Ok. I'm literally about to give up on this truck. I have a 2009 Chevy Silverado that I bought with 19,xxx miles on it. When I drove the truck for the first time, the brakes were warped as I could feel them so I told the guy and he said they would replace them before I drove off with the truck (which they did replace the rotors). Not even a month later, the back drum brakes started to warp. Took the truck in, they said the back drums were warped and they REPLACED them, not machined them. Let's just say within the next 3 months I had the truck into the same dealership 5 times and every time they would just replace the drum brakes, and everything that goes along with it on the back because they said that was what was wrong, and nothing else could be causing it.

Anyways, got tired of hearing the same thing, having the truck and then less than a week later the same thing would happen. So I took it to another Chevy dealer. They had the truck for a week trying to figure out and they said that the front rotors and the back drum brakes were both warped. Something new! Ok, so when they replaced the front and the back, the truck was fine for about 3 1/2 weeks to a month. As the month progressed, you could feel the brakes slowly dwindling down. When I would put the e-brake on, the truck would slightly jolt forward (this is at the end of the month) and it was super easy to push it down whereas with all brand new stuff it was difficult. Well after the 3 1/2 weeks, took the truck back to that new Chevy dealer and he says that there is absolutely nothing wrong with the truck and he replaced the front rotors and back drums.

This is stupid, there has got to be something else to this. I do not ride my brakes hard at all. In fact, if you drove the truck, you wouldn't even know the rotors were warped unless you were braking from highway speeds. I tow a trailer that weighs maybe 2000 lbs. a few times a week. Truck now has 33,xxx miles on it and has been through 7 sets of back drum brakes and 2 sets of front rotors within 14000 miles. Help!

 

A "Just for what it's worth"?

A broken cord in a tire or a bent wheel will often times give the same symptom.

Allan

 

also in the colder months trust your transmission not a parking brake they will freeze up and can blow your back brakes and axle seals just did it two months back as for the front brakes have the dealer ship check the callipers on my truck they dont release right i can eat a rotor in a month if im not careful

 

<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:PunctuationKerning/> <w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/> <w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables/> <w:SnapToGridInCell/> <w:WrapTextWithPunct/> <w:UseAsianBreakRules/> <wontGrowAutofit/> </w:Compatibility> <w:BrowserLevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" LatentStyleCount="156"> </w:LatentStyles> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:#0400; mso-fareast-language:#0400; mso-bidi-language:#0400;} </style> <![endif]--> derektoews,

Allan In NE, offers a good suggestion. You stated that you tow a trailer a few times a week, do you have trailer brakes too? Are any warning lights coming on?

Louis
GM Customer Service

 

You need to make sure the lug nuts are being tightened evenly. The only way to do that is with a torque wrench or torque stick.

 

If you use you park brake when you stop and if the drums are hot the park brake can put enought force on the drums they will be force out of round / warp. This can cause a pulse in your pedal and a vibration when stopping from high speed. Try not push down as hard on you ebrake or using park and not useing ebrake at all and see if that correct your problem.

 

Hey Everybody,

Thanks for posting! It gives me hope that this can actually be resolved. To answer the questions, I literally put my parking brake on every single time I stop whether it be on flat ground or not because every other car I have ever owned was a manual... and it totally makes sense this could be what's causing it to warp. I will brake this habit and see what happens.

Also, the fact I've had my truck in the dealership 7 times, I'm sure that they didn't do the lug nuts right every single time. I have a torque wrench at the house and I'll check them all.

Louis, I do not have any trailer brakes on the trailer, but here's something interesting. Every time I tow the trailer, the brakes never pulsate when stopping from high speeds. Maybe because I take longer to stop and not hitting the brakes quite as hard... not really sure, but I wouldn't think a 2000lb. trailer would really need trailer brakes, right?

How would I check for a bent wheel or broken tire cord?

 

Jack 'er up and spin the wheel. Watch the tread for any lateral variation.

<O</OAllan<O</O<O</O

 

Had the same problem with my 2008 Silverado 1500. Multiple trips to dealership, drums replaced about 4 times, entire ABS system replaced, axles replaced, master cylinder replaced, everything but the actual brake lines. It has been about 5000 miles since in the shop last time. For the most part it is better, but not perfect. Truck has 36,000 miles on it now, maybe thinking the remaining issue may be the crappy goodyear tires.