New brakes - 2008 Silverado

Status
Not open for further replies.
Joined
Apr 18, 2013
Messages
651
Location
USA - Coast to Coast, Border to Border
I have a 2008 Chevy Silverado 1500 Z71 - 4wd. It is approaching 90,000 miles, and I am wanting to get a brake job done. I have some questions. What brand of pads? Should I get the rotors turned, or get new ones? If so, what brand? I'm not sure if the rears are disc or drums. Anyone know? Thanks
 
There aren't many shops that turn rotors anymore. It's not cost effective with today's labor rates (and many rotors are not thick enough to save anyway). If your truck is on it's original set, then simply replace them.

My shop has an account with Advance and we use their Wearever Gold line. I use them in my personal vehicles too.
 
Yes ; New rotors on the front for sure!

Also +1 to Wearever parts from Advance Auto, i really like the Wearever Platinum Ceramic for low noise/low dust, but the Gold's bite harder AFAIK, which is desirable to some who don't mind a little dust.

The rears may only need new pads if they have discs, or just shoes if they have drums, an inspection can tell you this.
 
If your brakes are anything like those on my Burb and you don't ride them hard, they are probably still good at 90k. The OEM rotors are probably still good and can be turned. They're GM truck rotors they are beefy and have thickness to spare. The O'Reilly by me turns rotors for $35 each. I went with ACDelco ceramic pads from Rockauto and have no complaints.

The rears should be fine. Mine are disc and I just had them replaced for the first time a few months ago and that was only because the friction material was cracked pretty bad. There was plenty of meat left.
 
If the rotors aren't rusty it might be worth it to turn them.

I'm not used to that happening but in most states with enough snow it's not worth it to salvage them.
 
Have you measured the pad thickness? The pads may still be fine.

The original rotors are often better than most aftermarket options. Aftermarket rotors are often built without the proper grade steel; many aftermarket rotors use standard G3000 steel and not the OEM specified damped iron.

On any rotor, especially aftermarket, you need to measure the rotor runout and index the rotor to the hub. Lateral runout is the root cause of most pedal pulsation problems, so slapping a rotor on the hub and hoping for the best is no longer best practice.
 
I did the brakes on my Silverado with everything from Advance. I used the Wearever rotors and the Wearever Platinum Ceramic pads, and everything went back together quick and easy.

I've used their pads and rotors on multiple vehicles without a problem.
 
I have a 2009 Chevy 2500HD with 73000 miles and my pad wear is at 60% When I replace them there is no question I will use OEM. How often do you hear of anyone getting 100K miles on OEM brakes especially a hard working truck?
 
I had a 98 3/4ton and so did my friend, both our oem front brakes were shot by 25,000 miles.

Is your truck standard shift?

I have a Chevy Colorado standard shift, 126,000 miles still on original front brakes , the rears have been replaced a couple times.

On the 98 auto tranny , there seemed to be over run on fuel cut out when you let off the gas, I think that attributed to shorter brake life.
 
Originally Posted By: bobbobtar
I have a 2009 Chevy 2500HD with 73000 miles and my pad wear is at 60% When I replace them there is no question I will use OEM. How often do you hear of anyone getting 100K miles on OEM brakes especially a hard working truck?


We routinely get 100k miles out of our fleet vans. All are 3500 GM chassis', and work daily at or near full rated GVWR of well over 9000 pounds.

Our Silverados, which are usually older in years but lower in miles due to differing usage patterns, have been known to go 50-75k miles normally, but some go much farther.

The variable here is the driver...
 
If you can carry your old rotors to an auto repair shop, you can probably get someone to machine your rotors. However, you would need someone to measure the thickness of your rotors, and know the minimum machining thickness of your rotors. If your rotors are too thin, you have to replace them.

I just buy mid-grade rotors from a local parts store or reputable online store.
 
Originally Posted By: NMBurb02
The O'Reilly by me turns rotors for $35 each.


Wow! Our NAPA machine shop charges $14/ea.
 
Originally Posted By: zrxkawboy
Originally Posted By: NMBurb02
The O'Reilly by me turns rotors for $35 each.


Wow! Our NAPA machine shop charges $14/ea.

I know, I was a little shocked by that price as our local O charges $10. Then I saw NMBurb was in Cali and it all made sense.
 
Joe, get a small flashlight and take a good look at your brakes. In many (most?) cases we can see the pad material and see how much thickness is remaining. If you have more than 1/8" of pad material remaining, you're OK, but if they're close to 1/8", you're getting close to time for new pads. You can look at the contact surface of the rotor, feel it with a finger, and see how grooved it has become.

Look at the rears. If you see a shiny disc (a.k.a. rotor) like the fronts, you know you have rear discs. If you have a big rusty ugly iron circle, you know your have drums. If rear discs, you can probably also see the remaining pad thickness.

I really like my results with Performance Friction's Carbon Metallic pads on my truck. Well worth hunting for.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top