issues with smoking brakes

[2drhoeon4s]

HELP!!!!

I want to drive my truck so bad but I cant....

It all started when i noticed my brakes squeaking. I went and bought pads and rotors. Got home, changed them. Old pads were thin. I put everything back together and drove it. Heard a clicking from left front on hard braking... Then after driving for a minute I noticed smoke out of both front wheels at a redlight.
Hmm..... So. I thought stuck caliper. Went and bought 2 calipers. Changed them... no clicking. still smoking. So I thought gummed up brake lines. Bought new front brake lines. Still smoking. UGGHH... no smoke at all from rear. Front only. Also, there is no mushy pedal. no sticky feeling at a green light. When I let off my brakes, the truck goes. I dont have to push the gas to get it going.

Went tonight to look at master cylinder and booster. Figured i would eliminate it 1 by 1. While there they asked me which brake system i had. jb5 jb6 jb7? also jd5, jd6, jd7? How do I tell which one i have? Also would that be a cause for my failure? Did I buy the correct pads and rotors and calipers?

Ill replace everything on the truck if i have to, but I would prefer to just replace the broken part...

 

[Freedom Motorsports]

If it is still there you can check the RPO code label in the glove box to find the right code number for the braking system to narrow that down. But I have a question, do you happen to notice that when you stop hard or not, either way, does the front kind of take a nose dive at all? It sounds like something in the proportioning valve is not allowing fluid to the rear brakes causing the fronts to do all the work. If you have regular stock rotors and say lifetime pads then that would make the extra heat make sense as the lifetime pads create a LOT of heat due to being such a hard composition pad.

---------- Post added at 10:33 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:33 PM ----------

BTW, very nice lookin' truck!

 

[purple 'hoe]

All you did at first was change front brakes? And then it started to smoke after that?

 

[Freedom Motorsports]

I just thought of something, in some cases the pads are directional, are you absolutely certain that you installed the pads correctly? Did you replace the hardware clips in the caliper "pad bracket" when you installed them?

 

[2drhoeon4s]

yeah... I read nothing about directional pads on the instructions... also, my calipers dont have the thin metal pad guides.. The inner pad attaches to the inside of the piston, and the outer pad has tension clips that hold it on the caliper.

Proportioning valve could make sense.... Im gonna lift up the back and see if I can turn the wheels with the brakes on...

 

[domin8]

I agree. Look into the proportioning valve. Also try bleeding the brakes. When replacing the fronts you may have pulled fluid away from the rear brakes, especially when you did the calipers and hoses. Since air, unlike fluids, can compress, it may be that you have an air pocket in the rear lines that is preventing the rear brakes from being used.

 

[2drhoeon4s]

my only issue with that is when I changed the pads and rotors is when the smoke started... and I didnt even touch the fluid because i didnt need to. I could see how it would happen while changing calipers because you have to remove the line, but this started prior to...

 

[Freedom Motorsports]

When you changed the pads, did you not remove the cap from the brake fluid reservoir before compressing the caliper pistons to make room for the new pads?

 

[purple 'hoe]

Kinda something simple, but it's also a possible issue.

Did you spray the film off the new rotors with some brake cleaner? I'veforgot to clean the rotors up and had smoking brakes during the test drive...

 

[geo3xk]

^^^^+1 I've done the same thing.

 

[gitrduun]

Check for brake fluid first on the rotor, or even in the pads,cuz once you get brake fluid in the pad, you won't ever get it out and it'll seep onto the rotor when it's gets hot from an application and then burn , which is where you are getting the smoke from.
try the simple stuff out. And if you aren't sure about the rear brakes being used, write on them with a marker and do an average application and see if it gets rubbed off

 

[TighTheChevyGuy]

if you used ceramic pads up front, did you burnish them right w the 20-30-30 stop?

 

[purple 'hoe]

I'd pull your front brakes off. Clean everything up. Put it all back together and drive it. I think you just have a simple issue. Not a caliper or rear brake issue.

 

[2drhoeon4s]

I have tried all of this.... Taken them off multiple times... cleaned everything. I bleed the lines into a bottle, so there is no fluid anywhere.......Im stuck...... I checked and my back brakes work fine.....

---------- Post added at 10:57 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:56 PM ----------

Im gonna get new pads just to be safe..... but it is very very frustrating......

 

[Freedom Motorsports]

Before you buy new pads, try the steps below to attempt to properly seat the pads to the rotors.

Begin by taking the truck to about 40mph and do a HARD slow down to about 15mph but DON'T stop, keep it rolling throughout this and the following cycle.
Repeat the first cycle about three times.

Then take it up to about 50-55mph and do the same thing, HARD slow down to about 15-20mph without stopping. Do this twice.

Then do the same thing up to about 65-70mph and repeat the hard slow down without stopping completely.

During these cycles, try not to allow the brakes to cool down between them, yes, you will smell them and probably see some more smoke, but after you have done these steps, drive it easy on the way home or wherever you want to allow it to sit until the brakes cool very well. Once it has cooled really well, maybe give them a couple of hours, then you should have "seated" the brake pads to the rotors and taken care of the smoking.

Just for the sake of asking, what type of pads and rotors do you have installed?

Also, during the cycling through these steps, you will begin to lose stopping power as the brakes heat up, but as they cool, even on the way home, you should begin to feel more bite in them with less pedal when you are lightly braking to make it home so they can cool.

 

[LVNeptune]

I had my brake pads replaced recently and the fronts were smoking like crazy at my first "hard" stop. I was freaking out. Apparently it's "normal" for that to happen. After about 15 minutes it didn't do it anymore.