Questions and Answers

Suburban ¾-ton Brakes Grabbing Q. I have a 1996 Suburban ¾-ton 6.5 liter Diesel. I have replaced the front pads and disks, and the rear shoes and turned the drums. The problem is at slow speeds when I use the brakes it is like I hit a brick wall. Brakes seem okay at higher speeds. I removed the left side front and back to check if anything was leaking on the pads or drums, nothing.

I sprayed brake cleaner on the shoes and pads and it seemed to help some. I didn't see anything on them that was oily but cleaning one side helped. I was wondering if the pads are too aggressive?

Also a while back I had a problem with the hydroboost leaking, and I replaced the seal in it. It doesn't leak anymore but the ABS has always felt like dropping an anchor and picking it up again and again, extremely harsh, not like my other vehicles with ABS. I don't remember when the problem started before or after all of the above was done.

Eldon

A. Did you use GM brake components? If not, they don't like to use aftermarket stuff. There are all kinds of brake lining compounds and some are more aggressive than others.