brake pedal kinda mushy??

[rusty79beast]

I changed the front rotors and pads on my 2000 silverado, and now if i push kinda hard on the pedal, i can feel it bottom out. My question is do i need to bleed the brakes even though i never opened the brake line? I just took off the calipers and used a c-clamp to push the two pistons back into the calipers. Any help would be appreciated. Also before i changed my brakes the pedal kinda pulsated when i applied them, now it still does a little and was wondering if my rear rotors could be causing this or something completely else /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif Thanks for all your help /forums/images/graemlins/waytogo.gif

 

[hawkeye649]

These year trucks have problems with the sliders locking up so only one pad applies braking force. It does it both front & rear.
With that said, if you grease the slides up regularly (5,000 or so miles, perfect - when your rotating tires!!!) then you really should never need a new rotor or pads. People are passing inspection with these trucks with 100,000miles and the OEM pads, with long life left.
Also, IIRC if you slowly press down on your pedal in these trucks, even a correctly functioning system will go down to the floor. But this is also super bad for your system, and applies much more pressure than would ever be necessary....
But I DON'T own one, so keep in mind my advise might be worth what you paid for it. /forums/images/graemlins/thumb.gif

 

[rusty79beast]

What are these slides your talking about? Are they the part where the pad "slides" back and forth along??

 

[hawkeye649]

No they are what the caliper slides back and forth on. Your calipers only have pistons on one side, so it pushes one pad into the rotor, and pulls the other pad into the rotor. When the slides freeze, it pushes one pad into the rotor and the other pad does nothing. Most people don't brake hard enough to notice, and it causes serious stress/scoring/burns on the inside of the rotors. Where I would bet yours were damaged. The old style calipers do it as well (my 1985 K5 had that problem before I got it) but not as redily as these ones do. Like I said, if you keep your brake assy clean it will serve you for many thousands upon thousands of miles to come.
As for your pulsation, don't buy parts. CLEAN up all the mating surfaces to make sure you don't have rotor run-out. A speck of rust on the surfaces can cause the problem.