Brake work on a GM van - tips, parts recommendations?

zuren

Adventurer
The rear brakes on my van have suddenly started to grind even when I'm off the brake pedal, so it would seem that the brake pistons must be corroded and are not fully retracting. The van has ~160,000 miles on the factory calipers so I'm just going to fully replace them; no time or patience to mess around with them. Pads and rotors will also get replaced and fluid will get flushed. Anything else that I should go after while it is all apart, like brake hoses?

My plan was to just source parts from the local NAPA (unless there are vastly superior options online) and will have to have a discussion with them on their options. I see a "heavy duty" option for the caliper; not sure what "heavy duty" gets me over OEM. Brake pad prices seem to vary wildly based on level/performance.

Question related to brake fluid - I have a SEALED bottle of DOT 3/4 brake fluid but it is several years old (5+ y/o). Bought it to do a flush and never used it. Considering it is a sealed bottle, can I assume it is still good or does it have a shelf life?

Thanks for any help!
 
Last edited:

Choff

Adventurer
https://www.r1concepts.com/listing/i...Premier-Series

2005 AWD GMC SAVANA, FULL CONVERSION VAN
Went with R1 Concepts -great brake products, shop on line and sent to the house. do not remember the pad name, but the site has very friendly navigation to upgrades.
I have used these pads a calibers twice now, got about 50,000 on first set, on my second set from them and like the stopping power with the slotted rotors, they don't fade.
I am running stock lines with 175,000 on them and work great.
Heavy vans stop slow but with good disks on all fours it can stop quick.
Good luck !!!
 

TeleSteve

Adventurer
While your in there might want to look at the parking brake shoes and adjustment. They seem to fail before the regular pads wear out.
 

dleeallen

Adventurer
Very interesting about the parking brake shoes. Mine are shot and I thought it was really strange. But maybe it isn't so strange. Good to know!
 

zuren

Adventurer
Thank you all for the feedback. I got through most of my repair but I'm not done yet...

I replaced everything on the rear end:

- calipers and carriers (one may have been OK; the other was shot)
- pads (one was completely missing from one of the calipers)
- dust shields (barely anything was left of them)
- e-brake shoes (one was completely worn; the other was soaked with brake fluid!)

First hurdle - parts store sold me the wrong rotors. That ate time out of the project going to a different store to get the right parts.

Second hurdle - the e-brake shoes have a small retaining clip held in by a machine screw. On the first side, I went to loosen that screw and I broke it off by hardly breathing on it! It took a while working at odd angles to drill it out. But the e-brake now works. The other side came out as it should.

Third and current hurdle - I have no-to-little pressure in the rear brake lines. I tried to bleed everything with my neighbor and was not very successful. After some more reading, it seems like the ABS unit may be the issue and needs to be bleed/cycled via computer and there is a tool for dealing with the proportioning valve (I'm not sure if these vans have this valve). I the meantime, the van is only being stopped by front brakes. The bleeders on the front calipers are corroded beyond recognition and nothing I have will open them, so I'm hoping the shop can take care of these last items.
 

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