bradstump

You said you checked the brake pads, so I take it has rear disc brakes?

kcb37

I assume you mean energency brake. If so pumping the brakes either one will do nothing to help this hold. You may need a new cable, if it can't be adjusted anymore.
I say it won't do anything because the emergency brake works off a cable that is pulled tight when the pedal is pushed down appling the brakes. If the cable is streched or just bad it won't do anything.

Greg O

Yes it does have disc brakes in the rear. The service manager at my local Chevy dealer told me to hold the release, and pump the parking brake pedal. Sounds a little suspect to me. [sm=bs.gif] I will have to pull the calipers and see what is going on. There is an adjustment on the cable, and I adjusted it all the way. Just seems like to me the parking brake system is weak. There was a recall for trucks with manual transmissions, but I guess they figure park in the automatics is enough to hold the truck, but I still don't trust park alone when I am parked on a boat ramp with a 6300 pound boat and trailer behind.

Anyone else had this problem?

Greg O.

bradstump

You are perfectly right in not trusting just the park selector. that can put a lot of pressure on the park pin, and can even cause it to stick in place. What the mechanic was referring to is an auto tensioning system. Theoretically, every time you hit the pedal, as you are pushing it in the caliper turns a little bit. the caliper is actually threaded and over time of using the emergency brake it can turn out quite a bit. However, it would take a long, long time of pushing to do much good. It sounds like you could have some trouble with a streched cable. when pushing the normal brake pedal, do you have a fast reaction? or does it go way down before you feel the brakes catching?

mrlong

The rear parking brake on your truck is a poor design. Yes you have rear disc brakes but your e-brake is a drum style brake. The shoes are smaller than typical brake shoes because they only need to hold the truck not stop it. If you remove the rear rotors you will then be able to see what I am talking about. The e-brake shoes will hang down and wear out very fast if they are out of adjustment. My guess is that the shoes are worn out and need to be replaced.

kcb37

I would agree with mrlong I have seen brakes like that. The service brakes stop it the "parking brake" holds it. I belive the purpose it to hold it on a hill or on a hill with a trailer to keep the pressure off the parking pawl. If you ever see one you will see how little actually holds a car in park. I usually don't use mine but it will prevent torque lock if used right. I call it an emergency brake because it should be able to stop what ever you are driving if the brakes go out. That is half the purpose of them. If they do use the service brakes as both I could see pumping the pedal to a point. If it does use a drum you souldn't have to adjust it yet. But you may want to check and see what the pads look like and see how it works. Bad pads could very well be your problem.