That's it - F this turd-burban.

[rmaker]

I think I'm throwing the towel in on this one.

2011 Suburban 1500 LT 154K miles.

Just bought this last month, and have spent the last few weeks fixing/replacing things including:

New rotors/calipers/pads/hoses all the way around
New Inner tie rods
New Outer tie rods
New Stabilizer links
New Timken hubs (front)
New air filter
Replaced coil pack and spark plug on #8 cylinder
New upper/lower radiator hoses
New heater hose connectors (both)
New Heater hoses
New main serpentine
New AC Belt
New AC Delco Battery
New Vapor canister vent valve
Brake system flushed

I finished the front brakes today, took for a drive @10 miles, and did some heavy brake checks. Got home and the front rims are noticeably hotter than the rears and the front right is hotter than the front left. Came home, and it sat for about 15-20 mins, took another drive, again @10 miles normal driving with no brake checking. Got home and the driver-side rotor is @115 degrees and the passenger side is @130 degrees. WTF?

I noticed these hot rims on Friday when I went to the drive shaft shop, just happened to touch the wheels before I left and they were hotter than hell. The front brakes were shit and I was planning to replace them anyway so figured it has to be the brakes dragging since I just had new hubs installed. Brand new calipers and hoses today and it still seems to be heating up more than it should.

Also, the engine light came on during the second drive. Have'nt scanned it yet, but Im over this pos.

Gonna post for sale. Need to get 12k to cover cost+what I have spent on parts, may see what the trade-in value could be.

FML.

 

[OR VietVet]

Of the items replaced, how many did you know about in advance? What items were surprises? Whatever you knew about in advance, was that negotiated in the buying price? Was the vehicle checked out by a qualified tech before purchase? I have no idea of your tech expertise and mechanical abilities.

 

[B-train]

That sounds very frustrating. I had a similar episode with a 2009 Denali XL. Bought it from a guy in Dallas - he conveniently left out that it had extensive hail damage repairs until I was at his house 1500 miles away. And.....he wasn't as good on maintenance as he claimed. Took that one in the shorts. I wanted to love it and keep it, but ultimately I left that POS in FL and drove home a 2 year old 2017 Denali.

Some are winners, some are loosers. I feel your pain. I'd say once you get the last bug figured out you should have a pretty up-to-date truck maintenance wise.

As for your brake issues, I'd see how the wheels rotate when cold, and then after your 10 minute circuit. You might be able to distinguish the drag by hand that way.

Also, when doing an infrared temp reading, make sure you are on a dull surface. Shiny will reflect and give you inaccurate readings.

 

[Scott in AZ]

I don’t know jack-malarkey about brake servicing. Changing the oil, filters, coils, cables and and plugs is about all I got under the hood. So promptly ignore this advice :

140F is too hot to touch. You should IR them at 130/115 then (carefully) touch and hand-check both to gage if your pyrometer is getting accurate readings. If you can barely keep a hand on, it’s 130F. Or maybe is worth getting a pro shop to look at it. That’s what I’d do.

I do know a little about running. I’ve been a runner my whole life. I tell people the halfway point of a 26-mile marathon is 18 miles. Sounds like you are more than halfway home on this marathon. Keep us posted what you decide. Good luck!

 

[rmaker]

Of the items replaced, how many did you know about in advance? What items were surprises? Whatever you knew about in advance, was that negotiated in the buying price? Was the vehicle checked out by a qualified tech before purchase? I have no idea of your tech expertise and mechanical abilities.

So... I should have known better.
I looked at this one after looking at so many others. All the others were oily as hell underneath, main rears on most gone, ticks, pings, bad water pumps, low oil pressure, beat ass interiors, some with motor swaps that were never mentioned till I looked at them. The search was getting to be long and tiresome.
Came across this one, a nice older man was selling it, turned out he was a "dealer". The engine sounded good, has a couple of dents, and needs some minor cosmetic work - the price was low he was asking $7,900. Test drove it and the rr brake was just grinding - bad. Looked it over, and I figured just a seized caliper -no biggie - no lights on the dash. I knew I was taking a chance. Had it towed home and replaced the rear brakes (was a pita due to f'd up parts/wheel locks(surprise)/etc I ranted about it in another thread). Once it was rolling I took it to a mechanic (good guy, does good work - just not as "thorough" on the "hey look it over for me and let me know if its a keeper" as I would like). Also, the check engine light came on just before I took it to the mechanic (surprise). He determined it was a #8 miss fire - I was like no f'n way, I just bought a dud with AFM issues. He replaced the #8 coil pack and plug and that sorted that out. The heater hose connector was leaking onto the #8 coil pack. I bought the connectors but couldn't get my fat hand back in here so was like f'it, back to the mechanic.

