How to upgrade brakes on 2000 Chevy K3500 DRW.

With my 1998 Chevy I replaced the OEM rotors and calipers and pads with the best aftermarket parts I could find on the internet. I did this at 28,000 miles and put another 150,000 miles on the truck with only new pads at 80,000 miles. Labor cost was the same and the parts were no more expensive than the GM junk from the dealer.

Made no sense to replace obviously poor performing GM parts with new GM parts. Lots of aftermarket brake components for the Chevy trucks of this era as it is a common defect.

I did the research as to the best parts and bought them online. The garage mechanic is going to call the local parts store and get whatever the clerk decides to send. It was worth the investment of a couple hours of my time to get the best possible brake components as it paid off over the miles and years I had the truck.

PPPS...pulling to one side..

Mainly to do with the steering box adjustment or new box required

All brakes pull to one side or another, as no two calipers will brake exactly the same

With the big block or diesel, the front steering takes a beating in parking lots

The gears in the steering box wear and in need of tightening. I have a procedure
with pictures here and will likewise find that to post here

PPS...stay away from rear disc conversion kits...

I've not seen one I like

Have my own design waiting for the right front brake components to appeal to me.

Even the OEM 1 ton dually isn't to my liking. Even though the disc is 0.125"
thicker than mine. The pads are thicker and the caliper is also designed for
a thicker pad.

Not enough of 'more' for me to make that conversion...yet

If you have the time and $$$.. a guy over at my Suburban forum went
out and spent a couple nites with his buddy (GM dealer parts manager)

I found that GMT400's had a utility version with FOUR wheel disc's

He searched for all of the part numbers and ordered everyone of them
to convert his to a GMT400 with four wheels discs

Forgot about the hydroboost bleeding procedure...I'll try to find my old post, as
it has pictures that helps lots

The after market front caliper kits are stiffer and larger piston (via oval) but
they leak. Don't think they are offered anymore, as GMT400's are considered very
old by most...I keep'm till the wheels fall off...or I won't/can't fix them anymore


I no longer recommend cryo rotors, nor drilled rotors. Cast in holes
are okay, but $$$$$$$$$$$$

Do recommend slotted rotors

You and I both have GMT400's, which has very poor brakes, but they can be made
very good to great...but...that then requires a constant maintenance level. Mine has
out stopped many 'cars' when they are up to snuff. Many argue: "how can a truck
out stop a car?"...what the don't get is that when those cars go into ABS buzzzz
they have lessened their stopping ability...while I'm still outside of ABS with
over sized tires...so more braking than they have

For the GMT800's, GM commissioned Bosch Brake division to review and recommend
the GMT400's for the up coming GMT800 (GMT900's are now shipping)

Bosch found that the front calipers were not 'stiff' enough and were opening up
(AKA bending at the caliper bridge).

Plus the bridge slide mechanism was not done well either

The rear drum/shoe setup is very old and capable...but the issue is with the
proportioning valving...which did not allow enough PSI to actuate the self
adjusters...unless you nailed it HARD going backwards. If they were too far out
of adjustment...no level over backwards braking would self adjust.

Only manual adjustment would do.

Ask if your rear shoes are original? Many GMT400's rear shoes will last forever
if no manually adjusted...they are NOT in the braking game at all...

Both 1500's and 2500's. Assume 3500's too, as the rear drum/sboe setup is the
same between some 2500's and 3500's (2.5" vs 3.5" wide drum/shoes)

The proportioning valve ratio or bias has been changed for the GMT800's, but
they have rear disc. GMT900's has some going back to rear drum/shoes.

On our GMT400's, the bias is 80F/20R or 70R/30R, IIRC

Those who took theirs apart and played with the proportioning valve springs have
re-set them to 50/50

This is due to any OEM wanting understeering vs oversteering. More so for a
vehicle that will be towing. Gotta have an understeering TV out there for the
masses, as that is considered the safest braking handling. Or 50/50, but that
changes when a heavy tongue weight is placed on the tail

I've not have the time to tear into my proportioning valve yet. Noodling a
variable, but that means plumbing the brake line into the cabin to mount the
knob

Back to what I'd recommend for you

the front calipers:

• #1, consider PERFORMANCE level friction materials
• #2 super tune the slide assembly, see below
• #3 Change out the front brake hoses...consider woven stainless covering...teflon tubing, but regular tubing ok inside the SS weaving
• #4 Check the frame clips. They rust and pinch off the tubing
• #5 Super tune the rear adjusters

Slide mechanism.

Clean everything, or new parts (O-Rings must be new). The new slide
tubes and bolts should be stainless, but they also come in plated
steel (not my fav)

Any high temp disc brake grease will be fine. I add moly powder to mine. Find a syringe
type of grease gun. I have a hand held, mini grease gun loaded from a 15lb
tube of Sta-Lube Disc Brake grease that has Moly additive. They sell
a grease gun needle with a zerk on one end

The O-Rings must be installed first in the bore's counter bore slot

Load a bit of grease on the inside of both O-Rings. Force the slide tube
into the bore, past the O-Rings.This is always the hardest part. I've used a
hammer/rubber mallet

Once the tube is past the FIRST O-Ring, poke in the grease gun needle into
the OTHER side to LOAD up the cavity made by the bore to tube outer surface

Then slide the tube through the other side.

