So, I bought an '03 w/ 75,000 about 3 months, 5,000 miles ago. It's in impeccable mechanical condition but the brakes take a whole lot of pedal pressure to stop relative to every other vehicle I've driven. It does NOT have hydroboost. It has 4 wheel disks (Not sure if that's standard or comes with a certain package). I wouldn't describe the pedal as "soft" or "mushy" it just takes a decent amount of extra effort vs. what I consider "normal" even for a casual stop.
As a point of reference the state owned '04 Ford E250 passenger van w/ over 100k that I occasionally drive at work stops better than my Yukon with less pedal pressure. Also, my dad's '07 Silverado stops much better with less pedal pressure too. My '04 Dodge 1/2 ton with 20s and larger tires was light years better than this.
The vacuum booster is working to some extent because it's not like I have no power brakes at all. I don't hear any vacuum leaks around the booster. The pads are less than 50% worn and the rotors look fine. I've removed and cleaned the master cylinder reservoir and flushed/bled the brake system, replacing the fluid with fresh synthetic DOT 3+4 fluid with a slight improvement but still it's about the worst modern vehicle I've driven. There are no fluid leaks anywhere.
When finances permit I'm planning on a PPV/NNBS front brake swap but I'm just wondering if there's an issue here that I need to resolve first. I drive like an old man so it's not really a huge deal but I want every bit of braking power I can get in a panic stop scenario. I recently put 33s on it and obviously that didn't help the situation.
So, does this sound like par for the course for this year/model? Or do I need to troubleshoot further?
As a point of reference the state owned '04 Ford E250 passenger van w/ over 100k that I occasionally drive at work stops better than my Yukon with less pedal pressure. Also, my dad's '07 Silverado stops much better with less pedal pressure too. My '04 Dodge 1/2 ton with 20s and larger tires was light years better than this.
The vacuum booster is working to some extent because it's not like I have no power brakes at all. I don't hear any vacuum leaks around the booster. The pads are less than 50% worn and the rotors look fine. I've removed and cleaned the master cylinder reservoir and flushed/bled the brake system, replacing the fluid with fresh synthetic DOT 3+4 fluid with a slight improvement but still it's about the worst modern vehicle I've driven. There are no fluid leaks anywhere.
When finances permit I'm planning on a PPV/NNBS front brake swap but I'm just wondering if there's an issue here that I need to resolve first. I drive like an old man so it's not really a huge deal but I want every bit of braking power I can get in a panic stop scenario. I recently put 33s on it and obviously that didn't help the situation.
So, does this sound like par for the course for this year/model? Or do I need to troubleshoot further?
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