Front brakes lock up when coming to a stop

[Brian Wolfe]

Hi all, I have a 2000 Tahoe LS with a problem. I changed my back rotors and pads and my tahoe was doing fine until after hitting a couple of bumps my front brakes started making a grinding noise and as it was doing that I tried to stop and my front brakes acted like they seized up. I took it to jiffy lube and the mechanic said my front pads, rotors and calipers looked fine but my brake fluid was pretty bad. So they changed my fluid and after pulling out of the shop my brakes still were grinding and when I came to a full stop they locked up. I put my tahoe in reverse and backed up a lil then put it back in drive and then they were fine until came to another stop. Does anyone know what could cause this?

 

[Doubeleive]

Hi all, I have a 2000 Tahoe LS with a problem. I changed my back rotors and pads and my tahoe was doing fine until after hitting a couple of bumps my front brakes started making a grinding noise and as it was doing that I tried to stop and my front brakes acted like they seized up. I took it to jiffy lube and the mechanic said my front pads, rotors and calipers looked fine but my brake fluid was pretty bad. So they changed my fluid and after pulling out of the shop my brakes still were grinding and when I came to a full stop they locked up. I put my tahoe in reverse and backed up a lil then put it back in drive and then they were fine until came to another stop. Does anyone know what could cause this?

well first off, NEVER go to jiffy lube-EVER
that being said, if one of the kids there had a half a brain and the pads ARE ok then that would leave parking shoes.
I would recommend getting a free brake inspection, anywhere else besides jiffylube, even pepboys is better if that is the only other choice

and they probably got-ya on the brake fluid, all brake fluid will look black n nasty unless it has been flushed in the last year, but a flush couldn't hurt if it hasn't been done.

 

[OR VietVet]

The entire brake system was working together. Then you did just the rear brake work and now you have noises and lock up at the front. I assume you can tell the noise is up front because it sounds up front but how do you know the fronts are locking up? If you did your own rear brake work you can do the front but if it is in fact grinding up front then the problem should be readily apparent. When you did the rear brakes did you leave the front tires on and leave the front end on the ground during the rear work? You never said why you decided to do rear brake work, why did you? When Jiffy did the front brake inspection did they remove the calipers to do a thorough inspection or just removed wheels and did a quick sight check? But like @Doubeleive says, stay the hell away from Jiffy Lube. That place is a meat market for unqualified wanna be mechanics. Most are one step above the guy who cleans cars at the dealership.

 

[Brian Wolfe]

The entire brake system was working together. Then you did just the rear brake work and now you have noises and lock up at the front. I assume you can tell the noise is up front because it sounds up front but how do you know the fronts are locking up? If you did your own rear brake work you can do the front but if it is in fact grinding up front then the problem should be readily apparent. When you did the rear brakes did you leave the front tires on and leave the front end on the ground during the rear work? You never said why you decided to do rear brake work, why did you? When Jiffy did the front brake inspection did they remove the calipers to do a thorough inspection or just removed wheels and did a quick sight check? But like @Doubeleive says, stay the hell away from Jiffy Lube. That place is a meat market for unqualified wanna be mechanics. Most are one step above the guy who cleans cars at the dealership.

How I know the fronts are locking up is when I'm at a stop and try to go forward the back wheels are basically doing a burn out. As for the back brake question, I didnt have any jack stands so I did leave the front wheels on and on the ground while I was doing the back. As for the reason why i did the back brakes, i could hear the back pads scraping against the rotor and I could also notice how long it was taking me to come to a full stop so I decided to go ahead and change out the back rotors and pads. When I took it to jiffy I saw the mechanic take off the wheel and then he told me that my caliper and pads looked fine up front but that my fluid really need to be changed. I was already planning on doing that at a later date but I decided to have him do it today.

I didn't know jiffy was as bad as you guys say it is this is only my 2nd time going there to have anything done on my tahoe. I'll be sure to stay away from them

 

[Brian Wolfe]

well first off, NEVER go to jiffy lube-EVER
that being said, if one of the kids there had a half a brain and the pads ARE ok then that would leave parking shoes.
I would recommend getting a free brake inspection, anywhere else besides jiffylube, even pepboys is better if that is the only other choice

and they probably got-ya on the brake fluid, all brake fluid will look black n nasty unless it has been flushed in the last year, but a flush couldn't hurt if it hasn't been done.

Parking shoes? My tahoe doesnt have drum brakes it's got disc brake on all 4 wheels

 

[OR VietVet]

But inside the rear brake rotors is the rear park brake shoes that use the inner back drum shape of that rotor for the park brake shoes to press against. You should have seen those park brake shoes when you replaced the rotors, unless I am missing something. I know some of the 1999 and 2000 rigs have some strange interchange of some components. Did the Jiffy Lube guy remove only one wheel or both? You can have one side showing good and a problem on the other. You said he took off the "wheel" so that to me means 1 wheel. If I have a grind noise like you complained about, I would remove the calipers/with pads to inspect everything.

 

[Brian Wolfe]

But inside the rear brake rotors is the rear park brake shoes that use the inner back drum shape of that rotor for the park brake shoes to press against. You should have seen those park brake shoes when you replaced the rotors, unless I am missing something. I know some of the 1999 and 2000 rigs have some strange interchange of some components. Did the Jiffy Lube guy remove only one wheel or both? You can have one side showing good and a problem on the other. You said he took off the "wheel" so that to me means 1 wheel. If I have a grind noise like you complained about, I would remove the calipers/with pads to inspect everything.

I honestly didnt know that. I must've not paid too much attention to them. I'll be sure to look at those and sorry for not being accurate, the jiffy lube guy did take both wheels off but he didn't mention anything about my parking brake shoes.

That still leaves one question though, why would the parking brake shoes be doing this? I dont have a parking brake light on unless if I hit a big bump

 

[Tonyrodz]

I honestly didnt know that. I must've not paid too much attention to them. I'll be sure to look at those and sorry for not being accurate, the jiffy lube guy did take both wheels off but he didn't mention anything about my parking brake shoes.

That still leaves one question though, why would the parking brake shoes be doing this? I dont have a parking brake light on unless if I hit a big bump

Parking brake shoe could be adjusted too tight. It's inside the center hub or hat of the rear rotor.

 

[OR VietVet]

The park brake mechanism under the dash may have a switch or wire problem causing the light to pop on when you hit a big bump. You also did not mention that before. The problem could well be the new rotors at the rear have a thicker hat on them than the old rotors and they are dragging and building excess heat and making noises. The fronts may not have a problem at all. You had no front brake problems till you did the rear brakes. I would take them apart and inspect. The park brake shoes are adjustable. I would back them off as far as you can and see if problem is gone. Then you can adjust as needed for the park brake to work but they can be touchy during adjustment. Check some you tube videos about that. I am just not convinced the front brakes are where the problem is but I could be wrong.

 

[afpj]

I honestly didnt know that. I must've not paid too much attention to them. I'll be sure to look at those and sorry for not being accurate, the jiffy lube guy did take both wheels off but he didn't mention anything about my parking brake shoes.

That still leaves one question though, why would the parking brake shoes be doing this? I dont have a parking brake light on unless if I hit a big bump

You replaced rear pads and rotors and didn't see the drum setup? Even the obs tahoe's have rear drum e-brakes don't they? As others said, reinspect rears. People have described grinding noises due to components of the rear drum setup falling apart. If something is not right after changing out a component, recheck that component you replaced and any parts that were removed to get the said component.