I took it back to the same mechanic and he replaced the heater hose connectors, and since he will install the parts I provide I figured might as well do the heater hoses as well as the radiator hoses and belts (as I wanted to drive this up the NC next month). I was planning to do the front brakes from the get-go. Left his place to finally take it for its first real test drive. Got on the highway and above 55 the steering wheel was shaking like a mother (surprise). Got home crawled under and I could move the outer tie rods with my hand, boots split, probably original. Needed some suspension work, I figured it would due to age anyway, but wasn't planning to deal with that right out of the gate. I read about bent drive shafts and was like no way - crawled under and sure enough, dent in the drive shaft. So...I took it to my other older school mechanic, he went through the front end and told me the outer tie rod on the right, hub on the left, and drive shaft. I told him to replace inners, outers, and hubs on both sides. I would get the drive shaft dealt with at a drive shaft shop and otherwise, it was "good".

Then there is today, finished front brakes after some incredible amount of BS from every auto parts store within 10 miles of me. Went for a drive and got home with hot rims and check engine light came on.

The purchase price was $7,500 - $8,175 tax/tag/title/fee. I'm into it for $3,760 parts/mechanic etc.


As far as my "tech expertise", I'm just an average Joe with what I would consider above-average mechanical skills. I like to turn my own wrenches and I can hear a bad fuel pump, bad water pump, bad bearing etc.. I knew I was taking a chance, but this is just getting ridiculous. Sorry for the long story.

 

[YukonRog]

"Heavy brake checks" will make them hotternhell. Not to question your abilities but did you properly bed them in before standing on them? Did you check for drag while the wheels were off the ground before driving?

 

[j91z28d1]

only 2 times I've seen new calipers drag. that was bad brake hoses. they can look perfect outside and inside is collapsed and form a 1 way check valve. that one drove me crazy for a few months back when I was 17 and just replaced everything but the hoses since they looked fine.

the other thing is if the master cyl was replaced and the rod to it was a touch to long.. usually with that one they start out free when cold, but you drive it slowly drags the brakes more and more.


you've definitely done some work to it. I'd walk away from it a day or 2 myself and come back later. not much can drive you nuts like this weird car crap where you've done it all 100 time but this one day it didn't work right. definitely been there.

 

[Doubeleive]

this is why people dump them at or around 160k because they have not maintained it like they should and all of a sudden it needs everything and rather than fix it they get rid of it.
same for all manufactures 160k is the "typical" breaking point.
you already dropped a load into it may as well keep it and know where you stand with it.

 

[OR VietVet]

To me, the brake temps are not a worry. What slows you down is friction and heat. It is supposed to build heat and those temps do not seem out of range. You just stopped it and then checked when they are hottest. Kind of like a hot soak on an engine. You drive an engine and when you shut it off, the engine temp climbs before lowering. The brakes are cooled by driving thru the air and when you stop the vehicle and there is no air flow. They will be hot and maybe temp even rises a little before they start to cool down. If you drive and they get too hot, they will boil the brake fluid and then you lose pedal pressure. Did it ever do that?

 

[rmaker]

"Heavy brake checks" will make them hotternhell. Not to question your abilities but did you properly bed them in before standing on them? Did you check for drag while the wheels were off the ground before driving?

Checked for drag was smooth. Didn't do a full - proper bedding, did a series of 35/40 to zero mixed with normal driving never did any really aggressive stopping. What's got me thinking is the old pads on the passenger side were worn down way more than the drivers. And on drivers side inner pad was more worn than outer. The brake fluid that came out of the rears was real bad, thin, dark. Fronts wasn't as nasty but it's all crystal clear now. So, only other components are the master cylinder, abs pump/block, and booster?? I'll check drag again tomorrow.