Then reassembly as per the manual and make sure the bolt is NOT greased/oiled
because that will attract dirt/grit/etc.



ON the rear brake's backing plate, clean well and use a small amount of
grease to coat the mating/sliding surfaces with the shoes edge

Then disassemble, even a brand new one, the adjuster. Use the same
disc brake grease as above. SPARINGLY grease the threads (both
male and female) of the adjuster and the end anvil that rotates on
the adjuster.

Make sure it threads EASILY

Reassembly per manual

You have the 1 ton dually brakes, so the MC already has larger bores
and the wheel cylinder also has larger bores. I've upgraded mine to
that level



Friction materials.

GM has an upgrade for the rear shoes and they are very good.
IIRC, they are called DuraStop or some such. Mine are Praise Dyno
Brake (Texas, small family op). These should last 100K's of miles

Key is to keep them adjusted 'tight'. Mine initiates ABS most times
I want them to.

Fronts should be HD, or higher...but...know that higher performance
will require them be above a min temp before they are 'good' to GREAT

So, since mine are performance level, gotta get them hot first thing
before I head out. Even grocery shopping.



If anyone has a good proportioning valve DIY...please post the link(s)
and/or the HOW2

Camp, Forrest, Camp! wrote:

Unfortunately, I can't add brakes to the trailer. The trailers aren't mine and they don't have brakes.

I agree that the excessive weight is the problem. I had a panic stop in Montana this summer that scared the heck out of me because the rig did not stop anywhere near as quickly as I expected it too. Fortunately, panic stops are few and far between, but it was a wake up call!

How much weight are you allowed to tow without trailer brakes? If the trailer doesn't have brakes the first thing I'd suggest is slowing down so the panic stops aren't quite as hair raising.

As others have said, have your brakes checked to make sure they're working properly. Also, make sure your trailer ball is low enough so the trailer isn't trying to pick the back of your truck up when stopping.

Your problem is undersized brakes, plain and simple. Les Schwab's only installs OE-equivalent parts, and I trust their brake work. Your experience is not not unique. The farm trucks I used to drive were all that way, and so were the tow trucks i used to drive (even as new as a 2003).

I actually don't know of a good easy solution. Better pads will help, but not a huge amount. My favorites are the NAPA Ultra Heavy Duty pads.

The newer trucks have better brakes, but I'm not sure how backwards-compatable the hardware is. Maybe somebody has retrofitted them on one of the Chevy forums.

Likewise, I used to have trouble going through front rotors on my van. I tried cryo rotors and just about every brand of performance pad. My ultimate solution turned out to be a new OE front-end off of a newer van. It was an easy swap for my rig, but I don't know enough about the chevy chassis to even guess it its possible for you.

Back when I had trucks with rear drum brakes, a mechanic friend of mine told me to manually adjust the rear brakes every oil change. Doing that made a big difference in overall braking, and longer lasting front pads. It was very noticeable, especially loaded. The self adjusters on the rear brakes are notorius for not adjusting correctly, leaving you with the front brakes doing almost all the work to stop your truck.

Rich

Thanks for the tips, that's the kind of info I was looking for. The brakes are OE style, and the work has always been done by Les Schwab so I assume the bleeding was done correctly, but I will bring it up when I take it in. The power steering unit was replaced last year and the brakes performed exactly the same after the replacement unfortunately. The rotors were also replaced on the last brake job.

I will look into double-piston calipers and different pad materials for the next set of brakes. I've also seen reference to different rotors. Sometimes people install larger ones or ones with slots and holes for cooling.

Unfortunately, I can't add brakes to the trailer. The trailers aren't mine and they don't have brakes.

I agree that the excessive weight is the problem. I had a panic stop in Montana this summer that scared the heck out of me because the rig did not stop anywhere near as quickly as I expected it too. Fortunately, panic stops are few and far between, but it was a wake up call!

I should have mentioned that I am very good about not riding my brakes. I use engine braking most of the time when driving in the mountains. My brother-in-law was behind me a couple of weeks ago and radioed me that my brake lights weren't working because he never saw them come on :).

Put brakes on the trailer. I used to go thru brakes every 15K with an 89 1 ton before putting brakes on the 3500 SA trailer I had. I then went to over 30K on the front brakes!

Otherwise, yeah, go to a different brake setup int he front. Or do something to the rear drums to make them more aggressive. I would get 15-25K out of the fronts, 125K out of the drums with 8 lug rigs from 81-96 I have had doing what you are doing with an auto. 50K out of the fronts with a manual.

Marty