Please help with my 2014 Tahoe LTZ brakes

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Noahangel11

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Hello, I came here seeking advice.
I own a 2014 Tahoe LTZ.

I had noticed a clunking noise in the front left suspension when riding over bumps or curbs. Upon inspection, I found that the front left sway bar linkage was broken. I had hit a pothole pretty hard a few weeks prior, and assume that was the reason.
I had been also experiencing pulsing in brake pedal when braking, so I inspected the pads and rotors on the front and found an uneven wavy surface on the rotors. I decided that I would do the front brakes with new pads and rotors, and replace both front sway bar linkages.
When doing the brakes, I found that one caliper pin on each side did not glide freely, and was stuck into the caliper bracket pretty good. After getting them out, I cleaned out the hole, bought new pins and boots for the pins, reassembled and completed the brake job. The 2 pins that were stuck, one on each side, still seemed to not slide as freely as the 2 unaffected pins. I took the fast route and did not buy new caliper brackets.
I finished the brake job, took it for a test drive, and the brakes felt fantastic and the front end felt nice and drove true. I then drove 50 miles home, as I was at my friends shop, and at the end of my drive, took the highway exit ramp. Upon applying the brakes at higher speed and more aggressively than on my test drive, I noticed a bad vibration in the front end and brakes. It was not the same as the pulsing I felt before the brake job. The front brakes feel like it sets up a bad vibration, I do not feel this when not braking.
So when I got home, I decided to go ahead and replace the 2 caliper brackets, new pins and boots again, I did this in my driveway. I hoped that the issue was that the slightly catching pins in the brackets were the issue, causing uneven braking. yes, I used the supplied grease for the pins during this entire process. I took the car for a test drive and still had the issue.

I am at loss as to what is going on here. When I did the brakes at my friends shop, I rotated the front tires. He assured me the tires could spin either direction as they were non-directional tread. Could this have caused an issue? I would think it would shake all the time and not just when braking if that where the case.

Anyone have any ideas?
 

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pwtr02ss

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Hello, I came here seeking advice.
I own a 2014 Tahoe LTZ.

I had noticed a clunking noise in the front left suspension when riding over bumps or curbs. Upon inspection, I found that the front left sway bar linkage was broken. I had hit a pothole pretty hard a few weeks prior, and assume that was the reason.
I had been also experiencing pulsing in brake pedal when braking, so I inspected the pads and rotors on the front and found an uneven wavy surface on the rotors. I decided that I would do the front brakes with new pads and rotors, and replace both front sway bar linkages.
When doing the brakes, I found that one caliper pin on each side did not glide freely, and was stuck into the caliper bracket pretty good. After getting them out, I cleaned out the hole, bought new pins and boots for the pins, reassembled and completed the brake job. The 2 pins that were stuck, one on each side, still seemed to not slide as freely as the 2 unaffected pins. I took the fast route and did not buy new caliper brackets.
I finished the brake job, took it for a test drive, and the brakes felt fantastic and the front end felt nice and drove true. I then drove 50 miles home, as I was at my friends shop, and at the end of my drive, took the highway exit ramp. Upon applying the brakes at higher speed and more aggressively than on my test drive, I noticed a bad vibration in the front end and brakes. It was not the same as the pulsing I felt before the brake job. The front brakes feel like it sets up a bad vibration, I do not feel this when not braking.
So when I got home, I decided to go ahead and replace the 2 caliper brackets, new pins and boots again, I did this in my driveway. I hoped that the issue was that the slightly catching pins in the brackets were the issue, causing uneven braking. yes, I used the supplied grease for the pins during this entire process. I took the car for a test drive and still had the issue.

I am at loss as to what is going on here. When I did the brakes at my friends shop, I rotated the front tires. He assured me the tires could spin either direction as they were non-directional tread. Could this have caused an issue? I would think it would shake all the time and not just when braking if that where the case.

Anyone have any ideas?
Have you confirmed your caliper isn't sticking at all? I did brakes on my avalanche and one of the rear calipers stuck. If that's your case, the rotor is heating up and warping, causing your vibration.
 
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Noahangel11

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Have you confirmed your caliper isn't sticking at all? I did brakes on my avalanche and one of the rear calipers stuck. If that's your case, the rotor is heating up and warping, causing your vibration.
I only checked the calipers as far as this:
When I compressed them to put on new pads, I confirmed that they moved well and did not appear to stick or be stuck. I did remove resevour cap when I did this.

When I got home from my 50 mile trip, the rotor and pads were hot
 

Doubeleive

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How do I do that? I have been braking hard and that’s when the front vibrates. Is that how you bed them in?
you probably braked to hard initially and left some material on the new rotors, you may be able to correct it by doing the following several times
  1. Speed up to 35 mph.
  2. Use moderate brake pressure to slow down to 5 mph. ...
  3. Repeat 2-3 times.
  4. Speed up to 55 mph.
  5. Use strong brake pressure to slow down to 5 mph. ...
  6. Repeat 4-5 times.
  7. Drive for 5-10 minutes to allow the brakes to slowly cool down. ...
  8. Park the vehicle and let the brakes cool for an hour.
 

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Jim
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A vibration while braking can be caused by suspension components being worn. The strut being attached to the spindle that holds the hub bearing that the rotor is attached to can resonate the vibration throughout the vehicle from a worn suspension component. Don’t limit yourself to just focusing on brakes alone, check for play in ball joints, a-arm bushings, upper strut bearing plate and hub bearings themselves.
 

pwtr02ss

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I only checked the calipers as far as this:
When I compressed them to put on new pads, I confirmed that they moved well and did not appear to stick or be stuck. I did remove resevour cap when I did this.

When I got home from my 50 mile trip, the rotor and pads were hot
Any blueing (on rotor) or pad smell? My calipers moved fine, but for whatever reason, on ended up sticking. I think they build up corrosion and think stick after compressing.

Like others said, suspension components can cause vibrations but with being directly related to the pad change, I would have to assume it's related.
 

Doubeleive

Wes
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you could also have the new rotors turned at a shop for $10-15 each, they would only have to skim them a little to smooth them back out and then go brake as noted above
 

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