Brake question...

Hi guys... I'm not sure this is the right place to post this, but here goes:

My girlfriend just got new brakes on her SUV. A friend did it for her that's a mechanic. I drove her truck today to see how they work, and did a panic stop from 40mph, and the truck didn't respond really at all. It was like I was just slowing down. Really shocked me. When I try a panic stop in my Ex I can get the tires to howl like mad. Her tires didn't do anything.

Now, I checked with the kid who did them, and asked him what's up. He said that new brake pads would take about 500 - 1000 miles to wear in and burn the protective coating off, so after that time frame she'll be able to make a good panic stop. Now, I've never heard of this and neither has my dad. Have you guys ever heard of anything like this?? I also tried bleeding the brake lines but wasn't sure I was doing it right cause no fluid came out or anything.

I told her to go get a second opinion from like Meinike or something just to see what they say.

Can you guys give me any insight on this?? Thanks a lot...

 

[Chew_12]

500 - 1000 miles thats bs. Brakes should work there best when there put on. You should check it out or have someone else, something is wrong.

 

[Robb]

I also tried bleeding the brake lines but wasn't sure I was doing it right cause no fluid came out or anything.

This isn't right at all. You should have fluid coming out of that nipple as soon as you break it loose, even without pedal pressure. Either you aren't doing it right, or there is A LOT of air in the system (which would explain having no hard braking power). Then again, the kid just putting pads on should have never opened the system.

Oh, and yea, brake pad setting takes place pretty quickly. No where near 500-1000 miles.

 

[boominXplorer]

-take the cap off, fill fluid to max line.
-get a helper in the drivers seat to press the brake when needed
-tell the helper to slowly press the petal to the floor. While he is pressing open the valve and close it right before he gets the petal to the floor.
-repeat last step again or until fluid flows smoothly with no air bubbles
-do all 4 corners like so

Main thing: make sure the fluid does not run out of the resivior. It needs to be filled usually every other tiem you have to crack the bleeder.

I'm sure othere will simplfy this for you

 

[CDW6212R]

I hope that you find the problem...Beyond the brake bleeding, new brakes need to be broken in, PROPERLY.

Please do not "test" new brakes as you have described. All new brakes should be driven easily, carefully, with no panic stops. It takes a little time to bed in the pads. Not one mile, not two panic stops, not until the smell goes away, etc.
The bottom line is, be easy with the brakes, until you have applied them normally many, many times(say 50 times). You should vary the brake pressure, but not over say 75%, and not for long. A smell tells you that too much pressure has been used. It also tells you that they are not yet beded in.
As you use them, allow plenty of time for them to cool between applications. After that initial "babying" time, you should purposely apply the brakes harder, for short periods of time. Allow them to cool, and then do it again. Brake from slow speeds at first, and work your way to full braking from high speeds.

I know this sound complicated. For the most life, and to prevent premature pad failure, do it right and you will be very satisfied. If you apply the brakes very very hard before they are beded in, the pad material may prematurely separate from the backing plate.

The brakes need to be "babyed" at first, to not hurt them. They need to be used hard after that, to enable maximum power in a panic stop.

I have bought cars that had thousands of miles on the brakes, and I made the brakes smell when I tested the ABS when I first bought them. The brakes were not completely broken in.

Now, please ask what makes me an expert. My occupation is harder on brakes than any police or taxi vehicle. I am a Rural Carrier, and I use the brakes hard, hundreds of times a day.
I only buy either factory pads, or the best aftermarket I can get. I have over 30,000 on my 98 Mountaineer brakes as I installed them in December of 2002. I installed four EBC rotors, and their 4x4 6000 pads. I have over half of the front pads left. For me, that's amazing. I don't know if it is because of the special pads, or the slotted and faced rotors.

I am working on having brackets made to mount some 1996 Cobra rotors and calipers that I have.
I hope this helps anyone to install brakes, and to get the most enjoyment and life out of them! Good luck,
Don

 

[spta97]

Brakes will always feel "spongy" when you first put them in. The feeling tends to go away after a hundred miles or so.

 

[Mikes95XLT]

Thank you all for the quick replies. I told her to be careful this week on her car and to take things slow, becuase she's afraid to take it into a car place herself for fear of getting ripped off or something. But we are taking it in this weekend somewhere to get it checked out.

Thanks again guys.

 

[Mikes95XLT]

Okay guys here ya go:

Took it to a place yesterday that does all my car work. Really good reputable place. They looked it over and told me this:

1) Drums and shoes are new in the back. May take some time for the drums to get a little worn in since they are new. HOWEVER, the shoes were on backwards.
2) The front calipers were stuck closed, hence the reason her front brakes were so shot. He said also that this was the reason the pedal felt mushy, since the calipers were already closed, it felt really much cause the calipers didn't have any more travel, so the pedal went down a lot farther than it should.

So they fixed those problems, and I took it out after we got it back and boy what a difference. It's 50x better than it was.

Thanks a lot for the help guys. I feel a lot better now knowing the brakes are working like they should.

 

[Chew_12]

So who is this "friend" that is a "mechanic"? Man he screwed up big,.

 

[Mikes95XLT]

Just a friend of her brother's. He's a real mechanic, but he works for BMW, so I don't know what they know about Chevy brakes. Apparently not much.