WHOOOAAAA....Brakes not holding

[AggieJustin]

I wanted to see if anyone else is having a problem similar to what I'm experiencing. On occasion during a hard stop, it feels almost as if the rear brakes let go and leave all the stopping up to the fronts. Right after I hit the brakes, you can feel all four working to stop the truck, but within a second or so it seems only the fronts are holding anything. If I release the brakes, then re-engage them all four grab again and slow me down like I would expect.



I adjusted my rears at my last oil change (~4500 miles ago) which helped significantly with stopping. And they still feel like they are adjusted right since they work well on normal stops in the city. The only time I feel this "instant fade" is on a hard stop from a higher (60-70 mph) speed.



I do have 4 wheel antilock, but it doesn't feel like this is causing the problem since the pedal doesn't pulse when I stop. I'm close to taking this to the dealer to have it checked out, but the problem is that I can't consistently recreate it. So I'm afraid they'll just blow off the problem since they can't duplicate it.



Sorry for the long post, but I was hoping that maybe someone else might have been through this already and could shed some light.



TIA,



Justin

 

[Cummins Corvette]

Mine does the same thing. My 91 did the same thing. The 2002 I went and tested did the same thing. When the rear breaks "let go", it is actually the antilock kicking in. The antilock valve lets the pressure out of the wheel cylinders if the sensor on the rear axle sees the wheels stopping suddenly. It is, unfortunately, part of the crappy Chrysler breaking system. It is better than the wheels locking and sending you sideways though.

 

[sam peterson]

Justin---If possible add some weight in the bed to see if this helps with the problem. Its possible the tires just don't have a very good grip when empty. ----Sam

 

[dan_gilson]

A couple of suggestions: First, push the brake pedal down harder. I have seen this mentioned in a number of places and it seems to work. The ABS seems less confused. All it knows is that you want it to stop faster.



Second, if you are unloaded or lightly loaded drop the air pressure down on the rear tires. If the pressure is up to high you will get a lot smaller tread patch on the ground. So, varying the pressure will help your braking as will as let your tires wear longer. Probably also give you slighly better handling too. I don't remember the what the good rear tire pressure from by '96 2500. I am currently running 35-40psi on my duals on the '98. I know this sounds low but I am getting good wear patterns across the tires and braking is much improved.



I hope this helps.

 

[AggieJustin]

Thanks for all the quick responses, that's why I love this place. Keep 'em coming...



CAnderson - When you've had this happen did you have any feedback from the pedal at all? I don't get the standard pulsing from ABS, but it does feel like the pedal gets a little softer/goes further to the floor.



When this happens it seems like I'm going to push the pedal through the floor, but once I release and re-engage, the normal feel is back.



I agree, I probably can use some additional weight in the rear... the short bed doesn't have much weight sitting back there. I'm currently running about 50psi in the rear tires right now, maybe I need to drop that down a few pounds as well.



Thanks again for all the help,



Justin

 

[Cummins Corvette]

Not as far as I can remember; I will try tomorow if I can remember. This is normal though. Wieght in the back will help some because it will take more pressure to lock the wheels.