2004 Tahoe Brakes, Master Cylinder

[JustGibby]

Hi. I'm new here and this is my first post, so I hope I'm in the right spot. We bought an '04 Tahoe back in 2019. Not long after, I sprung a brake fluid leak. Found it was a front passenger-side line. Took it to a shop cause it was wintertime and I hate trying to work on a vehicle in the cold and I also hate brake lines.
Side note: I am not a mechanic, not even a "backyard mechanic." I just tinker a little to try to save money, if it's something I feel confident that I can do myself.
Not even a month after they fixed that front line, I lost my pedal again. Couldn't find the leak this time. Looked for it several different times over the next week or so, but couldn't find anything. I still had half brakes though, so I kept up with the fluid and just kept driving it, with every intention of tracking this leak down once it got warm outside again.
I eventually discovered that it was the back brakes that I lost, due to the rust that started appearing on the back rotors. Still couldn't find the leak though.
Fast forward to this past summer (2024). My youngest kid (he'll be 18 this month) decided he's interested in being a mechanic. So we went out and I told him to get in and work the pedal while I look for the leak. FINALLY I was able to find it with a flashlight while he was pushing the brake pedal--- master cylinder.
I bought a new master, 4 new rotors, 4 new calipers, and all new pads. Figured it was probably best to do the master first. Never done one before, so I look into it and discover I can't because it needs bench-bled. Took it to the shop, they find 2 bleeder screws are broken off before they even start the job. They tell me it'd be best to do the entire job at one time.
We can't really afford that. So I decide that me and my kid might go ahead and do as much of the job as we can and then take it back to the shop and let them finish it. I've done pads, calipers, and rotors on other vehicles before, so we should be able to do it all but the master.
I'm just wondering, is it a bad idea to do the wheels before they do the master?
Also, how hard is a pad/caliper/rotor job on these Tahoes? I've never worked on a vehicle this big. Always had Rangers, Exploders, Cherokees, small stuff like that. Anything special I might need to know?
Sorry for the long, rambling post... Hope I done this right

 

[Marky Dissod]

I'm not sure enough to definitively answer your 1st question, so I won't, to cover my spindly lil @$$.

... how hard is a pad/caliper/rotor job on these Tahoes?

As easy / hard as it is on any of those other vehicles.

Anything special I might need to know?

You said something about not being able to 'really afford that'?
Well, then you might have trouble affording a 2010 Suburban front brake upgrade, maybe?

Just pretend you have a 2010 Suburban, & ask parts chimp for
caliper brackets
calipers
rotors
pads
for a 2010 Suburban.

Remove old schidt, install new schidt, wonder why you did not do it sooner, thank me later.

 

[rockola1971]

Hi. I'm new here and this is my first post, so I hope I'm in the right spot. We bought an '04 Tahoe back in 2019. Not long after, I sprung a brake fluid leak. Found it was a front passenger-side line. Took it to a shop cause it was wintertime and I hate trying to work on a vehicle in the cold and I also hate brake lines.
Side note: I am not a mechanic, not even a "backyard mechanic." I just tinker a little to try to save money, if it's something I feel confident that I can do myself.
Not even a month after they fixed that front line, I lost my pedal again. Couldn't find the leak this time. Looked for it several different times over the next week or so, but couldn't find anything. I still had half brakes though, so I kept up with the fluid and just kept driving it, with every intention of tracking this leak down once it got warm outside again.
I eventually discovered that it was the back brakes that I lost, due to the rust that started appearing on the back rotors. Still couldn't find the leak though.
Fast forward to this past summer (2024). My youngest kid (he'll be 18 this month) decided he's interested in being a mechanic. So we went out and I told him to get in and work the pedal while I look for the leak. FINALLY I was able to find it with a flashlight while he was pushing the brake pedal--- master cylinder.
I bought a new master, 4 new rotors, 4 new calipers, and all new pads. Figured it was probably best to do the master first. Never done one before, so I look into it and discover I can't because it needs bench-bled. Took it to the shop, they find 2 bleeder screws are broken off before they even start the job. They tell me it'd be best to do the entire job at one time.
We can't really afford that. So I decide that me and my kid might go ahead and do as much of the job as we can and then take it back to the shop and let them finish it. I've done pads, calipers, and rotors on other vehicles before, so we should be able to do it all but the master.
I'm just wondering, is it a bad idea to do the wheels before they do the master?
Also, how hard is a pad/caliper/rotor job on these Tahoes? I've never worked on a vehicle this big. Always had Rangers, Exploders, Cherokees, small stuff like that. Anything special I might need to know?
Sorry for the long, rambling post... Hope I done this right

Stop driving a vehicle around with faulty brakes before you kill yourself or someone else. (They taught us this in our teens).

You will not be able to get a firm pedal once you have replaced calipers and master cylinder because air will be trapped in the ABS manifold behind its solenoids. The only effective way to bleed the system is with a bidirectional scanner.

I would inspect all metal lines for corrosion and not be surprised that one, some, most or all need replaced because of age and severity of corrosion.

Im not sure why bench bleeding a master cylinder required you to take it to a shop? When it can be done installed on the vehicle with a plastic bench bleeder kit (which some master cylinders come with) in about 3-5mins. There are how to videos for this as well as most everything else. I think there is even lessons on how to train an armadillo to make you a cheeseburger while juggling 3 parrots and singing a 80s Hair metal ballad!

 

[Tahoe14]

Do a Google search for videos, probably YouTube videos will pop up.