Is this item in regard to the 2005 Silverado a mistake?: Front disc/rear drum anti-lock brakes are standard on all models except trucks with Quadrasteer. drum brakes? This sounds like a giant step backward. The Monronisticker on my 2004 Silverado shows that 4-WHEEL DISK BRAKES are standardequipment. The rear disk brakes on my 2004 Silverado have completelyeliminated the traditional problems that I had with the rear drum brakeson my 1990 Scottsdale: Out of round drums caused by park brake clampingand park brake slippage. I thought that the 4-wheel disk brakes were atremendous improvement.Is it possible that GM has gone back to putting only drum brakes in therear of its 2005 Silverado trucks?

Yes rear drums for the new trucks but not suv's ... something like the disc's were getting excessively chewed up from debris or something thus requiring premature replacement ... This was recently discussed on the Light Duty forum at

2005 Silverado: Rear Drum Brakes ?

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GMC Gremlin 21 years ago

SO lets see...... Less fade due to heat. So they are there if for some emergency you REALLY need them. Like a panic stop at 70MPH? They continue to work well when muddy. The components on a well-designed system are easier to replace. There are fewer springs/lever/cables/JUNK to break/seize/go wrong. They have greater stopping force too... Yup. Inferior design written all over it.

I own a 1972 chevelle, four wheel drum. It faded at every stop, even when I wasn't "racing" and panic stops were SCARY.

Drum brakes would be best described as "lame" - but not in the sub-culture sense. In the sense the word was intended for. Just like an old finicky pain-in-the-ass man who you don't like to talk too and wont shut up and thinks he knows everything and can do everything. So since he knows everything and can *DO* everything, he supervises you because he is too decrepit to actually DO WORK. (Sounds like drum brakes, too lame to WORK RIGHT)

P.S. The only reason drums are more expensive is because of the rube goldberg "mechanism" within them.

GMC Gremlin

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GMC Gremlin 21 years ago

When you apply your brakes, the weight of your truck is thrown forward onto your front wheels. Not only does this make it EASIER for your rears to lock up (which mine can) but it gives them even LESS stopping power, making them all the more pointless. GMC Gremlin

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Tony Kimmell 21 years ago

The point was that the emergency brake is strong enough to lock the wheels. The trick is to NOT lock the wheels up when you're trying to use it to stop. Very easy actually.

I'm used to the air-brakes in the semi that I drive everyday... so feather-footing the brakes is somthing I'm used to.

-Tony

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GMC Gremlin 21 years ago

And what I am saying, is that they provide so little braking power you might as well just go for full carnage. No - what I'm actually saying is that cars should be designed with true braking redundancy. But hey - what the hell do I know.

GMC Gremlin

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Kiel Uyttenhove 21 years ago

What is everyone talking about a 05 Silverado haveing drum breaks? They have

4 wheel disc brakes.

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el Diablo 21 years ago

Not all of them! Rear disc brakes are optional in 2005.

Brian

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Kiel Uyttenhove 21 years ago

Optional? Anyone who chooses to get drum brakes needs to have their head examined. They are nuts, especially if you pull a heavy trailer or 5th wheel.

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el Diablo 21 years ago

So I guess that anyone who owns an older truck with drums in the rear can't stop with a heavy trailer? Wrong! If the rear drums are sized appropriately to the usage of the vehicle it will stop as good or better than rear disc brakes.

70% to 80% of the braking force is to the front brakes anyway. So no any one who wants rear drums is not nuts.

Brian

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Kiel Uyttenhove 21 years ago

They are easier to maintain aslong as the caliper doesn't freeze up, have a lower cost of owner ship, and they stop better, doesn't matter if 70% -80% of the stopping is done by the front. if it has disc in the back also, the stopping power is that much more efficient than drum. Atleast this is what I have noticed with disc brakes.

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GMC Gremlin 21 years ago

When you have the option of disks, yes you are. But I'm not saying that drums on an old truck are useless. You need something in the rear while you save up for a conversion kit.

GMC Gremlin

appropriately

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<kielu84 21 years ago

Well put Gremlin. But I'm a cheap bastard, I wouldn't convert from drum to disk cause you would also have to change the proportioning valve, time I wouldnt want to spend.

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GMC Gremlin 21 years ago

Oh why not? That's a nice simple R&R parts changer jobby! Purfekto fer yoo.

GMC Gremlin

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shiden_kai 21 years ago

Do you happen to actually "work" on vehicles for a living? I suspect you don't...otherwise you would know that the drum brakes on GM trucks have rarely given any problems over the years. But the rear disc brakes that appeared in

99 on the new trucks have given all sorts of problems. I know this because I work on them all day long.

As far as I'm concerned and I'll bet many other folks that buy trucks and use them as work trucks.....bringing back the rear drum brakes as an option will be a good thing. For the person who owns a truck in the city and drives it much like they would drive a car...then the rear disc brakes will work well and won't give them many problems.

Ian

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2005 Silverado: Rear Drum Brakes ?

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