Chevy Van brakes problem
- Thread starter Mike99
- Start date
Earlier this week while going down a 5 mile long, steep curvy grade empty, I experienced front end shaking while applying the brakes. Whenever I hit the brakes to keep the van under 40 mph the steering wheel pitched side to side and the front end shook. At the bottom of the hill I pulled over and checked the front wheels. Both were hot, but never reached the point of brake fade.
After letting the brakes cool I continued to drive. All was fine. I even did some hard braking on exit ramps. No problems.
Friday afternoon I brought the van to my mechanic. He took it for a test drive and intentionally got the brakes hot. He encountered some front end shaking, but nothing like I experienced. So at 377,328 miles I had him replace the original front pads and rotors.
The pads still had some service life and the rotors had no visual defects. He thought possibly when the rotors got hot a high spot developed, causing the shaking problem. The rotors could have been turned, but at this mileage he suggested replacement.
I whined a little about the price and my mechanic's son did some quick math with a calculator. It showed a cost of .0011915 per mile. I was told to shut up and go home.
After letting the brakes cool I continued to drive. All was fine. I even did some hard braking on exit ramps. No problems.
Friday afternoon I brought the van to my mechanic. He took it for a test drive and intentionally got the brakes hot. He encountered some front end shaking, but nothing like I experienced. So at 377,328 miles I had him replace the original front pads and rotors.
The pads still had some service life and the rotors had no visual defects. He thought possibly when the rotors got hot a high spot developed, causing the shaking problem. The rotors could have been turned, but at this mileage he suggested replacement.
I whined a little about the price and my mechanic's son did some quick math with a calculator. It showed a cost of .0011915 per mile. I was told to shut up and go home.
